Some of Benedict's topics, such as the importance of fun (sanuk), have fallen out of favor in contemporary discussions of Thai character and attitudes toward life. It did appear in Phillops's (1996) analysis of Bang Chan as well as some other works. The most extensive discussion of fun occurs in Mulder's (1978) analysis of Thai values and interactions, a work that strongly resembles the earlier national character studies,. Tom Kirsch was interested in exploring what happened to "sanuk" in the analyses of Thailand but passed away before he could do so.
Other elements of Benedict's analysis made sense because she accurately presented the ethnographic reality of central Thai life. This is remark able, given the limits of her sources. Benedict's work is not cited to support modern ethnographic observation, a consequence of its relative obscurity its "old-fashioned" analytical stylc, and the lack of fieldwork-based research.