Civil Censored Mail - Thailand - World War II
(1939 - 1945)
With the opening of World hostilities in 1939, examination of mail originating in Thailand was common when transiting British Commonwealth ports, after September 1939. Although the Thai Post & Telegraph (P&T) had been censoring international mail, transiting Bangkok, since October 1940; the actual internal censorship of the Thai mails did not begin in earnest until January 1942.
A joint Thai - Japanese Sub-Committee on Communication Matters met 12 December 1941 - 5 days after the arrival of the Japanese. The terms: "1. Letters were to be written in Thai, Japanese, English. Italian and German in plain language.  Chinese would also be allowed. 2. Censoring by the Censor Board of the Thai P&T Department."  On 16 January 1942 "there was to be only one censor room for all operations both internal and foreign."  There were reported to be only six censors [yet we have a total of 10 numbers seen on mail].  At that meeting, The P&T Department confirmed that there was now no other port to dispatch mail except Bangkok and it all went either to Saigon or Tokyo by steamer or air.
By Thai admission, not all mail was opened. Thai and Japanese government mail and the mail of some prominent Japanese companies were passed without examination.
This exhibit examines the following types of censored mail:
  • International mail not censored by any authority [late 1939]
  • Mail to foreign destinations from Bangkok 1939 - 1941
  • Mail to foreign destinations from Southern Thailand 1939 - 1941
  • Thai censored international mail 1941
  • Internal Thai mail 1942 - 1945
  • Inter-Regional & International mail during Japanese control 1942 - 1944
Censored Cover
Mail from Bangkok after 1943 until the end of hostilities is extremely scarce.  [Japanese military mail and POW mail is not considered by this exhibit.]  It is of interest that this cover is censored 17 days after the signing of the surrender of Japan and return of control to Thailand.

Civil Censored Mail - Thailand - World War II
(1939 - 1945)
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