By 1870, Thailand evidently realized that the impact of Western imperialism was imminent…To this country, what had happened to her neighbors obviously served as a series warning. It was then concluded that, if the national sovereignty was to be successfully maintained and the national unity was to be hopefully achieved, backwardness had, by every means, to be wiped out and modernization in all respects had to be immediately launched..” (Ministry of Education, 1976, p.6)