Also typical is a tendency to overestimate the permanence and past longevity of cultural practices and reify them as “ancient” traditions. This often occurs in conjunction with romanticizing these “traditional” practices and underestimation of the hardships associated with them (see Phongpaichit & Baker, 1995 for a discussion of “traditional” Thai peasant life with attention to its hardships and its dynamic character). Because of the limitations of existing informants and research literature, par-ticipatory research strategies become imperative. Thailand provides many useful examples of how this has been done. Typically, this has involved the use of qualitative (e.g., interviews, focus groups, observations) and quantitative (e.g., survey) methods as well as efforts to involve participants in the development of instruments, intervention designs, intervention materials, and program refinements.