1. Each Thai regards every other person in the social order as higher or lower
than himself. . . Based on the differences of in social standing, a hierarchy
arises where each person pays deference to all who stand above and is
deferred to by all below. . . In this society of unequals, Buddhist doctrine
urges each person to do what he can for the benefit of those who stand
below him in the hierarchy. By helping others a man gains a helper,
increases his own merit, and raises his own standing in the hierarchy. . .
This standard relationship of superior to inferior we have called patron
client relationship. . .It rests on reciprocity and in practice this is the key
to social intercourse. . . Every liaison between people in this society
takes on some forms of this patron–client relationship (Hanks, 1966,
pp. 198–199).