許多學者認為區域研究與社會科學存在著階層關係（hierarchy），區域研究只是在補社會科學之不足，沒有以學科為基礎的區域研究不會有前途，只能訓練「低層次」的學者。但事實上，社會科學與區域研究的學術要求與標準不一：社會科學精於理論建構，強調區域的共通性；區域研究則精於尋找事實與收集數據，強調區域或國家的獨特性。本文希望由社會科學與區域研究的對話出發，自省「我的泰國研究對政治學的貢獻何在」？

Many scholars believe there is a hierarchical relationship between area studies and social science. As an interior level, area studies are supplemental to verify the theories contributed by social science. Area studies need to be supported by specific disciplines of social science. Otherwise, area studies will only produce second-rate scholars. This argument largely ignores different standards of requirements between social science and area studies. Social science is proficient in theory construction, emphasizing regional commonalities. Area studies are adept at fact searching and data gathering, stressing the uniqueness of areas and countries. In order to further explain the difference between area studies and social science, this article starts from the question of “What have my Thai Studies contributed to the Political Science?” to initiate a new conversation between social science and area studies.