Living in Bangkok & Thailand

Dos & Don’ts in Thailand :
The Monarchy :

treat all materials bearing any portrait of members of the Royal Family with due respect. This extends to the currency as well, which bears a portrait of His Majesty. In Thailand, it is not just paper money or metal.
It is also a picture of His Highness. Foreigners might find this hard to understand initially. So…,

joke about the royal household at all, even if you mean well. The monarchy is one institute Thais do not joke
about at any time. Do it and the respect your friends have for you goes down the drain. Worse, you could be charged with lèse-majesté if it is considered serious, and jailed.
Character traits :
hug a Thai if it’s he who did you the favour and you reflexively want to boisterously show him your appreciation. Body language like this does not go down well in Thailand. Here, a firm ‘Thank you very much’ (korp khun mak)
is the norm. Though your intentions are good and clean, he will not like it. The good thing about this custom is
that nobody can hug or kiss your wife for whatever reason!
Body Languages:
place your feet, with or without shoes, so that they inadvertently point towards a person, or religious image or
a picture of the Royal Family.
   The ultimate insult would be to point a foot (or shoe) at somebody’s head when referring to him, although he could be at the far corner of a room. Ignore this point and you might just graduate from intensive care to the mortuary!
   One can imagine the extreme discomfort of a Thai sitting in a chair with someone else’s foot (or feet!) on his backrest, as in a train or cinema.
   Often, a poor tuk tuk driver has to grit his teeth in silence when the tip of some not-so-sweet smelling toes are centimeters from his nape.
step over any part of another person. You should not step over a person’s feet if he/she is sitting up, or
any part of the body if he/she is lying down.
   It will be found that even a Thai boy will not walk over his younger brother’s extended legs. That must
respect the young lad will extend to his younger sibling. At no time will he give younger brother a kick to wake
him up. Some leg crossing and criss-crossing by foreign backpackers occur almost daily in overnight trains in the
third class compartments where at times the coaches are packed like sardines. A local will either gently tap the sleeping traveler on the knee or, failing to wake him, would slowly push the legs away to clear enough space to squeeze by. Having said this, hear this: the overfed guard in uniform might not be so bothered. He will just trudge by.
in fact, NEVER, touch a local female, friend or otherwise, on any part of her body in public, not even her hand.
It is taboo. This doesn’t mean you can do it straightaway in private either. This is gentlemanliness at its best,
not only in Thailand, but across Asian countries. While the male ego still prevails over the female in domestic
and office situations, the female is respected. Alas, with ‘new’ nightlife all over the place, this point seems contradictory.
Touch at all, the second point, your maidservant at home. We would like to repeat this point: Never, never
touch the maid, because to do this even with the best of intention will give her fears and nightmares for she
can never tell when you are going to touch her again. Against her upbringing and established principles, you will condemn her to living misery for the rest of her time at your household. And probably in her next housemaid job too. This small paragraph is dedicated to home servants who are really house slaves the world over – who are
over-used and abused even as you read this. Today we call them domestics maids to cover the sin of intimidated slavery.
     Likewise, it is not a good idea to touch a nurse when she has to perform her duty at your bedside. No excuse
is acceptable. One simply has to forget about ‘back home’ syndromes or just fooling around. To the girl, to your maid, to any girl, it is frustrating and demeaning conduct.
Learn to use the wai correctly. A Westerner should never wai first to a waiter, tailor, vendor, domestic help or
a taxi driver even if the westerner is younger than all of them. Anyone who is paying for any service is boss and bosses don’t wai attendants first.
Monk & Nun :
remember, women, that at no time and in no place are you to physically touch a monk or his robe. If you accidentally did, mumble something to mean you’re sorry. For this simple mistake on your part, he might have
to confess to his mentor later for letting his body get all warmed up. The serious monk will pretend to look
serious, the immature guy will not know what to do.
try to sit lower than a monk. No one should sit with his/her head higher than the monk’s. That’s why in temples, monks sit on a platform.
wai the man in a saffron robe. One should always wai a monk when he comes face to face for a chitchat. The monk will never wai back. At most he will smile. Even if he appears to ignore the wai, remember that he cannot return the same gesture. But that does not mean he does not appreciate your respect for him.
   
Transportation :
insist metered taxi drivers turn on the reading as you get in. Sometimes a driver may ‘forget’ to turn off the previous fare. If the driver refuses to turn the meter on, get out and pay nothing. You will notice there are
more taxis than prospective passengers.
tell the driver your destination before getting in. This is the usual way Bangkokians take a cab. Tell the direction
and if he says ‘ok’ or nods his head, then get in. This is because sometimes he may not want to go to where you want to go. Female passengers should always take a back seat so that his hand will not ‘accidentally’ brush across your thighs when he points to a left turn he is not going to take.
ask your hotel concierge to write your destination(s) in Thai for the taxi driver if you think this is a good idea.
Don’t forget, too, to carry the business card of your hotel to ensure a safe and speedy return if you are entirely new or when totally (hic!) drunk.
note that you should wear a helmet if you take a motorcycle taxi. He should offer you one also as he is bound by traffic law to have you don one on the main road. But he doesn’t.
   
Food :
remember that typical Thai food is very spicy, but do try at least once, Thailand’s most popular soup dish: the
tom yum koong – a spicy hot shrimp soup, usually served like the Chinese stream boat with a flame to keep
the contents in the pot warm. Not to have tried this is like missing fish & chips in England or a hamburger in the States. It’s not only traditional, it’s the thing to try.
Information : dos & don’ts in Thailand (Fourth Edition) by Kenny Yee & Catherine Gordon, Published in Thailand by iGroup Press Co.Ltd. Copyright 2010, ISBN 978-974-652-179-6