Thailand is advertised as the “Land of Smiles” where open, friendly and smiling people welcome all those millions of foreigners who visit every year. After living in Thailand for many years I can definitely confirm that the Thai smile is one of the great aspects of being  in Thailand. Those easy and spontaneous exchanges of smiles have made me feel good countless times. So it should be easy to become friends with the Thais, right?

But there is another side to this. Thais are generally very shy around foreigners. Unless they work in the tourist industry where they constantly interact with foreigners, or they work in a foreign-owned company, Thais feel uncomfortable and often insecure around the “farang” (the Thai word for people of caucasian origin). Read the rest of this entry

A Buddhist nun gives alms to a monk

When we visit another country, it is easy to assume that our values apply there also, or that other people think like we do. This can lead to very embarrassing situations when we find out that we just unknowingly insulted someone or made a fool of ourselves.

Here is a list of Don’ts in Thailand:

• Never say anything negative about the king. This can land you in jail or get you thrown out of the country.
  
• Don’t say anything negative about monks. Although everyone in Thailand knows that not all monks are saints, they are still highly respected and fulfill a very important function in society.
• Don’t show anger or impatience. If you do, you will not accomplish anything and you will  ‘lose your face’, meaning that any respect that the Thais might have had for you is gone. It is not acceptable to show strong emotions, especially the negative kind. Read the rest of this entry

What does a smile mean to you? If you are from a western country, you most likely associate smiling with feeling good. That is not always true in Thailand. Thai smiles can mean many things. There are over a dozen words in the Thai language that refer to all different types of smiles. Thais use smiles to express emotions of politeness, happiness, embarrassment, frustration, indifference, condescension, nervousness, or just to mask their real feelings.

Does this mean that the famous Thai smile is not real, that it is a fake? No, it just means that you have to expand your definitions of what it can mean. Read the rest of this entry