SIAM CHANGES NAME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20032, 2 September 1939, Page 16

SIAM CHANGES NAME

TITLE OF THAILAND COUNTRY OF FREE MEN DEMOCRACY THE AIM (Per Prcis Association.» AUCKLAND, this day. Henceforth, Siam will be known as Thailand —country of free men, according to His Excellency, M. Henri Segaert, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of King Leopold of the Belgian Legation at Bangkok, who is proceeding to Australia. He said the new name for Siam was distinctly Siamese and of poli-» tical significance. “Thailand will one day be a fine democracy,” said His Excellency. “It has a young king of 14 and very progressive men of European education at the head of the State. They are caching .he people democracy and, although it will take time, it is making headway. The Government is t partly elected and the rest are nominated by the Government. Every five years when an election is aeld. a greater proportion will be candidates chosen by the people.” M. Segeart, who has 'had 35 years in the Belgian State service, has had 'one term of two years in Siam. He recently visited Belgium on holiday \nd was astonished, he said, at the ype of military parade staged on National Day, July 21. He had never seen anything like it in his country before and, although Belgium desired nothing more than to be left- alone, =he was taking every precaution to see that her neutral and independent •fights were not violated. Siam had •imilar ideals, he added'.