Remarkably, indirect refusal strategies for conflict avoidance
were highly engaged by Close Equal Co-workers. The indirectness used by this group is
consistent with Ide (1982) in that polite manner is associated with discernment.
According to Ide (1982), people are likely to be more concerned about the norms of
society. The Asians and Westerners taking part in this study while representing various
cultures and practices could independently represent a particular nation. However, the
Asians in this study demonstrated some similarities such that they could be grouped
together; for example, the use of English as their second or foreign language, points of
view towards Westerners, etc. In the meantime, the Westerners in this study belong to
various occidental nationalities which have shared similarities such as English as their
native language and western cultural absorption. Both the Asians and Westerners who are
Close Equal Co-workers working in Thai multicultural corporations acquire an awareness
of Asian culture, and they could form the judgment that Thai people as Asians are