Customer Reviews

Inside Thai Society

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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.

"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/

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.