Practical Buddhism Among the Thai-Lao: Religion in the Making of a Region (Kyoto Area Studies on Asia)

Based on long-term fieldwork, Hayashi presents the local history of Thai-Lao religion and society, up to and including its present-day dynamics. Working from the analytical premise that concepts such as Buddhism and magic are intrinsic to the multi-faceted statements of the people who live in the particular locality, Hayashi describes the diachronic process and the dynamics of indigenous religious "knowledge" in this regional context.