This thesis focuses on Thai-farang marriage relationshipsto highlight the reciprocal effects of Thai-farang cultural andsocial interactions and Thai social change. As the first major study of its kind the research was basedon indepth interviews with farang wives of Thai men. Theinierviewees were divided into two groups based upon the lengthof time the farang women had lived in Thailand

those who hadlived in Thailand more than 20 years and those who had lived inThailand less than 20 years. Age-generational differences in thefarang women's experiences revealed many areas of Thai social andcultural change, particularly in Thai family and gender-basedroles Thai social and cultural changes together with increasedThai-farang interactions over the past decades were seen toaffect the position of and relations with farang living inThailand. This thesis provides valuable first hand data and analysisand offers an alternative view of the effects of Thaisocio-economic development and socio-cultural changes ASexperienced and perceived by farang wives of Thai men. Questionswere posed and material provided which would be useful for-further research into Thai socio-economic development and socialchange, and the effects thereof upon Thai-farang relations, theposition of off-spring, luuk-khrueng, in Thai society andcomparative studies of cross-cultural marriage relationships.