On 17 November 1946, at Washington, the Settlement Agreement between France and Siam was signed, with protocol, declaration and exchange of letters. Plenipotentiaries: Henri Bonnet and Guillaume Georges-Picot for the Provisional Government of the French Republic; Prince Wan Waithayakon and Khuang Aphaiwong for the King of Siam. French and Siamese, equally authentic. United Nations Treaty Series: No. 4943, volume 344, p. 59. It is not the Anglo-Thai treaty of 1 January 1946 and not the Tokyo Convention of 9 May 1941, which this Agreement annuls.

The preamble: the ideal of the United Nations; the views expressed by the United States and United Kingdom Governments; restoration of traditional peace and friendship. Article I: the Tokyo Convention of 9 May 1941, heretofore repudiated by the French Government, is annulled and the status quo ante restored; the Indochinese territories covered by that Convention shall be transferred to the French authorities under the Protocol concluded the same day. Article II: immediately after signature, diplomatic relations shall be restored and relations shall again be governed by the Treaty of 7 December 1937 and the Commercial and Customs Agreement of 9 December 1937; the Parties shall communicate this Agreement to the Security Council; Siam shall withdraw its complaint; France shall no longer oppose the admission of Siam to the United Nations.

Article III: immediately after signature, France and Siam shall constitute, under article XXI of the 1937 treaty, a Conciliation Commission of two representatives of the Parties and three neutrals, in accordance with the General Act of Geneva of 26 September 1928. The Commission shall begin work after the transfer of the territories. It shall examine the ethnic, geographical and economic arguments of the parties in favour of revision or confirmation of the Treaty of 3 October 1893, the Convention of 13 February 1904 and the Treaty of 23 March 1907, maintained in force by article XXII of the 1937 treaty. Article IV: upon restoration of diplomatic relations, negotiations on all pending questions; financial questions, including sums payable as compensation for damage, shall go to the Commission if the Parties fail to agree directly within three months. Article V: entry into force upon signature.

The Protocol: within twenty days, schedules of immovable public property and lists of delegates; communal, provincial and court archives and cadastral plans, within two months. Siamese forces between the then frontier and the former line (article 22 of 1937) shall start on the twentieth day and, within seven days at latest, be beyond the former frontier; French forces shall start the day after evacuation begins and shall not reach the former line earlier than seven days, keeping a constant distance. A Franco-Siamese Mixed Military Staff Commission, in principle at Battambang, with sub-commissions at Sisophon, Moung, Kralank and Bassac; neutral observers, in particular British and American officers. The Protocol enters into force upon signature.

Bonnet’s declaration: France resumes possession of the Indochinese territories referred to in article I, second paragraph, on behalf of the Cambodian and Lao Governments. Exchange of letters: inhabitants who acquired Siamese nationality under the 1941 Convention are reintegrated as of right in their former nationality; those of original Siamese nationality retain it and may leave with movable property, keeping ownership of immovable property. DONE in duplicate at Washington, 17 November 1946, corresponding to the 2489th year of the Buddhist Era.

Washington, D.C., the Harry S. Truman Building of the Department of State. The city of the signing, not the confirmed 1946 hall. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

For context: Franco-Thai settlement treaty of 1946. The text: UNTS vol. 344, No. 4943.