Vignette Seven: Royal Thai Navy Captain Meets Thais in America
Our good friend, Captain Somsak of the Royal Thai Navy, visited us in Sacramento, California during his first trip to the United States. Somsak was on official business, but took time to spend a few days with us. As the obligatory custom in Northern Califirnia requires, we took Somsak to see Old Sacramento, San Francisco, and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Somsak enjoyed both Old Sacramento and San Francisco, but was eager to get to the mountains he had never seen snow.
On the appointed day, we journeyed up Highway Fifty to the Echo Summit at around 7,500 feet altitude. The scenery is stunning, snow-capped mountains and thick forests dominating the view in every direction. We told Somsak, “This is your lucky day; you can speak Thai with your fellow countrymen.” Much to our surprise, Somsak declined to speak with the Thai visitors, although he said that I could speak with them because I was an American.
From this vignette, you can readily observe the low Thai willingness to communicate (WTC). Thai culture is arranged in a strictly structured hierarchy. Indeed, there are seventeen Forms of the first person pronoun in the Thai language, the selection of which depends on the other party’s position within the hierarchy. Somsak was reluctant to initiate a conversation with the people in the van because he did not know them. The pessimism can be based on potential problems involved with incorrectly relating with others. The relatively low Thai WTC can also be inferred from the receiver orientation of Thai interpersonal communication, a condition consistent with high-context, collective cultures. The American communication largely source oriented, provides little restraint in the manner of communication. For example, if two American were to meet abroad, there would de little, if any, reluctance to initiate a conversation.