Материалы чтений памяти Б. Н. Мельниченко и С. Е. Трифонова

110 Economic activity of monopolies that were created byWestern pow- ers in their colonies in Southeast Asia, presented additional difficulties for the developing Chinese business in Siam. To protect their positions on the market, Chinese capitalists at the beginning of the 20 th centu- ry began to establish chambers of commerce, they were closed organi- zations only for members, their main purpose was mutual support, ex- change of commercial information, division of spheres of influence and settlement of disputes between their members. Initially, such chambers were established by spheres of economic activity, largely on the founda- tions of the old Chinese trade and craft guilds, later they expanded to city and regional scales, after which federations of Chinese chambers of commerce began to appear throughout the country. Bibliography Baker, Pasuk 2014 — ​C. Baker, P. Pasuk. A History of Thailand. 3 rd edition. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2014. The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas 1999 — ​The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Ed. by L. Pan. Surrey: Curzon Press, 1999. Kitajskie etnicheskie gruppy v Yugo-Vostochnoj Azii 1986 — ​Kitajskie et- nicheskie gruppy v Yugo-Vostochnoj Azii. / Pod red. G. F. Kim, G. I., Levinson, G. I. Chufrin. Moskva: Nauka, 1986. Shustrov 2006 — ​P. E. Shustrov. Ekonomicheskaya politika gosudarstva v Tailande (1945–2005 gg.): dis. …kand. ekon. nauk.: 08.00.14. M., 2006. Skinner 1957 — ​G.W. Skinner. Chinese society in Thailand: An Analytical His- tory. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1957.