I guess the closest English word would be “culture.” Why do you ask?
Yesterday a student used the sentence “A wai is a Thai culture.” I told her that we can’t say it that way in English. I thought she might have been thinking in Thai speaking English.
What’s wrong with the sentence?
I think I understand what the student means, but in English we would say that the wai is a gesture used among Thai people or in Thai culture. Just like we can’t say that a handshake is an American culture. We would have to say that a handshake is a gesture usually used in meeting new people in American culture.