however, are masked with Buddhist symbolism even where contradictory to much of the core of theoretical which Buddhism, a phenomenon occurs in other religions as well. Almost any aspect of worldview characteristic of the area, and ny area religious practices, are in corporated comfortaby into Thai Buddhism if they allow a few bols like a temple, mer making activity, and a statue of the Buddha Some core ideas in the Buddhist worldview, furthermore, have been very powerful in forming the social, political and linguistic reality which is Thailand today (chap. 19; Tambiah 1976: Keyes 1978:30 Nation is not as controversial as religion for Thai ethnicity, but it includes several dimensions. One of the seis the sa, e legal polii cal entity, with defined geographical boundaries established by treaties with other countries, plus citizenship. But within this territorial expanse comes a gradation of significance for assessing "Thainess. Thai territory is organized around centers, of which the supreme is Bangkok (Tambiah 1976:102-158). Bangkok is the core of the country, and in it "Thainess s most perfectly expressed. The farther you get from Bangkok, the more peripheral the area, the less per fectly Thai. Peripheral areas are expected to imitate, to follow Bang- kok. Another component in the category of nation is the government the social structure and processes of the state. It has a triple hierarchy consisting of the civil bureaucracy, the military (especially the army) and the organization of Buddhist monks. All are centered in Bangkok; ll dominate in their respective spheres throughout the country. This strongly vertical national social correlates also with the organization territorial gradation mentioned above. The third component in nation consists of the Thai people, one of whose main features is speaking a Tai language. Many varieties, some of them mutually unintelligible, are lumped together in the Thai understanding of "Thai With Standard Thai a the peak, then the regional and displaced Tai languages ranging underneath, all Tai lan guages are "true Thai" in the ethnic sense, but again, Standard Thai from Bangkok represents the epitome. The Thai population is also organized into elaborate social struc- tures which are strong features of Thai ethnic belonging (chaps 3 and which have to be learned by those who would become culturally Thai. That learning may be painful and degrading, however, as when the proud, independent Mien feel that they have to become obse quious with elaborate deferential behavi to become Thai. Mien cul ture