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

2. To examine whether religion, the Chinese language, and Chinese language newspapers affected the assimilation processes of the Chinese in Thailand in the past century.

3. To collect data investigating the Skinnerian hypothesis from vari-ous groups of the Chinese who live in Bangkok in different areas and social environments. This investigation is aimed at discovering whether living in different areas affected the assimilation process for the ethnic Chinese in Bangkok in the past century.

4. To fill in the gaps and update the literature on overseas Chinese in Thailand with current data from the past century.

Research questions

Having explained the terminology of assimilation, it is now possible to elaborate on the main components of this study. To examine the Chinese community’s experience of assimilation in Thailand, the following questions are posed:

1. What are the factors, particular to Thailand, that facilitate the assimilation of the Chinese in Thailand and give them a different experience from their compatriots in neighboring countries?

2. Does the assimilation experience of the Chinese in Thailand support the Skinnerian paradigm,¹⁷ which assumes complete assimilation of the Chinese by the fourth generation?

Hypotheses

The forces of assimilation occur at two levels: On the first level, the Chinese in Thailand seem to have possessed natural attributes that facilitate social and cultural assimilation into Thai society. These factors do not operate alone and have been insufficient to prompt the complete assimilation of the Chinese. On the second level, the Thai government’s pro-assimilation policies, and the political situation in both Thailand and China, have also been responsible for the assimilation of the Chinese who reside in the Thai Kingdom.