Thai Etequette

[Big Boy]

On another thread, Vital Spark wrote:

Wouldn't it be a good idea if the guest houses and hotels had a simply worded etiquette guide in the rooms, for those tourists who haven't a clue about Thai culture. Just a page or two would be enough to cover the major points.

And I know that Richard has suggested the same.

This got me thinking about what a good idea it would be if there was a Etiquette Guide page on this forum. I accept that most members would not need to use it, but judging by the number guests that are always viewing the pages, I would guess that you would be educating a lot of newcomers to Thailand.

[lomuamart]

On another thread, Vital Spark wrote:

Wouldn't it be a good idea if the guest houses and hotels had a simply worded etiquette guide in the rooms, for those tourists who haven't a clue about Thai culture. Just a page or two would be enough to cover the major points.

And I know that Richard has suggested the same.

This got me thinking about what a good idea it would be if there was a Etiquette Guide page on this forum. I accept that most members would not need to use it, but judging by the number guests that are always viewing the pages, I would guess that you would be educating a lot of newcomers to Thailand.

Take a look at www.tourismhuahin.com
Under the culture page.
I'm sure there's more to be added. This was the "launch" version.

[Big Boy]

lomuamart,

I had missed that section on the tourism page. You are right, it is a good start. Unfortunately, it is so nicely done people actually have to read the page to pick out the key bits - not a problem, but I know of many who can't actually read such a page on their PC - no criticism of their reading ability. I work with many people who would have to print that page to read it - how many of us bother to do that when they're surfing the net?

The type of thing I was thinking about was something similar to the etiquette guide I read about 100 years ago before my first visit to Thailand. It was a very basic set of Bullet Points in fairly large text - each bullet just a few words long with no explanation. If you wanted know why, you had to research a little further. The bullets basically listed the major don'ts during your visit in Thailand.

[lomuamart]

Bullet points are not a bad idea. Let's see what the compilers think.

[DawnHRD]

Just read that page, Lomu & I'd add the stuff about heads & feet - you know, don't point with feet, don't step over people, don't stand on a banknote (heaven forbid!), don't ruffle people's hair or touch their heads. Don't sit on a higher level than a Thai with your feet dangling inches from their heads (as I saw on a visa run boat a couple of weeks ago!) ....

[lomuamart]

Yes, there's that and trying not to pass between people who are talking.
Suppose most of them are common sense anyway. I wouldn't indicate people by a gesture with my foot - at least not intentionally. Not a natural thing to do.
As the compilers said, there's two sacred cows not to mess around with. I've noticed others, like ruffling someone's hair, becoming much more common - but only to children. You wouldn't generally have done that here years ago.
Going out for a meal with Thai people. Quite often it can be a "big" mistake to offer to pay anything towards a bill. The "host" takes care of everything. Happened to me once when I slipped out of the restaurant and bought another bottle of JW. The Thais weren't impressed, but let me get away with it.
And language!!!!
Beach wear in the wrong places is just one aspect of the whole thing.

[PeteC]

[quote="lomuamart"]Yes, there's that and trying not to pass between people who are talking.
quote]

Except......when a family meeting is taking place and an entire aisle in Tesco or Carrefore is blocked, they can kindly take that custom and shove it where the sun don't shine. Pete

[STEVE G]

Pete, I like the way those same family groups all block the bottom of a shopping mall escalator whilst they decide if they are going to go up it, and then when they get to the top they all stop again to decide why they are there.

[lomuamart]

Yes, there's that and trying not to pass between people who are talking.
quote]

Except......when a family meeting is taking place and an entire aisle in Tesco or Carrefore is blocked, they can kindly take that custom and shove it where the sun don't shine. Pete

But I was well versed in supermarket manners before I came over here, Pete.
Many a time my frustration showed at the Nine Elms branch of Sainsburys (at Vauxhall Cross in South London - I remember it well).
On three occasions at least my uncontrollable trolley ran over old people and had a mind of it's own when I saw the checkout. I just left it and walked off. Far superior behaviour and etiquette that way than starting to shout.
I've learned to let my wife do most of the shopping over here in HH. Much better for my general health and well-being. He he.

[PeteC]

We've touched on a good point here, which in a way goes along with the "Tin Shacks" thread.

Most of us now practice correct Thai etiquette as if we were born here.

However, I will be damned if I'll walk on egg shells or bow and scrape simply because I am a "guest" here if I see rude and inconsiderate behaviour from Thai's. I have and will continue to give them stares that would sink a ship, and they indeed get my meaning without a word being said.

Now, if that results in bad thoughts about farangs, so be it. I would hope it would be a signal that their behaviour is unacceptable to both farang and considerate, well bred and well educated Thai's alike. Pete

[DawnHRD]

We've touched on a good point here, which in a way goes along with the "Tin Shacks" thread.

Most of us now practice correct Thai etiquette as if we were born here.

However, I will be damned if I'll walk on egg shells or bow and scrape simply because I am a "guest" here if I see rude and inconsiderate behaviour from Thai's. I have and will continue to give them stares that would sink a ship, and they indeed get my meaning without a word being said.

Now, if that results in bad thoughts about farangs, so be it. I would hope it would be a signal that their behaviour is unacceptable to both farang and considerate, well bred and well educated Thai's alike. Pete

I'm glad you posted this Pete & also glad it's here & not on "Tin Shacks", because I don't want Sarge thinking I'm firing anything at him. I'm not.
It's just I wanted to relate something I saw today which left me gobsmacked, especially in light of the present threads about Thai culture & etiquette.
I was walking home after feeding some street dogs & saw a motorbike coming my way swerve out of it's path so one of the riders could kick a dog. I confess I paid a lot more attention to this bike because of this. When it drew nearer I could see there were 3 adult Thais (of the tin shack type, I'm afraid)on the bike. I was trying to work out who was riding it, female in front and 2 males behind. As I was trying to work out whose hands were on the handles, I noticed that the center male was openly and quite intensely fondling one of the woman's breasts. In broad daylight, on a busy road.
Now, I'm not prudish, but I've never seen public behaviour like this by Thais. My mouth just dropped open. I will still absolutely agree that many farang are extremely offensive in word & deed when they come here, but now I'm not sure that we are the only culprits...

[PeteC]

Dawn, there is another thing here no one has brought up. That is, many of these people doing construction work are NOT Thai's. They are legal (and sometimes illegal) imported labor from Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

These past two weeks over here we've been visiting many housing developments in the Rayong area. Neung stated that she did not understand one word the workers were speaking as they were working. No, it was not some strange Issan dialect and not even Lao from what she heard.

This fact is a whole new ingredient in the soup as we talk about tin shacks, etiquette and the entire Farang/Thai relationship. In the case of the above workers, we Farangs are more courtious to them than the Thai's themselves are...by far! Why?...because in most cases we don't know they are not Thai and treat them as we would anyone else. Pete

PS: My story on the "Beware!!!" thread. Pattaya was in a huge building boom before the 1997 crash. Migrant construction workers everywhere from neighboring countries. The crime rate went up, considerably. Don't be shocked if this is what you're seeing concerning B&E's and thefts in HH now with the all the development going on there.

[DawnHRD]

Point taken. I must admit, I have no knowledge of their nationalities, they looked like dark-skinned Thais to me, but they could have been from one of those countries. Don't they have the same cultural values as Thais, then?

[PeteC]

Point taken. I must admit, I have no knowledge of their nationalities, they looked like dark-skinned Thais to me, but they could have been from one of those countries. Don't they have the same cultural values as Thais, then?

"Cultural values" is a can of worms. Born and raised in Burma, Cambodia or Laos = North Korean style governance, Khumer Rouge memories, communist country that still makes people 'disappear', in that order.

Thailand to them may be like us waking up and finding ourselves in a 5 star hotel suite on Tahiti. I think values for those who have to survive and make a living as a migrant in SE Asia may have gone out the window long ago. Not with all but with most. Sad and deep subjects we're talking about here and certainly, I have no proof, just gut feeling. Pete

[STEVE G]

Being from close to Cambodia, my partner speaks a bit of Kmer, and she tells me that many Cambodians are working all around Thailand on construction projects. They even work up in Issan in agriculture, making up for all the Thai youngsters that have headed into the cities to work. The ones I’ve met seem to be a bit rough and ready compared to Thais, but they are a cheerful and hardworking lot.