Inside Thai Society [Paperback]

Niels Mulder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1997

Thailand is often called the "Land of Smiles," a nickname which sounds at once pleasant and mysterious. It is said that the Thais have a smile for every emotion, and with so many nuances of smiling, the smile often hides more than it reveals. Inside Thai Society looks behind smiles and appearances in order to discover those regularities and expectations that pervade everyday life. It identifies the basic ideas that give meaning and order to existence and that make life in Thai society eminently reasonable. "A classic work on Thai society" --The Nation "Inside Thai Society is widely held to be the best interpretation available of the Thais and the Thai world view"-- Bankok Post

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Inside Thai Society is widely held to be the best interpretation available of the Thais and the Thai world view." -- Bankok Post

"A classic work on Thai society." -- The Nation

"Inside Thai Society is widely held to be the best interpretation available of the Thais and the Thai world view." -- Bankok Post --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

For more than thirty years Dr. Niels Mulder has been actively engaged with life in Java, Thailand and the Philippines. As an independent anthropologist, he now focuses on the factors that fuel the cultural dynamics of contemporary Southeast Asia. His books include Inside Thai Society: an Interpretation of Everyday Life; Inside Indonesian Society: Cultural Change in Java; and Everyday Life in the Philippines: a Southeast Asian Interpretation of Filipino Culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9054960272
• ISBN-13: 978-9054960270
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,326,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An in depth understanding of Thai culture., November 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Thai Society (Paperback)

This book is for those who are very interested in digging deeper into the culture and daily lifestyle of Thailand and its people. It is more than just a toursist guide to the highlights of the country. The book explains the history behind many of the cultural traditions we see in Thailand today. It is wonderfully expressive in talking about the daily lives of the average Thai person. How religion effects their daily lives. It is a great book and well worth reading if you want to begin to understand the real life of a Thai person and their culture. It is one of the favorite books I have on my bookshelf.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent insightful relevant sociology of Thai people and culture, March 27, 2009

By 

Jeff McNeill (Green Cove Springs, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Thai Society: Religion, Everyday Life, Change (Paperback)

"Inside Thai Society" has been through several revisions, with the core insights developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

While the book has a dated tone regarding economics, and at times takes an overly didactic and academic style, it is still quite readable.

This edition was finished in 1999, and therefore does not take into account the last 10 years, including the impact of former Prime Minister Thaksin. See also this great book on the rise of Thaksin http://www.amazon.com/Thaksin-Business-Politics-Pasuk-Phongpaichit/dp/9749575555/929-20/

This is not a lightweight read, but rather attempts to explore and explain the interpretive structures of Thai society, including the prominent role of Buddhism and animism, Thai education, and Thai politics. It is a solid work of sociological scholarship.

Overall, the logic of Thai society is patiently explicated. To the author's credit, his interpretive whole comes out as extremely reasonable.

As someone who lives in Thailand, I find this book one of the few with more than a superficial and dismissive view of the Thai people. Many books on Thai culture make the fundamental error of overtly or covertly characterizing Thai society is immature or underdeveloped.

Mulder's work takes Thai society on as it is directly lived and understood by the Thai people. In doing so the inner logic is presented in its full complexity.

Highly recommended.

Another work with excellent cultural and sociological insight is http://www.amazon.com/Working-Thais-Guide-Managing-Thailand/dp/9748496503/929-20/

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars thai society: interpertation of everyday life, March 21, 2011

By 

rex - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inside Thai Society (Paperback)

good, straigh forward info, I have been to thailand many time, and the book helped crack a few of the codes people use everyday, but still travel off the tour groups path is still the best way to understand what is going on around you.