Perhaps the biggest change caused by European colonialism in SE Asia was political change. This change largely came about in the form of establishment of European style bureaucratic structures of control and creation of nation-states. By 1870, the colonial powers had divided the region and created the boundaries that we would largely recognize as the modern day nation-state boundaries.
I suppose many would argue that the development of nation-states in SE Asia was progress, but the boundaries of the nation-states were artificial. Rather than set the boundaries based on group affiliations, the boundaries were set to avoid major conflicts between the European powers (1). It is not that the many regions in SE Asia did not already exhibit some forms of nationalism, but this pride was largely based on cultural identity where there was a large population of ethnically and culturally related people (the Thai for example). Where the populations were more diverse, the "European" style of nationalism did not fit (2).
1. Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia Volume Two, Part One. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 75.
2. Ibid, 250.
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I agree as potical change was very important to the region. European powers divided up Southeast Asia similalr to that of Africa (they did so at the Berlin conference of 1885). Artificial boundaries were established by the colonials. Naturally, these artifical borders did not reflect the ideas, customs, religions, or ideals of the peoples living in said regions. European nationalism spread to the colonies. Though I do think one major idea was the notion of revolution against the established order.
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