Thai Culture
The "wai": how and when?
The wai (pronounce like why) is the traditional gesture of greeting and thanking. It is done by joining hands in front of the chest and bending the head. Foreigners are not expected to wai, but it's nice to do it in appropriate situations. So who should you wai? If you're not sure, you can wai basically any person who wais you first, except if this person is working for you or this person is a child. This means you needn't wai a maid or a hotel staff, for instance. It's not that they are "inferior", but they provide a service, you are the guest, and you are not even expected to thank them. Of course many foreigners thank them and even wai back, and the Thais get used to it, but if you show too much respect to someone, he can also be embarrassed. If you want to be nice, just smile :-) and leave a tip!
You can also wai as a way to apologize, if you step on someone's foot or bump into someone.
In circumstances when you want to show even more respect (if you meet your Thai girlfriend's or boyfriend's parents, for example), the wai should take longer, with the hands higher (the higher the hands, the more respect you're showing). You can also bow a little.
The monks
Don't touch the monks, don't give them anything directly especially if you are a girl, and try to show them some respect the way the Thais do. If you are in a crowd and stand close to a monk, avoid rubbing shoulders, for instance.
Losing face
There is this notion of "losing face" in Asia, so that everybody expects a Japanese man to tear his guts apart with a sword or burst in tears on television if he ever does something he should be ashamed of. In Thailand it's not much about doing something shameful (or else I guess it would be a bloodbath), it's rather about not to lose a conflict. That's why everybody says you should avoid any conflict of any kind with a Thai person (man or woman), because they can get hot tempered and react in very extreme ways in order not to lose face. You've been warned!
Being a guest
No shoes inside
You should take off your shoes when you enter a house (or a temple, no need to say), or anytime you notice that shoes are being left in front of the door.
Presents
The Thai love to make presents to each other. If you're invited somewhere, always try to bring something along. If you go on a trip somewhere, make sure you buy souvenirs, even small things (it's really the thought that matters).
Food: the good manners
In a typical Thai meal there are several dishes at the center of the table, and a plate of rice for every guest. You are supposed to help yourself with the spoon in the dish, not with your personal spoon. It's better to help yourself small portions several times, rather than a big portion. The fork is used to push the food into the spoon, and the spoon is used to eat. Don't eat rice with your fork. There are no knives on the table, as Thai food is already eminced and you have nothing to cut. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups.
At the restaurant, Thai people usually order several dishes which are put in the middle of the table, and everybody can eat from any dish. So it's very different from what we do in Europe or USA, where every guest at the table orders his own dish and you have to ask politely if you want to taste what somebody else ordered!
Last but not least, because rice is difficult to grow and harvest, and because it is essential in Thailand, it is considered impolite and disrespectful to leave some rice in the plate. So don't help yourself too much rice, to be sure you will finish it all.
For more information about Thai food, see our page about Thai culture