Which is the only country in Southeast Asia never to have been colonized by a European power?
European colonisation of Southeast Asia and control prices of the highly desired Southeast Asian commodities. By the 19th century, virtually all Southeast Asian lands had been forced into the various spheres of influence of European global players. Siam, which had served as a convenient buffer state, sandwiched between British Burma and French Indochina was the only country to avoid direct foreign rule. However, its kings had to contend with repeated humiliations, accept unequal treaties among massive British and French political interference and territorial losses after the Franco-Siamese War in 1893 and the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. The second phase of European colonisation of Southeast Asia
European colonisation of Southeast Asia economic dependence had become real by the 19th century, as Southeast Asia was now an integral provider of material and resources for the European economies. In order to keep pace with surplus output, European manufacturers pushed the development of markets in new territories, such as Southeast Asia, which led to the next phase of establishing imperial rule. Transformation of political institutions in the colonies aimed at the full consolidation of the monopoly markets by their European planners. However, industrialisation took place against increasing competition among the European powers. This was encouraged by changes in the continental balance of power. The