The class system in Thailand is a little different to that in certain other countries where the lower class Thais do not resent those in the upper class. In fact, the lower class may look up to the upper class and aspire to be in a similar situation. While the wealth in Thailand is predominantly in Bangkok, there is also a lot of money in the south of Thailand where a number of industries thrive.
While they live together harmoniously enough, many people from these two particular groups have very definite opinions about each other. Some "native" Thais consider Chinese Thai to be greedy because of the Chinese Thais' apparent love affair with money and their reluctance to part with it. As employers and when in business, some Chinese Thais have the reputation of being real penny pinchers, negotiating every price down to the last satang (1/100 th of baht!). Further, the Chinese Thais do not tend to be as friendly as the native Thais. The Chinese Thais do work hard and tend to be more driven and business oriented, like so many Chinese people throughout SE Asia and around the world. I have heard some Chinese Thais describe the Thai Thais as lazy. One could argue that the Thai Thais do not have the best work ethic in the world and some things tend to be done at their own pace and in their own time. Indeed, wherever you are in Bangkok, you will likely see peoples laying around, maybe even sleeping in the middle of the day. And I often join them because of the heat! I maintain that Thais as a race are amongst the most friendly people you could ever hope to meet. (The people in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia are very friendly too.) Notwithstanding these racial differences, there are not the same social problems in Thailand that exist in Malaysia, and especially Indonesia where there is real tension between the "Chinese locals" and the "native locals" - and indeed legislation in place that gives advantage to some groups.
Males and females are brought up in a very different manner in Thailand. Girls are taught to be prim and proper and to do everything in a most polite and feminine reab roy way. At times it seems the girls in Thailand today are brought up much the same way as they were 100 years ago, but as Thailand becomes more and more influenced by the West, girls are starting to become a little more rebellious, and not necessarily conform to the traditional model. Young boys on the contrary are given freedom and encouragement to roam and have fun. You can see symptoms of this within Thai society on a day to day basis. Only a small percentage of Thai females smoke and those that do tend to be from either the very high or the very low echelons of society, where smoking will not damage their social status, which is already secure. As a percentage of the population, many mire Thai males smoke than females, but not nearly as many as in the West. Watch Thai children in public - public transport is a good spot to observe. The Thai girl will set there quietly, minding her own business while the boys, in many cases, will be yahooing around having a riotous time! As their lives develop, some Thai men may become quite promiscuous whereas a married Thai woman would seldom stray away from her husband. While these stereotypes do still predominantly remain, things ARE changing - and in 20 years time, some people question whether Thai society will not be all that different from the West, notwithstanding that the current Government is doing all that it can to keep Thailand in the 20th century and retain the traditional Thai values and morals.
I'm not so sure I like the way the wealthy in Thailand seem to do things to protect their position in society by removing opportunities for the poorer folks and continually pushing them down. A bright kid from a poor background may miss out on the chance to study at a good school because of bribes paid to that school by the rich parents of a less intelligent kid to allow their kid to get a place that he / she really shouldn't have had. Yep, I have seen this first hand and have even had certain wealthy people tell me exactly how much it cost to get little Somchai into a good school. It is so often a case of the wealthy buying their way in society and trampling the opportunities of the poor. And then there is entry to certain prestigious institutes and establishments. This old boys club continues right through one's life time and the poor are almost slaves to the rich in many cases. This really winds me up so I had better leave this here.