star-crossed romance between a scantily clad Duangchan and Mangrai. a and violence in the form of interminable battle scenes between the Thais and Burmese
Ratchamanu, Chaoying Saenul and the Emergent Irredentist Movement
Wichit's second historical musical play, Ratchamanu, appeared in January 1937. The work was named after the protagonist Ratchamanu, a military commander who was reputed to have played a central role in suppressing Khmer attempts to throw off Thai suzerainty during the reign of King Naresuan in the sixteenth century. As had been the case with Luar Suphan, a central objective of the play was to lend support to the military-dominated government by extolling the martial virtues of heroism and personal sacrifice in time of war. These qualities were expressed in the central musical moment of the play, "Rak mu ang Thai" (Love the Country of the Thai), Wichit's best-known and most enduring song." The song, which was particularly notable for the way the word "Thai" was used to express a range of meanings, virtually became an unofficial state anthem and was broadcast over the radio with great frequency Love the country of the Thai, raise up the Thai nation Make it glorious, make it really Thai [Free]We are Thai people born as Thai [Free people] die for Thai[freedom. independence] We are never weak nor soft, we won't lose to anyone, Daring enemies from no matter whence they come, if they threaten will regret it Love the country of the Thai We are Thai, born as Thai On a more specific level, Ratchamanu was an early attempt to build popular backing for military elements in the government of creating a modern Thai empire by re-establishing over the people and territory which had been subject to Bangkok's authority rior to the colonial intervention of the Western powers. The idea of recovering the "former territories" and creating such an empire was former according to the British, first publicly mooted in 1931 by Prince Bowaradej, who believed that the Thais should build up a military organization adequate to effect the re-conquest of the lands when