Thailand never colonized, it was a buffer state of convenience, left unconquered by consensus. The countries of Southeast Asia display a variety of shapes and sizes. A state s physical shape and its territorial morphology are among the factors that affect its cohesion and political viability. A state consisting of several parts located at great distances faces problems that do not afflict a state with a single contiguous territory. An example of a compact state is Cambodia.
Elongated states are long and narrow countries such as Vietnam and Chile.
Fragmented states are countries broken into separate pieces, for example, Indonesia and the Philippines. Prorupt large main territories with narrow corridors leading from these. Perforated is where one state encircles another such as South Africa encircling Lesotho. Morphologies do not determine their cohesion, viability, unity or lack of, but they may influence these conditions. Most do not remember Vietnam War.