thailand has never been a colony of any country. thailand is the only country in south-east asia that has never been under a european power . its neighbors myanmar, then burma, and malaysia were part of the british empire. other neighbors, laos and cambodia were under french control . during the colonial period thailand successfully played off england against france and remained an independent buffer zone between the two world powers. england ruled to the west and south , burma and malaysia . france had colonies in laos, cambodia and vietnam, to the north and east of thailand