Southeast Asia never colonized by a European power

The country has always been called Mueang Thai by her citizens; but by others, by the exonym Siam (Thai: ???? RTGS: ‹See Tfd›Sayam, pronounced [sàja?m]). Also spelled Siem, Syâm or Syâma, it has been identified with the Sanskrit Syâma (?????, meaning "dark" or "brown"). The names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word, and Syâma is possibly not its origin but a learned and artificial distortion.[15]


SPPM Mongkut Rex Siamensium
The signature of King Mongkut (r. 1851 – 1868) reads SPPM (Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha) Mongkut King of Siam, giving it official status until 23 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand.[16] Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it again reverted to Thailand.
The word Thai (???) is not, as commonly believed,[citation needed] derived from the word Thai (??) meaning "independence" in the Thai language; it is, however, the name of an ethnic group from the central plains (the Thai people).[citation needed] A famous Thai scholar argued that Thai (??) simply means "people" or "human being" since his investigation shows that in some rural areas the word "Thai" was used instead of the usual Thai word "khon" (??) for people.[17]
The Thai use the phrase "land of the free" to express pride in the fact that Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never colonized by a European power. While the Thai people will often refer to their country using the polite form Prathet Thai (Thai: ?????????), they most commonly use the more colloquial word Mueang Thai (Thai: ????????) or simply Thai (Thai: ???); the word mueang (Thai: ?????) meaning nation but most commonly used to refer to a city or town. Ratcha Anachak Thai (Thai: ??????????????) means "Kingdom of Thailand" or "Kingdom of Thai".
Etymologically, its components are: -Ratcha- (from Sanskrit raja, meaning "king, royal, realm") ; -ana- (from Pali a?a, "authority, command, power", itself from Sanskrit ajña, same meaning) -chak (from Sanskrit cakra or cakra? meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule). The Thai National Anthem (Thai: ????????), composed and written by Peter Feit during the extremely "patriotic" 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as: prathet-thai (Thai: ?????????). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai (Thai: ??????????????????????????????????) and was translated in 1939 by Colonel Luang Saranuprabhandi as: "Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body.

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