Essay About Thai Culture

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Part One: Give some examples of what Thai people consider to be confusing or annoying or rude behavior of tourists

Greeting:
Instead of shaking hands, Thai greet each other with “WAI”. Foreigners are not expected to initiate the “WAI” gesture, but Thais can see it as an insult if the foreigners do not return the “WAI”. The tourists who are more familiar with Thai’s gesture, they would automatically “WAI” in return to show respect to the person they are greeting. But majority of the newly visiting tourists they are unaware of what it means to do the “WAI” gesture, how it is so important in Thai culture, and how to do it properly. Some tourists unknowingly return the gesture by smiling, bowing, or give a hi-five back. Thais may interpret these gestures as rude or offensive. Also different levels of hand position in “WAI” gesture are varied for different group of people: a common people, monks, and the King. Thais may see tourists as rude if they do not gesture an appropriate hands position.
Clothing:
Thai people have their traditional outfits but they tend to wear them only on special occasions. On a normal day, Thai men wear office suit to work. Women wear office clothes. Children and young adult wear uniforms to school and university. On the weekends, Thai people like to wear normal clothing such as jeans and T-shirt. However, when it comes to entering a religious place, holy place, and palaces Thai people are very strict about dressing appropriately to give honor and respect to these places. Temple or “WAT” is considered to be a holy place for monk and Buddhist people. Anyone who wished to enter the temples or similar places, he or she need to dress accordingly. Men need to wear long sleeves shirt, and long pants. Women nee...

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...society. One of the major differences between Thai culture and western culture is that long pants are worn in almost all settings. Shorts are worn only to play sports. When doing ministry, you will need to be especially careful about your apparel and make sure you are not "sloppy".
The Monarchy:
The Thais have a deep respect for the Royal Family and they love their king and queen. We therefore need to show respect for the members of the royal family also. Never talk about the royal family when Thais are present. Even if what we say is positive it may be misjudged and may offend the Thais. When in government buildings, in parks or on university campuses, the National Anthem is played at 8am and 6pm and everyone stops what they are doing and stands still and at attention, in respect.

Part 4: Xenophobia
An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers

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