Sitting down to a well-presented meal of good and delicious food is something to enjoy. Then there are those stand-up occasions where mixing and mingling with other guests and enjoy cocktails and finger foods. Finger foods? Eating with one's fingers? Considered as neither polite nor hygienic in some circles, eating with the fingers is as old as the human race. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, as all do it perhaps without thinking.
In Thailand, many people still eat with their fingers and this has nothing to do with social strata. It depends, rather, on the place, the occasion and the meal that is being served. A Thai hostess will follow a set etiquette when offering a meal that will be eaten with the fingers, and those eating will be polite and delicate as they partake of the meal.