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How not to make a fool out of yourself in the Thai culture?
When you're living a foreign culture for a longer time, you want to behave in a certain way. For me, it's mainly about not wanting to hurt someone's feelings by just not knowing that it's considered impolite to do something, which is considered normal in my culture. These are my own experiences of Thai culture as a farang.
One of the most important aspects in Thai culture is that you are never allowed to show you're anger or frustration in a situation. Even if you feel like getting angry at some point, it won't help you - just vice versa. It's about the concept of losing the face - if you lose your temper among Thai people; it means basically that you embarrass everyone in the situation. This leads to the possibility of Thai people laughing in a situation, just trying to avoid you from losing face. This seems quite odd to westerners, but it actually happens. But then again, learning how to manage your temper is never a bad thing. Also, remember not to raise your voice.
Another thing that you should definitely remember in Thai culture is to respect the King and the people's respect towards him. The King and the Royal Family is extremely loved and honored in Thailand. As a foreigner, you should never discuss the King with Thai people. You can see pictures honoring the King everywhere and the Thai people (and westerners too!) honor the King by standing up to see a short film about the King in the movies. Also, it is considered rude to not straighten bills, because the bill has a picture of the King. The King is now over eighty years old and he has reigned the country since 1946. In Thai culture, it is also extremely important to respect the elderly and the monks. In everyday life, this means things like giving up your seat in the BTS or the subway. Also, you should not touch a monk or sit next to one (if you're female) and you should never give anything directly to monks. You should also show you're respect towards a professor by calling them 'Aa-jan'.
The Thai people greet each other with the 'wai', which is a small subtle gesture where you put your palms together. When doing the wai, you can say 'Sawasdee kha/kap', which means hello and goodbye. You are expected to wai back to someone, unless the person is a serviceperson or a child. Then there are small things to remember. In the Thai culture, the head is considered to be the most sacred part of the body and the feet the dirtiest. You should never touch anyone's head, even children's. Then again, it considered extremely rude to show your feet to anyone, it is like showing your middle finger in western countries. You should always take your shoes off if entering a Thai home or office etc. Something that might feel a bit odd to a westerner in Thai culture is that showing affection among couples is considered very rude and inappropriate. So no kissing in public! Also sneezing and showing that you're sweating in public is considered to be inappropriate. When it comes to eating, there is no knife in Thai culture. So you eat with the spoon and fork, where the fork is used sort of like the knife in western eating culture. It is considered appropriate to leave some food on your plate - finishing your plate is like saying 'You didn't feed me enough'.
It is also very important to respect the local religion. The main religion in Thailand is buddhism. You should always be appropriately dressed (don't show your shoulders or knees) when entering a temple area. You should also remember to respect the small religious spirit houses, what you see on the streets. The Thai people bring gifts, like food and drinks (especially red Fanta!), to these small houses to keep the spirits happy.
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