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The basis of Thai customs
and traditions lies in family, whose structure is of
bilateral descent. Like Chinese and some other Asian
people, the young are obliged to pay respect to and follow
the admission of parents, elders, teachers and Buddhist
monks who, in the old days, formed highly educated class.
After Buddhism had been spread throughout Thailand for
hundreds of years, the primitive animist belief of Thai
people was assimilated by Buddhist one. Wat
(Buddhist temple) became the center of the village. It was
the place where people received education, attended rites
and ceremonies and observed feasts and festivals all the
year around.
Today, traditional Thai way of living, especially in big
cities, has inevitably changed. However, it is still
preserved to a large extend in the faraway rural areas,
where modern civilization has failed to penetrate.
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