The Siamese royal family first turned to Britain and France to mediate this "misunderstanding." After all, Britain and France wielded the deepest influence in Siam, and Siam's foreign affairs could basically not bypass either Britain or France.
On the morning of August 16, Rama VI invited Sir Claire, the British minister, and Minister Kriab of France to the Bangkok palace for discussions.
Rama VI recounted the course of events to the two men, then looked at them and said, "Gentlemen, Siam was absolutely wronged this time. Our country had explicitly prohibited Chinese-language education in Siam, yet East Africa opened such schools in Bangkok without informing us, which led to this incident!"
"It is obvious that the East Africans deliberately dug this trap for us. Their purpose is simple: to further invade Siam."
With a helpless expression, Sir Claire asked Rama VI, "Your Majesty, have you spoken with East Africa? What is the East Africans' attitude?"
Ever since arriving in Siam, Sir Claire had received no good news. First, Britain had gone to war with the Central Powers. Because of this, the British Government had assigned Claire an important task: ensuring Siam's strategic materials continued to support mainland Britain.
Siam was the world's second-largest source of rubber after East Africa. The war had sent international rubber prices soaring. Although East African rubber was not expensive, compared with being able to get some from Siam for free, the latter was clearly the better bargain.
After all, Siam had a large population. Though it was only around ninety thousand, it stood out remarkably in the Nanyang region.
One had to know that, in this era, there were not many countries in the world with populations exceeding ten million. Take Borneo, for instance: its entire population combined did not even reach three million.
And