This textbook was used fot the Ethnicity in Mainland Southeast Asia course with an aim to provide a general background of Southeast Asia on the adaptation to socio-cultural contexts that have resulted in cultural diversity with similarities and differences. The book was based on cultural evolution theories as the framework. The contents are divided into four parts as follows.
Part 1 is on religious evolution theory of Robert Bellah, which is used to explain socio-cultural development in the region in order to perceive an overview of social development in the region and to understand Thai and global societies in comparison with other regional and Western societies.
Part 2 is concerned with the pre-history period up to the present of indigenous and ethnic groups in the region. It also provides the relationship background between highlanders and lowlanders with different lifestyles but with continuous mutual relationships until the colonization period that resulted in ethnic minority problems and demands on ethnic rights.
Part 3 is about an attempt to understand the animistic belief system before the advent of Buddhism in the region via rituals about fertility, funerals and the belief in ancestral spirits of the Khmu.
Part 4 deals with an attempt to understand ethnic awareness of various groups toward themselves and their neighbors via legends and tales that reflect cultural and racial assimilation of the peoples in the region.