BODY LANGUAGE
This section is specially recommended for anyone to get on amicably with a local.
The casual visitor and first time tourist should know and remember that Thais place special emphasis on three main body parts: the head, the hands and the feet.
HEAD
DON’T TOUCH anyone's head for any reason. The head is the most important part of the entire body. It should never be touched. Even in jest, you should resist the affectionate casual ruffling of a youngster's hair to show compliments, the way it is done outside Thailand. This is why a layman will sit so that his head is lower than that of a monk's and a younger person will do likewise to an elder person or someone of a higher rank, status or position. The lower the head, the greater the respect given.
DO ADVISE a person in advance if you want to remove some fallen article on his hair that gets on your nerves. Either he does it or he will let you do it. That's about the only time you can touch his head, where good manners are concerned in Thailand. Do it unannounced and you could end up in some hospital bed. Do it to a woman and you will end up also in some hospital bed but in the intensive care unit. The woman will not slap you-as we sometimes see in the movies but her boyfriend will, if he is in a foul mood.
HANDS
DON’T POINT with the forefinger at anyone. The hand has two categories: the right being more acceptable and polite when giving or receiving things and putting things into the mouth and the left, which is generally regarded as of lower class because this fellow is used for cleaning downstairs after toilet duty.
DO OFFER AND RECEIVE anything with your right hand always. You are your left-handed? Gosh! Many locals are also left-handed but through teaching and beatings when young they have learned to use the right to accept and give. There is a way out for you. If you suddenly remembered that you should use your right, you could switch hands if the action is not completed. A Thai seeing you do this will be very happy. If you have already taken or given, never mind, you need not apologies. We are talking only about good manners, not defusing a time bomb. If you keep quiet, your host may not have noticed you have used the wrong hand. If you tell him, and then you forget it in ten seconds and repeat the same blunder, it only makes matters worse. In good Thai culture, when receiving something especially from an elder or person of senior status, both hands are used. In the trade, when a shopkeeper receives cash or hands over a receipt, he will offer his right hand with the right elbow supported by his left hand, all in one unbroken graceful movement. This represents a gesture of respect thankfulness and humility, in this order. No Thai, not even a boss, will snatch an article away from the giver's hand. This would be totally shocking. It is simply not done.
FEET
DO KEEP BOTH feet on the ground when sitting. The feet are the lowest section of the anatomy, the dirtiest' protrusions. They are used for walking and never for pointing.
DON’T PLACE your feet, with or without shoes on, so that they inadvertently point towards a person, or religious image or a picture of the Royal Family.
DON’T PLACE A foot, when you are travelling in a bus and you are sitting on a front seat next to the driver on the ‘engine box’ There is a notice box. There is a notice to this effect on the lid but few foreigners can read what it says. At this point, you can already guess what it says.
PERSON
DONT STEP over any part of another person. You should not step over a person's feet if he/she is sitting up, or any part of the body if he/she is lying down.
It will be found that even a Thai boy will not walk over his younger brother's extended legs. That much respect the young lad will extend to his younger sibling. At no time will he give younger brother a kick to wake him up. Some leg crossings and criss-crossings by foreign backpackers occur almost daily in overnight trains in the third class compartments where at times the coaches are packed like sardines. A local will either gently tap the sleeping traveller on the knee or failing to wake him, would push the legs away to make enough space to squeeze by.
FEMALE BODY
As far as the whole female body goes, you need only remember two A salient points:
DONT in fact, NEVER, touch a local female friend or otherwise, on any part of her body in public, not even her hand. This doesn't mean you can do it straightaway in private. This is gentlemanliness at its best, not only in Thailand, but across Asian countries. It is taboo. While the male ego still prevails over the female in domestic and office situations, the female is respected. Alas, with night life all over the place, this point seems contradictory.
BODY LANGUAGE
This section is specially recommended for anyone to get on amicably with a local.
The casual visitor and first time tourist should know and remember that Thais place special emphasis on three main body parts: the head, the hands and the feet.
HEAD
DON’T TOUCH anyone's head for any reason. The head is the most important part of the entire body. It should never be touched. Even in jest, you should resist the affectionate casual ruffling of a youngster's hair to show compliments, the way it is done outside Thailand. This is why a layman will sit so that his head is lower than that of a monk's and a younger person will do likewise to an elder person or someone of a higher rank, status or position. The lower the head, the greater the respect given.
DO ADVISE a person in advance if you want to remove some fallen article on his hair that gets on your nerves. Either he does it or he will let you do it. That's about the only time you can touch his head, where good manners are concerned in Thailand. Do it unannounced and you could end up in some hospital bed. Do it to a woman and you will end up also in some hospital bed but in the intensive care unit. The woman will not slap you-as we sometimes see in the movies but her boyfriend will, if he is in a foul mood.
HANDS
DON’T POINT with the forefinger at anyone. The hand has two categories: the right being more acceptable and polite when giving or receiving things and putting things into the mouth and the left, which is generally regarded as of lower class because this fellow is used for cleaning downstairs after toilet duty.
DO OFFER AND RECEIVE anything with your right hand always. You are your left-handed? Gosh! Many locals are also left-handed but through teaching and beatings when young they have learned to use the right to accept and give. There is a way out for you. If you suddenly remembered that you should use your right, you could switch hands if the action is not completed. A Thai seeing you do this will be very happy. If you have already taken or given, never mind, you need not apologies. We are talking only about good manners, not defusing a time bomb. If you keep quiet, your host may not have noticed you have used the wrong hand. If you tell him, and then you forget it in ten seconds and repeat the same blunder, it only makes matters worse. In good Thai culture, when receiving something especially from an elder or person of senior status, both hands are used. In the trade, when a shopkeeper receives cash or hands over a receipt, he will offer his right hand with the right elbow supported by his left hand, all in one unbroken graceful movement. This represents a gesture of respect thankfulness and humility, in this order. No Thai, not even a boss, will snatch an article away from the giver's hand. This would be totally shocking. It is simply not done.
FEET
DO KEEP BOTH feet on the ground when sitting. The feet are the lowest section of the anatomy, the dirtiest' protrusions. They are used for walking and never for pointing.
DON’T PLACE your feet, with or without shoes on, so that they inadvertently point towards a person, or religious image or a picture of the Royal Family.
DON’T PLACE A foot, when you are travelling in a bus and you are sitting on a front seat next to the driver on the ‘engine box’ There is a notice box. There is a notice to this effect on the lid but few foreigners can read what it says. At this point, you can already guess what it says.
PERSON
DONT STEP over any part of another person. You should not step over a person's feet if he/she is sitting up, or any part of the body if he/she is lying down.
It will be found that even a Thai boy will not walk over his younger brother's extended legs. That much respect the young lad will extend to his younger sibling. At no time will he give younger brother a kick to wake him up. Some leg crossings and criss-crossings by foreign backpackers occur almost daily in overnight trains in the third class compartments where at times the coaches are packed like sardines. A local will either gently tap the sleeping traveller on the knee or failing to wake him, would push the legs away to make enough space to squeeze by.
FEMALE BODY
As far as the whole female body goes, you need only remember two A salient points:
DONT in fact, NEVER, touch a local female friend or otherwise, on any part of her body in public, not even her hand. This doesn't mean you can do it straightaway in private. This is gentlemanliness at its best, not only in Thailand, but across Asian countries. It is taboo. While the male ego still prevails over the female in domestic and office situations, the female is respected. Alas, with night life all over the place, this point seems contradictory.
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