ADDRESS OF HIS ROYALHIGHNESS PRINCE WAN WAITHAYAKON,REPRESENTATIVE OF THAILAND
November 5, 1943(Translation)

Monsieur le President, Your Excellencies,
His Majesty’s Government have been happy to accept theinvitation extended by the Japanese Government to take part in
the present Assembly of Greater East-Asiatic Nations, because
His Majesty’s Government are convinced that this Assembly willproduce results most beneficial to the prosecution of the War ofGreat East Asia to its final conclusion as desired as well as to thepermanent and ever,-prospering establishment of the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. His Excellency Field-Marshal P.
Phibun-Songkhram, His Majesty’s President of the Council ofMinisters, however, greatly regrets that he is unable to attend theAssembly in person, since the state of his health does not atpresent permit such a long journey to Tokyo. He has therefore
entrusted me with the duty of representing him in this Assembly.
The views of His Majesty’s Government concerning theconduct of the War of Greater East Asia and the establishment ofthe Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere are that the lines ofconduct already practiced, particularly those following upon theprinciples of Japanese –Thai relationships, are already well-suited.
The task to be undertaken is to promote the friendship, the mutual
co-operation and the good understanding that already so happily
exist to a close degree so as to form one single mental andphysical force for bringing to their successful conclusion theprosecution of the war and the establishment of the Co-Prosperity

Sphere in Greater East Asia.
The reasons, which I would like to bring to the support ofwhat I have stated, are those which I would bring from the historyof the development of Greater East Asia. The continent of Asia
was the source of human development and had attained thehighest degree of development from olden times. Suchdevelopment is the pure light that shines in the heart of humanity,that urges humanity to look for peace and happiness and iscomposed of friendship and good-will firmly based on theprinciple of righteousness. This is the principle of development
inherent in the Thai nation that worships Buddhism as thenational religion, and such principle of development is also theprinciple of culture traditionally held by Asiatic nations in general,or to put it in another way, development according to Asiatic
traditions is culture. This is recognized by the people of the Westas borne out by the saying “ex occidnte lex, ex oriente lux” fromthe West, law, from the East light.
European development takes another form, namely that of acivilization, which has as its aim the promotion of worldly
development, that is to say, the promotion of State and economic
power. For this reason, in the modern period of world history,
various European nations have expanded from Europe, and moreparticularly since over a hundred years ago, Great Britain and theUnited States of America have extended their power to Great East
Asia by taking territories in this region, partly as colonies, partly
as their exclusive field of exploitation for the acquisition of raw
materials for production into manufactured goods and partly asmarkets for the distribution of their manufactured goods.
Consequently, various nations in Greater East Asia had either tolose their independence and their sovereignty, or were subject tolimitations placed upon their independence and sovereignty by theregime of extraterritoriality and by unequal treaties, having noreciprocity in accordance with international law. Instead of being
a continent composed of political solidarity, Asia had become amere geographical name.

The distress arising out of such a situation remains fixed in
the sentiment and memory of the Greater East-Asiatic nations ingeneral. With profound foresight, the Japanese Empire has seenthat progress in the modern world has to depend on the methodsof Western civilization, but with reliance on the cultural principleof the East. She has, therefore, modified her form of development
to conform to the modern pattern, did away with extraterritoriality
and advanced with rapidly to the status of a Great Power Thailand,for her part, has also proceeded in the same manner, and even if it
has taken several years, she has, with untiring endeavour, thrown
off extraterritoriality and successfully regained her independence
and sovereignty. But there are several sister peoples in Asia, who
still have to fight to recover their independence and sovereignty,
and economically speaking, even with the attainment of complete
independence and sovereignty, they have still in practice noliberty to proceed in accordance with the proper requirements oftheir nations..
In truth, Greater East Asia is a territory abundant in wealth; it
has natural resources and industrial localities capable ofdevelopment so as to make this sphere co-prosperous inaccordance with the principle of self-sufficiency. The Japanese
Empire had, accordingly, followed the policy of establishing aCo-Prosperity Sphere, abiding by the ideal of justice,righteousness and peace, and had adopted peaceful means in theexecution of this policy, such as in the case of the dispute between
French Indo-China and Thailand, in which, in order to establish
the friendship between the two countries on a basis free fromresentment one to the loss of national territory. Thailand had
requested the return from France of certain part of the lost
territory, the Japanese Government kindly consented to mediateso that an agreement based on justice was reached. The Thai
people will never forgets this favour on the part of Japan.
The pursuance by Japan of her policy by peaceful means did
not, however, meet with success because of various obstructive
obstacles put up by the United States of America and Great

Britain. Consequently, the War of Greater East Asia had perforce
to break out, and the great and glorious victories achieved by theImperial Japanese Armed Forces fill the peoples, throughout, Asiawith joy, for therein lies the hope of the peoples of Greater East
Asia to be able to establish on a solid basis the Co-Prosperity
Sphere, in this region.
Thailand, a country which had maintained close relationshipwith Japan for several hundred years with ties of friendship thathave progressively grown tighter and firmer, has well understood
the high purpose of Japan, and His Majesty’s Government, underthe leadership of His Excellency the President of the Council ofMinisters, have immediately co-operated as ally of Japan, as
shown by the Pact of Alliance concluded with one another with,as its important object, te establishment of the Co-Prosperity
Sphere in Greater East Asia and the total elimination of the evil
influenes which stand as obstacles in the achievement of thisaim.The principles laid down in that Pact are, 1) the establishmentof an alliance on the basis of mutual respect of each other’s
independence and sovereignty, and 2) the rendering of mutual
assistance with all the political, economic and military means at
each other’s command.
Militarily, the Thai Armed Forces have joined with theJapanese armies in fighting with bravery and stubborn endurance,
achieving the desired success. They are now prepared to makesacrifices for the further conduct of the war till final success isattained. Economically, Thailand is already co-operating fully
with Japan, and any request she makes of Japan for assistance inthis respect is limited only to what is necessary for themaintenance of her economic power in order to conduct the war
to a victorious conclusion.
Moreover, Thailand has also
promoted her national culture so that the Thai people may beinspired with a united and vigorous strength of mind for thebenefit of the prosecution of the war, and has concluded a
Cultural Agreement with Japan so that the spirit of the twonations may be bound in close co-ordination. The spirit is thespecial feature inherent in the culture of Asia, and it is thisstrength of mind that will constitute one of the most importantfactors in bringing about victory in the war.
Politically, the friendly relations between Thailand and Japan
are in a condition of the closest cordiality, having a goodunderstanding of one another. The Japanese Government arelarge-hearted in sympathizing with Thailand in her aspirations torecover Thai lost territories and to unite the strength of people ofThai race. The Japanese Government have, therefore, concluded atreaty recognizing the incorporation into Thailand of the four
States is Malai and the two States in the Shan region. This bears
witness to the fact that Japan does not only respect theindependence and sovereignty of Thailand, but also promote thesolidarity as well as the increased power of Thailand. The ThaiGovernment and the Thai people are most deeply and sincerely
grateful to the Japanese Government and the Japanese people.
The goodwill, such as Japan has shown towards Thailand, she
has also shown towards the other countries in Greater East Asia as
befits each case; for instance, she has assisted in the restoration ofcomplete sovereignty to China, has helped in the establishment of
the independence of Manchoukuo, Burma and the Phiippines aswell as in the establishment of the Provisional Government ofFree India for the purpose of regaining the independence of India.
Thailand rejoices at these achievements, and whole-heartedly
gives her support, since she has had for a long time past cordial
friendly relations as well as cultural ties and good neighbourly
relations with all these countries.
Now that Greater East Asia is no longer a mere geographicalname but a Co-Prosperity Sphere on a firm basis, the great task
before all the Greater East-Asiatic nations is to co-operate with
one another in the conduct of the war till absolute success isachieved, each nation contributing all the strength at its commandfor the permanent establishment in the joint interest of all of theCo-Prosperity Sphere.
The principle that will help this region in continued prosperity

is the promotion as the highest degree of the power of eachcountry, including material, moral and spiritual power, throughrespect of each other’s independence and sovereignty, throughdevelopment of economic relations with one another on the basisof reciprocity and through close co-operation and assistance with
one another in conformity with the principle of righteousness andof justice, so as to insure peace, happiness and prosperity of eachcountry and of this region as a whole. In this way, the various
Greater East-Asiatic nations will permanently develop in
conformity with their own national culture, and will, at the sametime, pursue the common object of enhancing the well-being andprogress of this Co-Prosperity Sphere. As for the relations
between the Greater East-Asiatic nations and the other countries
in the world, whether as general amity, in commerce or in culture,reliance should be made on the same principles, more particularlyon the principle of respect for independence and sovereignty andthat of reciprocity. This will help to make the peace of the worldsolid and secure.
The Japanese Empire is the nation that leads the way in theadaptation of Asiatic culture as a factor of progress by making useof scientific knowledge and the methods of organization ofmodern civilization. Thus arose the Co-Prosperity Sphere ofGreater East Asia. In the name, therefore, of His Majesty’sGovernment, I beg here to express our gratification and gratitude.
In conclusion, I beg, in the name of His Excellency
Field-Marchal P. Phibun-Songkhram, President of the Council ofMinisters of Thailand, to express the very best wishes for thesuccess of the deliberations of this historic Assembly, thereby
further increasing the security and prosperity of Greater East Asia.