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Development Success in Asia Pacific pp 123–157Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Thailand: Normative Heritage and Pragmatic Adjustments

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Abstract

Let us now examine the development process of Thailand, one of the larger countries within the ASEAN. The bulk of the Thais are Buddhists, consequently, Buddhist cultural influences are noticeable not only on its society but also on its development in general. Moreover, as is the case in all the ASEAN countries, the Chinese component of its population has registered a quicker pace of economic development. It in turn has been deeply influenced by its cultural heritage of Confucianism, traditional Chinese values as preserved and modified by them as an immigrant group, and, above all, its recently manifested pragmatic ability to make a breakthrough as agents of commercial, technological and managerial revolution in the region. Not only that, the relatively greater acceptance of the Chinese in Thailand, and to some extent their assimilation into Thai society itself, has had a far-reaching impact on the Thai economy.

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Notes and References

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  8. Edmund Leach also argued: ‘Theological philosophy is often greatly preoccupied with the life hereafter; practical religion is connected with the life here and now.’ From Introduction by E. R. Leach to Dialectic in Practical Religion, edited by E. R. Leach. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1968), p. 1.

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  43. For a detailed discussion of civil society and political society see A. H. Somjee, Political Society in Developing Countries (London: Macmillan, 1984).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Canada

    A. H. Somjee (Professor Emeritus) & Geeta Somjee (Adjunct Professor of Political Science)

Authors
  1. A. H. Somjee
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  2. Geeta Somjee
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© 1995 A. H. Somjee and Geeta Somjee

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Somjee, A.H., Somjee, G. (1995). Thailand: Normative Heritage and Pragmatic Adjustments. In: Development Success in Asia Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230371675_5

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