The Chinese Émigrés of Thailand in the Twentieth Century By Disa ...

They point out that if Skinner was right and assimilation took place on an ongoing basis, then the Chinese could not survive as “Chinese” in Thailand.²² However, Chan and Tong argue there are a substantial number of ethnic Chinese in present-day Thailand and that communities of ethnic Chinese are strong, as evident in Chinese associations and the numerous private Chinese schools in and around Bangkok. Furthermore, the authors point to their observation that Chinese as a language remains in use and that Thai has not replaced Chinese as the predominant language spoken by the Chinese in Thailand. Rather, the Chinese in Thailand are bilingual and choose to speak either language in certain social settings or situations. In their fieldwork, Chan and Tong encountered many instances where their subjects spoke a mix of Chinese and Thai at home. Similarly, Chinese businessmen prefer to conduct their affairs in Chinese. The authors cite their meeting with a Chinese shopkeeper who spoke to his clients in Thai but spoke to the other shopkeepers in a Chinese dialect as an example.²³ Drawing from these experiences during their fieldwork in Thailand, Chan and Tong conclude that bilingualism and the usage of different languages in different environments signify the maintenance of the Chinese cultural identity.²⁴

Chan and Tong’s research receives attention because it counters Skinner’s theory, which has been the basis for other scholarly research in this area over the past 30 years. Most importantly, during this time, there has been a dearth of literature that pays direct attention to the Chinese in Thailand. Chan and Tong’s work has been by far the most respected work that counters the prominent Skinnerian paradigm. As such, a work that supports the Skinnerian paradigm must address Chan and Tong’s findings. This book will provide new evidence to show that Chan and Tong’s findings were not quite correct and have become obsolete over the past ten years, adding to the debate on whether or not the complete assimilation of ethnic Chinese in Thailand occurs by the fourth generation.

Furthering the Research

However, a perplexing aspect about Chan and Tong’s research is that they did not cite any statistical data to substantiate their claims against Skinner’s findings. Rather, the authors rely on Punyodyana’s data on bilingualism collected in 1971, which is outdated for the current environment.