The means for fulfilling the Thais’ national destiny were the
twelve state edicts issued between 1939 and 1942, starting with that
which changed the country’s international name to Thailand. In
this case, translation occurred exceptionally from Thai to English.
Siam’s new name evoked – arguably more for the foreign than the
domestic public – an ancestral land for the Thais living both within
and outside its borders. The third state edict prescribed thai as