European Nationalism?

Something struck me as I wrote my last post and read deeper into the Tarling text. Tarling implies that the Europeans introduced nationalism to SE Asia (by force) (1). However, I do not think this is a correct assessment. The Thai people had already grouped together into a "nation". Most of modern day Thailand already had set boundaries by the early 1800s. under Rama I, though there were many power centers with semi-independent rulers (2). In fact, the borders of the Thai kingdom of Ayudhya in 1540 look pretty similar to those of modern Thailand (3). Of course, we know that Thailand was the exception in SE Asia in avoiding direct colonial rule, but Tarling emphatically states that ALL of SE Asia went through this period of nationalism. Later, Tarling says that "European" nationalism involves discreet groups distinguishable by differences of language, religion, culture, and physical appearance (4). If this does not describe the Thai, I do not know what does. Thai nationalism, even today, is based on language, ethnicity, and religion.

1. Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia Volume Two, Part One. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 75.

2. David.Wyatt, Thailand. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984),158.

3. Ibid, 87.

4. Tarling, 250.