US/Thai Cultural Differences?

Question

I am an employee at a hotel in the southern US and we are expecting several Thai university students as seasonal employees. We are planning on educating our current employees about cultural differences between Thailand and the US. What are some points to emphasize?

Answer 1

Agree with all previous posters.

I have several Thai friends, and I enjoy visiting Thailand whenever I get the chance. It is a very beautiful country, and I have always found the people to be very friendly, kind, and very helpful.

Answer 2

Thai Culture Vs American Culture

Answer 3

Good points from the previous answer. There are all very relevant.
Some more pointers: Because the feet is considered low, don't use your feet to point at things when you are indicating something low.
When something bad or embarrassing happens, a Thai will laugh. This DOES NOT mean they are laughing at you. It is more so as not to "lose face".

Generally - don't get too highly strung about trying to hard to make sure you don't offend Thai people as we are very tolerant and do understand that not everyone will know all our culture and customs. If not sure just ask.

However, remember too that they are students in YOUR country. And they will be your EMPLOYEES. They also need to fit in with you and the way you do things. You will find that Thai people are very adaptable and have the mentality of "do as the Romans do" - and while they will not lose their "Thai-ness" and custom, they will also live the way other people live in the country they are in.

The ONE thing you do not do is say anything bad or criticise the King and the royal family.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
US/Thai Cultural Differences?
I am an employee at a hotel in the southern US and we are expecting several Thai university students as seasonal employees. We are planning on educating our current employees about cultural differences between Thailand and the US. What are some points to emphasize?

Answer 5

All the people who have posted answers here have given excellent information. A few additional points have come to mind, particularly since you want to share all this information with your staff. (By the way, I commend you firstly for taking on these uni students for the valuable work experience, but also for 'going the extra mile' by sharing something of their culture with your staff.)

Thai people are not quick to put out their hand for a handshake, as we westerners do. It is their custom to 'wai', which is to place the hands in the prayer position at approximately the chin level. In Thai culture, it is the common form of greeting, and your new Thai employees may wai you or others without even realizing it.

If a Thai person happens to pass in front of you while you are standing or sitting, they will duck their heads as they pass, not so much as to avoid blocking your view or seeming to try not to be in your way, but rather simply to show respect.

In Thai culture, it is generally considered inappropriate to show anger or frustration (something we westerners are VERY quick to do!). As a result, they don't really know how to react when someone is angry or openly frustrated. In such situations, they will smile, certainly not to fuel the fires of anger, but rather because they believe a smile is the best way to diffuse a tense situation. We westerners, unfortunately, consider a smiling person in such situations with great contempt, adding to the problem rather than easing it. I mention it only because I've seen how embarrassingly angry some hotel guests can be!

Finally, Thais are very much a part of the modern world, and are, in so many ways, westernized. I suspect the Thai students you meet will very quickly adapt to the North American culture and will very quickly feel right at home there.

Thais are wonderful people, which is the prime reason I've been living here in Thailand for the past 5 years. I know you will thoroughly enjoy your time with them.

Answer 6

Kudos to all the posters here. There is some great information in the responses. I would add one thing...learn to "wai". This is the Thai greeting done by placing the hands together as if praying and raise them to the front of your face with the fingertips approximately at the nose. Slightly bow the head while doing this. This is how Thai people greet each other and is a sign of respect. While traditionally the elder do not initiate the wai to the younger, it would indicate your attempts to lean Thai culture. By all means return the wai if you are wai'd. If your hands are full and unable to wai, a simple nod of the head and a smile of acknowledgment will do. Good Luck, have fun and be ready to learn from them as they learn from you.

Answer 7

As I am Thais, who live in United States. I am totally agree with 3 commend persons who live in Thailand ( I guess )

For the point, I give the first person with 10 point of 10. He is very touch with the Thai Culture and Traditional.

The first thing, I would love to say is our King, he is very respectful man. He spends all time his life to get his people to live better specially the poor people who live outside Bangkok.
One thing that most of people didn't know is all of his life went to abroad only 2 time. One is the first year, he starts to be the king when he is about 20 years old and another one. ( I am not sure the time, I will check and let your guy know ) His ages is almost 80 years in this year. This year we celeb ates for him to be the king for 60 years.

Good luck and have fun with our people.

PS. if you respect them ( your stuffs ), I am sure they will respect you as well even they are hand to understand you sometime but I am sure they will love to learn you culture and traditional as well.

Answer 8

Which country pushes boiled water and which doesn't? I'm in the US and people like to do both. Personally I believe that if the water is safe for you to drink, it is safe for baby to drink too. Macaroni and cheese is a pasta dish and is often served as a side dish in the US like with hot dogs and hamburgers. It kind of goes along with potato salad and pasta salad in that respect. Most mac and cheese in the US is the stuff that comes in a box, but many still make it from scratch and eat it with a side of veggies. Served with garlic bread would be too much starch for my personal taste. Most home made mac and cheese I have seen has still been a pot meal. It is a 'boil the pasta, make a creamy cheese sauce with a white sauce and cheese, then pour the sauce over the pasta. Most other differences I've noticed have already been mentioned. I really don't understand the origin of the word 'pram' though. 'Dummies' just bugs me, but then again so does 'binky'. Ahhh! I also don't completely understand the jam, jelly, and jello issue. 'Jello' is used in the US because of kraft's brand called Jell-o. Jam is fruit preserves and jelly is similar except without any actual fruit. They both are used pretty much interchangeably. Thanks for the interesting question! Edit: I've noticed distinctions with Canada answerers as well. Most of it follows the UK. Is there much that follows the US?

Answer 9

The easiest way to put it is, EVERYTHING, and that it is very hard for the average westerner to understand Thai ways without total immersion in Thai society. Most Thai are devout Buddhists, with the exception of the few muslims that have crept in from the south. Most Thai put religion and country ahead of themselves or even family. Most Thai don't particularly care to discuss politics, and even more so, any negative comments about the monarchy are offensive and can even be construed as provocative. This is one of the most difficult things to understand, but Thai LOVE their king, I say again LOVE.

If you catch a Thai looking at you, smile, they never mean malice and most times they look at you to possibly spark a conversation, or even a simple hello.

Thai appreciate when someone tries to speak their language, they will take it as you have found interest in their culture and will respond with great enthusiasm.

NEVER EVER touch a Thai's head, the head is THE most sacred part of the body, where the Kwan is stored, and a thai will take great offense to being touched on the head. You may not catch their entire emotion of being touch as thai are non confrontational and very forgiving, but trust me on this one. As a side note, it's best not to touch them at all. Touching at all is an intimate gesture and should probably be avoid until you would deem them as friends.

Also something that is quite odd, but you might see Thai, male or female, holding hands or with their arms around each other, even more so with friends than lovers, Thai are very affectionate towards their friends but usually keep their personal lives personal.

Not that you're apt to run into this situation but, it is considered rude to point with your feet, or to bring your feet to a level higher than someone else's head. Feet are the dirty part of the body, the head is the most sacred. You'll probably note that proper Thai will even try their best not to point their feet at you while they sit.

There are all sorts of Thai customs involving religion, but most of those won't affect you being here.

Thai are very open and warm people, if treated with respect they will go out of their way to return it, if you have any questions, just ask them.

Edit*
A few more things after pondering it for a bit:

If you eat with your hands in front of them, use your right hand. The left hand is reserved for a single use and you'll get strange looks from Thai if you use your left.

Other people have mentioned not shaking hand but rather a nice wai, so I won't delve into that.

Someone mentioned Thai smiling in odd situations. As I previously mentioned, thai are non confrontational, it is very bad form for a thai to show anger or distress in public, as such if you are angry or upset they will simply smile as they have no other way to deal with the situation. Granted this only adds fuel to the fire with western ways, but keep it in mind. Thais smile when they are happy, amused, embarrassed, uncertain, wrong, annoyed or furious, and generally will smile for any occasion :p

One last thing to remember is that Thai are from a very defined hierarchical society. You being their boss they are apt to be a little shy around you.

Answer 10

1. don't criticise the King
2. for whatever reason, don't touch the head if you are younger then them.
(if you are older, that would be ok)
3. teach them your culture
the rest, they will do their best to fit in to your culture.

that is all i can thing of from my experience in the usa.