Here is an 1850 quote from a British general about the government of Siam. In it, the steps of invasion are clearly identified.
1. Announce that the government is unjust and hostile, because it does not abide by the demands of the British.
2. Attack, invade, kill, and maim, under the pretense of teaching a lesson.
3. Install a puppet government
4. Steal the money of the people to pay the debt incurred from the military operations.
Here is the quote:
1. Announce that the government is unjust and hostile, because it does not abide by the demands of the British.
2. Attack, invade, kill, and maim, under the pretense of teaching a lesson.
3. Install a puppet government
4. Steal the money of the people to pay the debt incurred from the military operations.
Here is the quote:
The Siamese Government is hostile -- its tone is arrogant -- its presumption unbounded . . . Should these just [British] demands firmly urged be refused, a force should be present, immediately to enforce them by a rapid destruction of the defenses of the river… Siam may be taught the lesson which it has long been tempted, . . . a better disposed king placed on the throne, and an influence acquired in the country which will make it of immense commercial importance to England . . . Above all, it would be well to prepare for the change and to place our own kind on the throne . . . This prince [Mongkut] we ought to place on the throne and through him, we might, beyond doubt, gain all we desire . . . And the expense incurred [of the military operation] would readily be available from the royal treasury of Siam."
(Quoted in M. L. Manich Jumsai, King Mongkut and Sir John Bowring, Chalermit, Bangkok, 1970, p. 21)