Thai village crafts

[Nik13]

Thai village crafts, as with other cultures, have developed through the principle that form follows function and incorporate readily available materials fashioned using traditional skills.

A) as with
B) as did those of
C) as they have in
D) like in
E) like those of

[dashingnightmare]

Here we are comparing thai village crafts with other crafts,
Like those of makes sense, where those refers to other crafts
Hence E

[SIAK]

Thai village crafts, as with other cultures, have developed through the principle that form follows function and incorporate readily available materials fashioned using traditional skills.

A) as with
B) as did those of
C) as they have in
D) like in
E) like those of

Rule 1: for comparing nouns, Like must be used.
Rule 2: focus on what's being compared. here, Crafts (thai village) is compared to crafts(other culture).
NOUN must be compared to Noun, Gerund to a Gerund.
Rule 3: replace Noun with pronoun for more stylish usage and concision, if possible.

A,B,C ruled out - Rule 1
D ruled out - Rule 2
D tells that thai village crafts like in other cultures which is not correct.
thai village here is adjective modifying the noun "Crafts"
Basically, noun is compared to Prepositional phrase in D and is incorrect

Therefore, E
those in E is referring to its antecedent "Crafts" and not "thai village Crafts"
a pronoun can refer to one antecedent, and here in E its Crafts.