Eagles and Elephants
Many of an elephant’s traits resemble Thai people’s characteristics: calmness; wittiness; playfulness; slowness; kindness; etc. Calm composure and playfulness provide a buffer and flexibility to maintain social harmony, the most highly value of Thai culture. Thais would feel that being quiet is better than taking the risk to initiate conversation that may stir up unnecessary waves. The calm composure keeps people in line and helps pervert conflict on at least the surface. Thais prefer retreat or avoidance as a conflict management strategy (Thomas, 1992) and subdue emotions prior to interaction. Parties have many chances to reconsider their positions before proceeding to actual negotiations. Moreover, playfulness helps ease conflict negotiations by the application of tactful and intelligent humor to divert parties from the hot issues at hand. Thais often use humor as a means to mitigate anger (Tanchaisak & Thomas, 1999), calm the situation, and switch to as easy means of communication. These characteristics resemble those of the elephant.
One of the most evident characteristics of the Thai is the “in-group” and “out-group” perspective. Thai people like to identify themselves with some group, be it associated with family, school, or workplace. In a normal course of introducing oneself, Thais would reveal the name of the company for which they work or the college at which they study. Thais have a need to attach themselves to either formal or informal groups reflecting their strong high-con-text, collective society. Thai communicate with those considered in-group member quite differently than the way treat out-group members, using different vocabulary and gestures. With an out-group, many behaviors or restrained, yet Thais can be seen as quite arrogant by those not introduced. The in-group, for example, displays considerable leniency and flexibility. Thais are likely to accommodate people from their in-group, but emerge as considerably competitive to those unfamiliar and irrelevant members of out-groups.
Americans may misunderstand Thai quietness, viewing it as negative. American, as a low-context, individualistic culture value explicit and direct expression, open and active communication. Quietness and silence are almost always perceived negatively in American culture. Eagles, birds of prey, are energetic and lively. They hunt for food to feed their families and will not hesitate to reach out and take things they think belong to them. As Americans value the eagle, so do they appreciate direct communication and this righit is seen as undamental to all people. To sacrifice the right to speak, or to remain silent, is considered inappropriate. Silenc is a sign of social concern in America. Thus, Americans are people of action preferring movement and new experiences.