| THAILAND CULTURE |
Thai law has a number of special sections concerning religious offenses, and these cover not only Buddhism, the religion of the majority of the people, but also any other faiths represented in the Kingdom. It is, for instance unlawful to commit any act, by any means whatever, to an object or a place of religious worship of any community in a manner likely to insult The religion. Similarly, "whoever causes any disturbance at an assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship of religious ceremonies" is subject to punishment, as well as "whoever dresses or uses a symbol showing that he is a priest or novice, holyman or clergyman of any religion unlawfully in order to make another person believe he is such person."
In less legal language, here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do on a visit to a religious place:
Dress neatly. Don't go shirtless, or in shorts, pants, or other unsuitable attire. If you look at the Thais around you, you'll see the way they would prefer you to be dressed -- which, in fact, is probably not very different from the way you'd dress in a similar place back home.
It's all right to wear shoes while walking around the compound of a Buddhist temple, but not inside the chapel where the principal Buddha image is kept. Don't worry about dirt when you have to take them off; the floors of such places are usually clean.
In a Muslim mosque, men should wear hats and women should be well-covered with slacks or a long skirt, a longsleeved blouse buttoned to the neck, and a scarf over the hair. All should remove their shoes before entering the mosque and should not be present if there is a religious gathering.
Buddhist priests are forbidden to touch or to be touched by a woman or to accept anything from the hand of one. If a woman has to give anything to a monk or novice, she first hands it to a man, who then presents it. Or in case of a woman who wants to present it with her hand, the monk or novice will spread out a piece of saffron robe or handkerchief in front of him, and the woman will lay down the material on the robe which is being held at one end by the monk or novice.
All Buddha images, large or small, ruined or not, are regarded as sacred objects. Hence, don't climb up on one to take a photograph or, generally speaking, do anything that might show a lack of respect.
Social Customs
The don'ts of Thai social behavior are less clearly defined than those concerning the monarchy or religion-especially in a city like Bangkok where Western customs are better known and more widely accepted. However, what is acceptable in Bangkok may not be in the countryside where the old ways are still strong. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Thais DO NOT normally shake hands when they greet one another, but instead press the palms together. In a prayer-like gesture called a wai. Generally, a younger person wais an elder, who returns it. Watch how the Thais do it, and you will soon learn.
It is considered rude to point your foot at a person, so try to avoid doing so when sitting opposite anyone, and following the conception that the foot is a low limb; DO NOT point your foot to show anything to anyone, but use your finger instead.
Thais regard the head as the highest part of the body both literally and figuratively. As a result they DO NOT approve of touching anyone on that part of the body; even in a friendly gesture. Similarly, if you watch Thais a social gathering, you will notice that young people go to considerable lengths to keep their heads lower than those of the elder ones, to avoid giving the impression of "looking down" on them. This is not always possible, of course, but it is the effort that counts.
Public displays of affection between men and women are frowned upon. You may see some very Westernised young Thai couples holding hands, but that is the extent of the displaying of affection in this polite society.
Losing your temper, especially in public, will more than likely get you nowhere. The Thais think such displays denote poor manners, and you are more apt to get what you want by keeping a cool head and concealing your emotions.
DO NOT be surprised if you are addressed by your first name; for instance, Mr. Bob or Miss Mary instead of by your surname. This is because Thais refer to one another in this manner, usually with the title "Khun" (Mr., Mrs., or Miss) in front. Follow the customs of any country as far as possible, and you will make more friends during your stay. The more friends you make, the more you will want to return to Thailand.
DO AND DON'T:
- always be respectful about Buddhism. Dress correctly in Temples (wear sleeves, do not wear short pants etc.). Don't sit on Buddha images if you want to be photographed. Sit before the image then. That is perfectly all right. You will insult Thai people deeply if you offend Buddhism in these ways.
- always speak respectfully about HM The King and HM The Queen. They are respected deeply by the Thai people and not without reason! The King is the initiator of many programs to replace opium culture by vegetable culture and you find "Royal Projects" all over the Country (especially in the North) where you can see the results of this work.
- always be respectful to the elderly, in every situation. If you are bargaining at the market with a seller who is obviously older than you are, or if you are bargaining with a tuk-tuk driver who is older than you, do this in a polite way, with a smile on your face and don't be rude. (Apart from being considered to be a polite person, as a bonus you will see the result in the price!)
- take your shoes off before entering a Thai house, if you are invited to visit somebody in his/her home. Do the same at other places where the Thai people do so too (for instance before entering beauty salons, hair dressers etc.). It is very common to see something like shown on the picture below when you enter a Thai house.
Don't:
- point at people or things with your feet. This is considered as highly impolite, as the feet are considered as the most inferior parts of the human body. And do not sit on the floor of a Temple with your feet pointing at the Buddha Image!
- touch the heads of children, even if you may see this as a form of caressing. The head is considered as the most superior part of the body, and touching this part is not a privilege for foreigners!
- be too familiar in public, even if you are married. So don't kiss in public, don't walk with your arms around each other. These things are considered very impolite in Thailand.
- shout in public (to anybody). If you want to argue with your wife or with your children, do this in the privacy of your hotel room and not in public! You will loose much of your respect if you do things like this in public. You will -for the same reason- loose much of your respect if you find you should punish your children in public.
- think that Thai women are "easily available". Though around 1% of the female population is working in the sex industry, this also means that 99% is not working there! You can get yourself in big trouble if you offend a woman in this way. Her husband may find he should take revenge, which could be very unpleasant for you.
- take any packages through Thai customs for anybody! If you are caught carrying drugs, you risk the death penalty or life in prison. And prisons in Thailand are not exactly like the Hilton. Apart from that, you can hardly expect a milder punishment than life in prison. So be warned!
- buy any precious stones on the streets. If you are familiar with prices you can buy them in (large) shops. That will normally be safe, but -again- be sure you don't pay too much. If you buy precious stones in the street against this advice and regret it afterwards (which will be the case in 99% of the cases), go to the Tourist Police! They know how to handle this and they do it well. (Or call 1155 for the Tourist Police)
- accept any offers from strangers to assist you in finding the right places to do your shopping. They will get a commission from the shops they take you to and you will be the person who pays for that commission (in the price you pay).
- accept any introduction to participate in any form of gambling. Gambling is against the law in Thailand and penalties are severe!
- get involved in prostitution in Thailand. You do not only put your health at serious risk, but the chance of getting robbed is very real. And apart from these dangers for yourself, give it a thought that having "budget" sex in a developing country like Thailand is very unfair towards the people involved.
- buy bus, tickets from anyone, except from an official at a bus terminal. The bus you buy your ticket for elsewhere might never be leaving or in the best case you will pay too much. If you use a Travel Agency for tickets (or other services), make sure they are licensed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Of course the Travel Agencies in hotels can be trusted and are licensed.
- call a waiter or waitress with the fingers of your hand pointing upward. This is considered to be very impolite. (It will make a similar impression as if you put your middle finger up to somebody at home). Put your hand up, but with your fingers pointing downward (or make a fist, if you prefer that or if you don't understand what I mean here).
- finish the dishes when you are having dinner with Thai friends in a restaurant. Your Thai friends will keep ordering more, until you leave something on your dish, so that they can clearly see that you have had enough!
There are many aspects of Thai life where it's easy to make major blunders, however innocently. Fortunately you will be forgiven for most things as an ignorant foreigner. Because of the non-confrontational style of social interaction, you may not even discover your error. But if things do go wrong, smile . The smile is used as a social gesture of apology (and for many other things) where it would take thousands of words in a Western culture.
Thai Buddhist temples are called wat s. The compound is a major meeting-place for both religious and secular occasions. The principal building is the bot , the ordination hall, not normally open to the public. You can distinguish it from the other buildings because it is surrounded by eight sema or boundary stones, at each corner and the centre of each side, which mark the extents of the consecrated ground. The sema may be simple tombstone-like objects, or decorated more or less elaborately, and possibly enclosed in their own mini-shrines. There may be one or more viharn s, which are the lay people's asembly halls (some strict-meditation wat s may not have one at all.) The viharn usually contains the principal Buddha image. There is also a chedi , that or stupa , a tower symbolising the Buddha's teaching, which contains some kind of relic.Its base represents the cloth in which he was clothed, the dome is a begging-bowl and the spire is a teaching stick.
All Buddha images, however tacky some of them may seem, must be treated with respect. You cannot export them without a special licence.
If in doubt, just nod and smile. Since you're obviously foreign, no more is expected, and you won't make any embarrassing mistakes.
At the other end of the body, the feet are unclean. So, not surprisingly, when visiting temples or private houses you should leave your shoes outside. In temples your legs must also be covered. Less obviously, you should not use your feet for anything except standing or walking. This catches most Westerners out, as we unconsciously use our feet to push things around in many ways the Thai would find offensive. An example: if you drop money, our natural reaction would be to stand on it. Don't do this! Not only have you used your unclean foot, you have just defiled the King's head with it.
Pointing is also regarded as impolite: never point at people. (An extreme manifestation of this is in go-go bars, where the hosts/hostesses all wear numbers: this is so that you can ask for them by number, rather than having to point.) If you need to hail a taxi, make a downward beckoning gesture towards the ground in front of you.
And to combine the two, never point with your feet, even inadvertently. In temples you are expected to kneel or squat (in order not to be "high") when not actually walking from A to B. Take care that when you kneel, your feet point away from the Buddha image. Imitate the Little Mermaid for the most graceful posture.