This article explores the rationing methods for Allied and Japanese soldiers in Thailand after the Second World War II, when the country prescribed the base amount to feed Allied ex-prisoner of wars (POWs), garrisoned Allied soldiers, and surrendered Japanese soldiers. The rationing for the Allied ex-POWs started first, followed by the reception of the garrisoned Allied soldiers after their September 1945 arrival for the disarmament of the Japanese army. Meanwhile, rationing for the Japanese soldiers in Thailand started the following month by order of the Allied Forces.

Although Thailand prescribed the base amount of provisions at first, the Allied Forces adopted a ration scale based on caloric quantity. As a result, the procurement cost for foods ordered by the Allied Forces often exceeded Thailand’s, which created conflict between soldiers and their hosts. While the Allied Forces sought to follow the ration scale continuously, Thailand was interested in keeping ration costs within budget. Eventually, the Allied Forces compromised with Thailand, agreeing on the use of food whose price was within Thailand’s budget even though the designated caloric amounts were not met. The ration scale was revised accordingly.

However, the volume of provisions that had to be purchased was increasing due to the exhaustion of the stock of provisions that had been created by the Japanese army. The Japanese rice stock was especially hard hit, forcing Thailand to purchase sundries in addition to perishables. As a result, procurement costs soon exceeded the set budget. Moreover, certain Allied officers wanted Thailand to purchase rations from specific contractors, which resulted in further increases in cost. Furthermore, because the auction of provisions was held under the authority of local governors, doubt regarding their validity arose; observers had to be sent from Bangkok to supervise them. Meanwhile, contractor fraud resulted in the deteriorating quality of provisions and deception surrounding their volume. The Japanese soldiers suffered the most serious damage; they were forced to support themselves by cultivating vegetables or feeding animals to compensate the run out of provisions.

Providing for Allied and Japanese soldiers thus became Thailand’s burden in terms of work and cost. Although the efforts were funded by the peace-making budget, the overall trend was that Allied Forces’ demands consistently exceeded the budget while the cost for the Japanese soldiers remained within it.