1124 American Anthropologist [63, 19611

ent population groups separately, and then to enlarge, perhaps, on the more dominant
ones. This treatment would perhaps most appeal to anthropologists. To be able to pub-
lish such a work, however, it is necessary for the country in question to be well investi-
gated a t least with regard to representative sampling. This is far from the case where
Laos is concerned. Especially from an anthropological point of view, this country is
waiting for thorough field work. In a survey intending to give an introduction to Laos
summarizing the political and economic situation of the country, it is perhaps right to
consider the dominant population group, the Laotians, and to describe mainly their
institutions and activities.
This method, however, is likely to give a false impression because one may neglect
the importance of other population groups, The description given in this book gives one
the impression of dealing mainly with the southern Laotians, who are, no doubt, the
most numerous and from a political point of view the most important group. They are
mainly farmers, although the big towns and communities are also to be found in South
Laos. Furthermore, the southern Laotians have had the most contact with the French
and with people from other countries. Northern Laos was rather isolated until 1936
when the route over the Annamese mountain range (Route de la Reine Astrid) connect-
ing Vinh with Xieng-Khoang on the Tran-Ninh plateau (Plaine des Jarres) and Luang-
phrabang was opened.
Though the Laotians living in the northern part of this long country which lies along
the Mekong River are farmers, the farming here is often simple swidden cultivation in
contrast to the irrigated rice fields on the Southern Plains. The main occupation of the
northern Laotians, however, is the trading of products coming down the Mekong trib-
wtaries from the mountain tribes. The main Laotian villages are thus situated at the
mouths of these tributaries, certainly for commercially strategic reasons.
Laotian settlement is mainly concentrated on the Mekong. The remaining area of
Laos is inhabited by various tribes, speaking many different languages, dispersed in
forest-clad mountain regions. They usually lead a very isolated life and there are few
easily recognized paths leading to their habitations. These tribes are mentioned and
glimpses of their life are given, but in my opinion there is a disproportionate amount of
space given in this book to the highly developed Laotians and little to the primitive
mountain tribes. Although these tribes are not of great political importance, it would
have been desirable to know a little more about them in a book treating the whole of
Laos. And it might be mentioned here that very little is known about the social struc-
ture of the Laotians proper.
After surveying the history of the region, its geography, population, etc., the au-
thors provide an account of Laotian religion, social organization, education, aesthetic
life, and values. Some information on the contemporary scene is added. There are also
chapters on mass media, foreign politics, economy, and public health.
I n short, this book affords an excellent introduction to Laos. Those who wish to go
further are assisted by a good bibliography.

Leadership and Power in the Chinese Community in Thailand. G . WILLIAMSKINNER.

Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1958. xvii, 363 pp., appendices, 9 charts, 41 tables.
$6.50.
Reviewed by BARBARA E. WARD,Birkbeck ColleEe, University of London
This admirable book is Dr. Skinner’s second volume on the Chinese sector of
Thailand society. The first, Chinese Society in Thailand, provided us with a historical
 Book Reviews 1125
analysis which showed how for a long period Chinese immigrants were free to assimilate
completely to Thai culture until, in the second and third decades of the 20th century,
the rise of nationalism in both China and Thailand made this much more difficult.
Today, Chinese in Thailand find resistances to assimilation stemming not only from the
decreased tolerance of the Thais but also from the increase in their own internal reserva-
tions. However, it seems that unlike some other peoples in Southeast Asia the Thais do
still allow the possibility of assimilation, and many Chinese do in fact move with ease in
both the Chinese and the Thai sectors of society in, say, Bangkok.
In this second book, Dr. Skinner shifts to a synchronic approach. Taking the Thai
capital for the center of his inquiry-and rightly, for Bangkok is far and away the most
important Thai center of Chinese immigration considering both the numbers of Chinese
settled there and the preeminence of Bangkok leadership over the Chinese in the
country a t large-Dr. Skinner first made a list of Chinese occupying the highest posi-
tions in business and in associations. This first list, numbering 285 names in all, was
then submitted to a three-stage evaluation by three separate panels of “judges.” The
judges comprised about 90 individuals “roughly representative of the more knowledge-
able section of the Chinese middle class” and carefully selected in order to avoid bias
from known strong political partisanship, or shared speech (Chinese dialect) group
membership. They were asked to check all “the most important, most prominent and
widely recognised” leaders of the Chinese community, picking out the top ten especially
and also marking those they considered to be of second rank importance. Altogether,
135 men were selected, nearly all of whom were interviewed by Dr. Skinner personally
in 1952. I n 1955 he was able to make a second, similar study.
Personal interviews-in the conduct of which Dr. Skinner acknowledges very grace-
fully the invaluable help and meticulous diligence of his research assistant, Mr. James
T. Peng-were supplemented by four other sources of information: a complete survey of
the Bangkok Chinese press for the whole of 1952, and a series of three assessments by
“competent judges” of the wealth, “self-madeness,” and political affiliations of the 135
chosen men.
The material gathered in this way is presented in considerable detail and with great
lucidity. The leaders are predominantly China-born and the sons of businessmen. About
20 percent are described as having been “self-made from scratch,” that is, they began
with little or no capital or assistance from kin, and could “count only on their wits,
their hands and their luck”; just over 40 percent are described as “self-made” in that
they had very humble beginnings, but had some push from family or kin behind them;
and 39 percent had a good start already a t the beginning or even simply stepped into
their present positions as going concerns inherited from their fathers. In view of some of
the popular myths about the poverty stricken origins of all wealthy and powerful Over-
seas Chinese, these figures are interesting indeed. Of equal interest a t this kind of level
is the information about the source of wealth (almost always traceable to Thailand) and
the coincidence of wealth and leadership (only 10 percent were adjudged to be “not
really wealthy”). It is in accordance with evidence from elsewhere in the Nan Yang that
there should turn out to be in Thailand also a disproportionate preponderance of
wealth in the Teochiu and Hokkien groups, and it will not come as a surprise to students
from other areas that Teochiu is the lingua franca, though Thai, Mandarin, and English
are all of considerable importance.
Information of this nature, together with other interesting and significant facts
about the men and their past, is set out in Chapter 2 which concludes with eleven “case-
histories” chosen to illustrate different points. These add depth and color to the statis-
1126 American Anthropologist [63, 19611
tical analysis, and a t the same time give (as the writer intended) a fairly accurate im-
pression of Bangkok’s Chinese leaders. They are well written, essentially alive, and
convey absolute authenticity.
The subsequent chapters contain the meat of the book: Dr. Skinner’s analysis of the
bases of influence and power, the political nature of this leadership, its connections with
economic power, and its interlocking structure. It is in connection with the last of
these, in a chapter (Chapter 6) entitled “Control and the Inner Circle,” that Dr.
Skinner produces the diagrams which are a feature of both his analysis and his presenta-
tion. Having made the point that in Thailand Chinese business and political structures
“when defined in terms of leader positions are not only interdependent but inseparable,”
he proceeds to document it in a series of charts which demonstrate how both corpora-
tions and Chinese associations in Bangkok are united by virtue of having common offi-
cers. It is a situation well known already from other areas (see, for example, T’ien Ju-
K’ang’s description of Chinese leadership in his study of The Chilzese irt Sarawak pub-
lished in 1954) but nowhere has it been examined in such detail or presented with such
clarity. The method of diagramming, which is also and primarily a method of structural
analysis, is described in detail in Appendix 5 (pp. 337-46) to which readers of this re-
view are referred. It is, clearly, a method which can, theoretically at least, be used to
analyze almost any kind of relationships within a definable social group provided that
they are relationships that can be expressed in quantitative terms. To a reviewer un-
versed in statistical and mathematical methods of analysis, but reasonably well ac-
quainted with Chinese Overseas societies and with the study of interlocking relation-
ship structures a t the descriptive level, it seems full of promise.
The last three chapters of the book treat respectively’of assimilation to Thai culture
and society, stability and change over the three years which intervened between the two
stages of the study, and some of the trends in Chinese and Thai national politics which
affect and are likely to affect the structure of the Chinese community in Thailand. Dr.
Skinner’s final sentence sums up his conclusion, which is that “the entire Chinese com-
munity will inevitably move more rapidly toward complete assimilation to Thai
society.”
As I said a t the outset, this is an admirable book. Such criticism as a social anthro-
pologist who has worked in not dissimilar situations can make are few; but as Dr. Freed-
man (writing in Pacific Ajuirs, September 1958, pp. 300-4) points out it would have
been expected that an anthropologist would have used rather more direct observation,
would have given us more “sharpness” on family and kinship matters, and paid more
attention to religion. Dr. Skinner did not, in fact, rely upon interview results alone, but
even so there is a tendency to be a little naive about accepting everything he was told.
Furthermore, and again I follow Dr. Freedman here, one feels that the book is mis-
named. The method used means that it is not, in fact, a study of Chinese leadership, or
only indirectly so; it is, instead, a very excellent study of Chinese leaders. One of the
most interesting minor points about Dr. Skinner’s field work is that he made no at-
tempt to disguise himself or dress up the nature of his inquiries in any way. Prospective
interviewees were simply told the unvarnished truth: namely, that he was studying
Chinese leadership for Cornell University, and that the gentleman in question was
being asked for an interview because of the recognition he had received as a leader of the
community. And only 5 out of the 135 refused to play. This point is not picked out for
criticism; on the contrary. Alas that such an approach does not always bring such
favorable results!