A Guide To Thai Culture And Etiquette

A Guide To Thai Culture And Etiquette Year after year holiday-makers fall in love with the country dubbed the land of smiles. But move away from the bright lights of the bars, and you will find a country steeped in ancient traditions and a dominant ideology; centred around religious beliefs, patriotism and a societal hierarchy.

A Guide To Thai Culture And Etiquette Buddhism governs many of Thailand’s beliefs, underpinning the basis for many aspects of the general etiquette and traditions of the country. Read on to make sure that you avoid a social faux pas on your trip to Thailand.

Head and feet

Your head is seen as the holiest and most honourable part of your body, as it carries your soul. Your feet, on the other hand, are the lowest and therefore the unholiest. In turn, to touch someone’s head is extremely impolite, especially someone older than you. Technically you can touch someone’s head if they are younger. However, it is best to just avoid touching heads altogether.

When it comes to feet, you must not touch people with them, or even point your feet at someone. You should always try to point your feet away from people; and mostly importantly away from any images of Buddha. Additionally, you must not put your feet on money, say if you drop it and don’t want it to get away.

Temples

When visiting a religious site, you should dress with your shoulders and legs covered. If you’re not properly attired, don’t worry though, as gowns are offered to tourists. You will also have to remove your shoes before going inside.

You may see food and drink offerings outside shrines also, don’t touch those. Thais are very superstitious, fearing that those tampered with, would disturb spiritual forces. You will also see orange-robed monks roaming the grounds. If you are female, you must not touch them. Monks have to go through a lengthy cleansing process if they come into bodily contact with a woman.

Greeting people

The Thais have their own way of greeting one another, and it’s with a wai – clasping hands together in the prayer position and bowing or slightly nodding. It is the most common and respectful way to acknowledge another person; and you can use it to say hello, goodbye and thank you.

How you wai depends on who you are actually speaking to. There are three places to position your hands; determined by whether the person is older or respected, the same age as you or a monk. If you are wai-ing a monk, you should have your hands placed adjacent to your forehead – same goes with an image of Buddha. If you are wai-ing someone older than you or you are trying to convey respect in your greeting, then you place your hands adjacent to your nose. Lastly if you are wai-ing someone that is your own age, you place your hands adjacent to your chin. Basically, the higher up your hands, the more respect you are expressing. One thing you don’t have to do though is wai children.

Finally, the word for hello in Thai depends on whether you are greeting a male or female. For males, you wai and say ‘sawadee-kup’ and for females, it’s ‘sawadee-ka’.

The monarchy and patriotism

Thais are fiercely patriotic and love their royal family. So much so that you will hear their national anthem played publicly, twice a day, every day. And out of respect you must stop what you are doing and stand still if you hear it. At 8am and 6pm, if you are in a public place such as at a train station, drop everything as you’ll know the drill! Additionally, if you go to the cinema in Thailand, you will have to stand for the anthem in there before the film starts.

Another thing that you must be aware of is that in Thailand, their culture is taught not to question their monarchy or government, so it is an issue if you speak out against them. It could even lead to a custodial sentence, it is that serious.

Confrontation

As well as not speaking out about their monarchy, Thais are generally non-confrontational people. Often you will hear the phrase ‘mai pen rai’ thrown about – meaning never mind – as they try to be light hearted and laid back at all times. They feel uncomfortable if something becomes even the slightest bit serious. The way around it, is to just say everything with a big smile.

Hand in hand with this mentality is the concept of not losing face or saving face. It is about not being shown up or embarrassed. It means that even confronting someone about something small needs to be handled with the strictest of care; as they are so concerned about saving face, especially in front of anyone.

What we find rude, is not rude in Thailand

Thais can be preoccupied with appearance and the better looking you appear to them, the higher up in preference you will become or respect you will get. Much like the rest of Asia, their perception of beauty is porcelain fair skin, so this may be something you pick up on.

Appearances are often commented on. It would not be strange for a Thai to call someone fat or ugly. It’s just not seen as rude to talk openly about what someone looks like.

Additionally cutting your nails or picking your nose in public is not rude. While the Thais will find
it offensive if you lick your fingers when you’re eating. Finally, Thais don’t queue. It’s just one big dog- eat-dog free for all. You’ll have to ignore all your instincts and just go with it.

Embrace the culture

While many get frustrated by the cultural differences, spending time in Thailand does make you a much more positive and laid back person. Things that would have driven you insane in the UK will not feel like an issue there. While there are some negative aspects, overall it is an interesting and fun culture to be immersed in. We are too highly strung in the west. More of us need to adopt a bit more ‘mai pen rai’ into our lives!

Words and images by Sandy Dhaliwal