Book
Inside Thai society: interpretations of everyday life
The Pepin Press • Amsterdam • Published In 1996 • Pages:
By: Mulder, Niels.
Abstract
This is an ambitious work that seeks to identify the cognitive orientation of the Central Thai and Thai accommodation to modernity. Influenced by Buddhism and animism, the Thai see the world in terms of an inside realm of order and moral goodness (KHUNA) and an outside realm of raw power (DECHA). The inside realm includes family, reciprocity, and friendship. It is dominated by the image of the all-loving and self-sacrificing mother, to whom everyone is eternally indebted. The outer realm is one of hierarchy, status rivalry, and patron-client relationships, where one does nothing to offend and provoke others. The outside realm is an arena of careful presentation of self, which Mulder argues has been misunderstood by sociologists as an expression of individualism. This world view has resigned the Thai to rapid change, because the outside world lies beyond their control, however, it makes difficult the development of a civic society, that is a moral realm outside of the most intimate social relationships. Mulder's insights are based on participant observation, contemporary literature, and primary school text books
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnographer
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 1998
- Field Date
- 1965-1975
- Coverage Date
- 1855-1995
- Coverage Place
- Thailand
- Notes
- Niels Mulder
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 182-186) and index
- LCSH
- Thais