Thailand entered World War II in October 1940, initially against Vichy French forces in the Franco-Thai War. But Japan intervened and forced the Thai government to align with Axis forces; relations with Japan remained tense until the end of the war. This page lists military equipment used during the Franco-Thai War as well as equipment later received from the Japanese.
Pistols (manual and semi-automatic)
Nambu pistol
M1911 pistol
Automatic pistols and submachine guns
MP 18
Type 45 Siamese Mauser
Type 46 Siamese Mauser
Type 47 Siamese Mauser
Type 66 Siamese Mauser
Arisaka
Grenades and grenade launchers
Japanese grenades were imported in 1941 for the use by marines.
Infantry and dual-purpose machine guns
Madsen machine gun (type 66 light machine gun), adopted in 1924
Type 92 heavy machine gun, adopted in 1941 to cope with the shortage of the 8mm ammunition
M1917 Browning machine gun (type 66 heavy machine gun - rechambered for 8mm), adopted in 1924
Commercial Vickers Machine Gun Class D (12.7mm rechambered for 8mm) - used for AA duties, adopted in 1935
Type 10 grenade discharger
Type 94 90 mm Infantry Mortar
5cm M1906 Krupp gun (unclear model)
Type 80 Howitzer (infantry gun) (75 mm L/40 Howizer) - adopted in 1938 via B.Grimm and CO.
75mm Type 63 Field gun (old Krupp gun?)
Type 51 Mountain gun (7.5cm Gebirgskanone M1908) adopted in 1909
Type 63 Mountain gun (Type 41 75 mm Mountain Gun being the Japanese copy of 7.5cm Gebirgskanone M1908), adopted in 1921
10.5 cm kanon m/34 (unknown amount)
15 cm Autokanone M. 15/16 (unknown amount)
Type 94 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun
Bofors 37 mm M1934 (unknown amount)
Type 97 automatic cannon AT/AA
QF 2-pounder naval gun (pom-pom)
Bofors 40 mm gun
7.5 cm luftvarns kanon L/30 (75mm L/30 h.S.K.M. 1914) - probably Bofors-made
Carden Loyd tankette Mk VI - 60 imported
Light Tank Mk VI
Ford 3-Ton M1918 - 35 imported
Vickers 6-Ton Model B - 20 imported
Vickers A4E11 amphibious tank - 2-6 purchased
Type 83 tank - Type 95 Ha-Go purchased from Japan in 1941
Landsverk Stridsvagn L-60 - 4 purchased
QF 2-pounder naval gun on Vickers 6-Ton tractor (upgrade level close to Dragon Mk IV) chassis -36 purchased
Vickers-Morris M1931 - 12 purchased
Navy ships and war vessels
coastal battleship HTMS Thonburi
coastal battleship HTMS Sri Ayudhya
HTMS Chonburi torpedo boat
HTMS Chantaburi torpedo boat
HTMS Songhkla torpedo boat
HTMS Rayong torpedo boat
HTMS Trad torpedo boat
HTMS Phuket torpedo boat
minelayer HTMS Nhong Sarhai
fishery protection ship Thiew Uthok
Martin B-10 bomber - 6 received from USA in 1937, 9 ex-Dutch aircraft from Japan in 1943
Vought O2U Corsair - 12 bought 30 March 1933. 25 built in 1936. 50 more built in 1940. Locally designated Observation and Attacker Type 1 (Type A-1).
Mitsubishi Ki-30?
Mitsubishi Ki-21 - 9 delivered by Japanese in December 1941
Curtiss P-36 Hawk - 48 imported in 1934-1938, 50 locally built in 1937-1939
Avro 504, 20 imported in 1930, 50 locally produced
Watanabe E9W - 6 imported in May 1938, locally designated WS.103S
Nakajima E8N - 18 imported in late 1940
Nakajima Ki-27 - 12 delivered in January 1942
Nakajima Ki-43 - 24 delivered in 1943
Tachikawa Ki-36 - 24 purchased in 1942, locally designated as "Trainer Type 6"
Bristol Blenheim import and license production agreement was cancelled in 1940. Also, the license production of North American P-64 was planned but cancelled when aircraft was turned back while en route in October 1940 due US arms embargo.
