国籍与职业对跨文化敏感度的影响

在对中国和泰国的833位英语专业大学生、非英语专业大学生和跨国公司员工进行调查后发现,中国人的跨文化敏感度要比泰国人高;而在中国和泰国的各自样本内,英语专业学生和跨国公司员工的跨文化敏感度要高于非英语专业学生.研究结果证明,在文化价值取向相同或相似的文化集团内部,存在着文化行为和交际行为的显著性差异,这些差异根据经典的文化理论无法得到合理的解释,而用跨文化敏感的五个层面,即交际参与度、差异认同感、交际信心、交际愉悦感和交际专注度来进行分析,可以得出进一步的结论,但这一研究的局限是没有将英语能力作为变量在样本成员中进行对比.     

Adoption of web-based order-processing systems: experiences from tier-1 suppliers in the automotive supply chain

This research studies automobile industry suppliers in Thailand, who have implemented VMI using web-based order-processing technology. It examines their motivations and barriers for implementing the technology, and identifies the enabling factors with greatest impact on the outcomes of such implementation. Data was obtained from 70 tier-1 suppliers of the two biggest automobile assemblers in Thailand. Exploratory factor analysis was used to construct motivation, enabling factors, difficulties/barriers and outcomes of web-based order-processing technology implementation. Multiple linear regression was then used to examine the relationships between enabling factors and operational outcomes. The results show that improving customer responsiveness and the need to retain competitive advantage rather than cost-based orientation were the primary drivers of implementation of web-based order processing. This case provides insights to enable successful implementation by organisations that are planning to deploy the technology, particularly in the early stages of technological diffusion in emerging economies.     

Contesting Isan‐ness: discourses of politics and identity in Northeast Thailand

This paper discusses the idea of Isan (Northeastern Thai) ethnoregional identity, and its relationship with two major alternative ideas: Thai identity and Lao identity. Drawing on ethnolinguistic research, the paper argues that Isan identity is a problematic political construct, reflecting ambiguous self‐understandings and self‐representations on the part of Northeasterners. Northeasterners are engaged in a negotiation process about their relationships with Thai and Lao identities, relationships fraught with cultural, social and political ramifications. The study suggests a more nuanced appreciation of the ambiguities of Isan identity than has yet been proposed.     

Below-replacement fertility in Thailand and its policy implications

The fertility transition in Thailand has been one of the most rapid among Asian countries that are yet to attain newly industrialized country status. In the early 1960s, the total fertility rate exceeded six births per woman; currently, it stands at 1.9 or slightly below replacement level. At present, it is hard to predict the future trend in fertility as this involves several factors that need much closer study, in particular, fertility preferences, changes in marriage patterns and the wider effects of the current economic crisis in Thailand. Rapid declines in fertility and mortality have had a profound effect on the age structure of the population, notably the increasing elderly proportion. Thailand now faces new challenges and priorities for population policy. Policy responses to concerns arising from below-replacement fertility will be much more complex and involve greater government activism, improved institutional capacities and more resources than in the past. This paper reviews the fertility transition in Thailand and looks at some consequences and policy implications of low fertility, with special reference to the family and the elderly population. National Statistical Office     

Intellectual paths of Thailand’s first generation China scholars: a research note on encountering and choices of Khien Theeravit and Sarasin Viraphol

This article studies the oral history interviews of two China scholars in Thailand by drawing upon each scholar’s encountering and choices. The focal points of the interviews are placed on their professional as well as social and on their local as well as international encountering with Chinese that shaped their choices and consequently their different intellectual paths and contribution to the knowledge and understanding of China in Thailand. The analysis compares and contrasts the factors similar and different to the first generation China scholars in Thailand.     

Culture and language promotion in Thailand: implications for the Thai Lao minority of introducing multilingual signage

This article examines the introduction of multilingual Thai/Thai Lao/English signage in commercial areas of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Khon Kaen University, the principal tertiary university for the 19 million citizens of Northeast Thailand, the majority of whom are of the minority ‘Thai Lao’ ethnicity, an ideological construction that is presented in some detail. This introduction of signage followed a previous study to introduce officially sanctioned multilingual direction-giving signage, including the main faculty sign, in three prominent areas of the Faculty. The survey employed a complex methodology to survey the opinions of 300 students together with observation of students and interviews with members of the faculty. The research type is therefore a mixed-methodology investigation of identity and language policy planning, cultural promotion, glocalization, Gal and Irvine’s semiotic ideology structuration process, the (urban) linguistic landscape and Bourdieu’s theories of social reality. The study found high levels of support for the signage from the student body, members of the faculty and the stallholders themselves.     

泰国北部阿卡族的文化人类学调查

作者阐述了阿卡族的族源、迁徙过程、人口及分布,分析了阿卡族社会结构、生产方式、宗教信仰等方面的变迁。