imitates Chinese chain mail (shanwenkai), a kind of textile with the chain and the head of the beast on it are painted patterns, not real metal,
Yes, as you know, similar imitations of the "armor of the hieroglyph of the mountain" were used in China itself.
The nuance is that along with Chinese and Central Asian models of armor in the Qing period, classic chain mail of the West Asian/European pattern was also used.
Very limited, but still yes, and the maximum distribution falls just in the second half of the 18th century.
At the same time, in the conditions of Thailand, the use of classical chain mail makes some sense.
In a hot and humid climate, armor consisting of plates riveted to a fabric base or bound with belts/silk cords will have obvious problems. The same Japanese encountered them, although the conditions on the islands are by no means Thai.
Trite, having collected water, such armor will immediately become heavier, significantly lose mobility due to swollen belts / cords / fabric. At the same time, silk noticeably loses its strength when wet, and the combination of humidity with high temperature is very problematic for the skin. In addition to a direct threat, this means that the skin needs to be dried with precautions.If a Thai man just casually hung his armor next to the fire, he could have big problems. At the same time, in the "military-tropical" reality, you will have to dry often and quickly.
Further, in the tropics, there are especially many small lovers of quickly eating wet organic matter. That is, in the long term, such armor will be short-lived and they will have to be constantly repaired.
In such a context, pure metal armor will have obvious advantages.
At the same time, the iron armor will also desperately rust. The way out is to use brass, etc.
In general, in the end we come to something in the style of Moro armor – based on classic chain mail, but made of brass / bronze. Usually, the use of such materials is interpreted as a consequence of a lack of iron, but ... Even if it is a matter of iron deficiency, the advantages of such an approach in the humid tropics were still obvious.
At the same time, in 1786, Thailand bought 2000 brass armor, which is just atypical for China itself. Which, on the one hand, indicates a desire to have specialized, tropical armor, on the other – a possible reference to the experience of other users of stainless armor. And they, as mentioned above, focused on West Asian/Indian models with classic chain mail.
In general, the theory is not just shaky, but extremely dubious. Among other things, we do not even know how the plates were fastened in the "armor of the hieroglyph of the mountain", while there are Thai images of "mountain" armor, but chain mail is not. But the use of classical chain mail in Thailand was
theoretically possible, in my opinion.
Naturally, this has nothing to do with the creation of units. It's just a national Russian entertainment - "come up with a strange theory on the weekend"
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