1958 Shell / Philip Bilingual Wall Map of Thailand

A huge and unrecorded c. 1958 bilingual wall map of Thailand, produced by Shell (operating locally as the Shell Company of Thailand, Ltd.) and printed by George Philip and Son. Emphasizing highways and topographic detail, it reflects expanding geological knowledge and infrastructural development, both of which were of critical importance to both Thailand and Shell.

A Closer Look

This stunning wall map presents Thailand with administrative boundaries, railways, highways (completed, under construction, and proposed), cities and towns, topographic detail and other features noted throughout in both Thai and English. A legend below the title explains the used of symbols and notation, while a charming compass rose containing the Shell logo appears above the title.

Shell in Thailand

Benefitting from the treaties signed by (or perhaps imposed on) Thailand in the mid-19th century, which guaranteed free trade and open access to the country by foreign enterprises, the brothers Marcus and Samuel Samuel (not a typo) established Thailand's first oil terminal (Pak Lat Terminal Samut Prakan) in 1892 to store oil carried by the Murex, the world's first oil tanker. In 1897, the Samuel Brothers established the Shell Transport and Trading Company, which in 1907 merged with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., forming Royal Dutch Shell. In fact, the two companies had collaborated prior to their merger, including in the establishment of the Asiatic Petroleum Company in 1903 to operate in the Asian region (East and Southeast Asia).

After a highly successful run of operations, the Asiatic Petroleum Company was forced to cease operations in 1939 due to World War II (1939 - 1945). After the war, Shell was invited to resume operations by the Thai government, and did so under a new company, the Shell Company of Thailand, Ltd. Although initially focused on storing and selling petroleum products in Thailand, in the late 1970s the company began explorations in the country, discovering a commercially viable oilfield in Lan Krabue District, near Phitsanulok north of Bangkok, which was named the 'Sirikit Field' after the country's queen.

Historical Context

During the Second World War, Thailand's military dictator Plaek Phibunsongkhram (popularly known simply as Phibun) tried to balance his country and his regime between Japan and Western powers. Initially siding with Japan, especially after its rapid successes in Southeast Asia in late 1941 and early 1942, Phibun accepted Japanese occupation and influence over his government. However, a Thai resistance movement, supported by the royal family, fought these efforts, and as Japan's fortunes worsened, was able to have Phibun removed from power. Though tried as a war criminal at the end of the war, Phibun retained considerable popular support, and he soon returned to power in a 1947 coup.

Though maintaining a military dictatorship, he discarded the fascist-style mobilization and propaganda of his first term in power and pitched himself as a quasi-democrat and anti-Communist crusader, aligning closely with the United States in the Cold War conflicts that consumed Southeast Asia. A combination of foreign investment and aid helped Thailand's economy to develop rapidly in the Cold War period. Always prone to grandiose designs, Phibun pushed for the rapid expansion of the country's nascent national highway network (portions of which were paid for in full by the U.S. government). Still, his long presence in Thai politics had earned him enemies, including among the Thai royal family, and his attempts to stymie fair elections angered the public. Phibun himself was removed from power in a coup in 1957, after which he lived in exile in Japan, but he set the tone for Thai politics for decades to come, with a focus on infrastructure and economic development, openness to the outside world (especially fellow anti-Communist countries), and a complex - often befuddling - combination of democracy and military dictatorship.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced by the Publicity Department of the Shell Company of Thailand, Ltd. and was printed by George Philip and Son in Britain. It is undated, but appears to show the Mittraphap Road (National Highway 2) between Nong Khai and Nakhon Ratchasima as complete, which would date it to 1957 or later. Although the OCLC notes a handful of Shell maps and an atlas (Phǣnthī thanon nai Prathēt Thai) from the 1950s and 1960s that have similar bilingual titles, none of them nearly approach the immense proportions of this map. To our knowledge, the present map is a unique survival. Its size and detail suggest that it might have been intended for use by Shell itself in its Thai offices.