I didn't mean to imply they were mutually exclusive. If anything, I suspect the reality is a mixture.

--

I have to ask, though, where are you getting the idea that ไทย ("Thai") also translates to "free", or that it's pre-WW2?

Google Translate doesn't list that as a translation for "free" at all, and thai-language.com mostly lists that in the context of the Free Thai movement ([a WW2 anti-Japanese resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Thai_Movement)).

There's probably some subtleties I'm missing, but it really seems like a niche definition.