This fascinating study explores how face functions as social capital for leaders in Thai society. It examines the anatomy of Thai face, ways to gain and lose face, patron-client dynamics, and the sources and paradigms of power. Ethnographic research gives voice to Thai leaders as they describe face behaviors and the flow of power in their society. The author compellingly reveals an indigenous but little-used pathway to virtuous leadership that empowers both leaders and followers, to the benefit of all. Written with academic rigor in a popular style, this book presents insights that are crucial to understanding and building strategic relationships in Thai society. Highlights • An insider’s account of Thai leadership based on sound ethnographic research • Examines the significance of face in Thai society • Reveals the pathways to power in the Thai context • Explores the relationship of Thai leaders and their followers • Identifies the qualities of virtuous leadership

During the past four decades an impressive corpus of manuscripts and epigraphical material in Thailand, Laos, and adjacent Tai-speaking areas has been surveyed, documented, and digitized. Scholarly interest in this material has not been restricted to philological and historical studies of the texts contained in manuscripts and inscriptions but has extended to its material aspects, which encompass manuscripts written on palm-leaf, various forms of paper, cloth, bamboo, and other organic material, and inscriptions on stone, metal, and wood. In Manuscript Cultures and Epigraphy of the Tai World, Volker Grabowsky seeks to explore the production, use, and transmission of manuscripts both as containers of traditional knowledge and as objects used in daily life, rituals, and ceremonies. Particular emphasis is given to the relationship between manuscripts and inscriptions, as both have influenced each other to no small degree. Through a comprehensive look at the Tai-language literature's chronological and synchronic development, readers will learn the social importance of these literary productions.