Thailand - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust

by Roger Jones

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include


* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken


"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Cultural, Audiobook, Asian Literature

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kirsten Rockey]

I read this in preparation for my my trip to Thailand back in April. It was the perfect little pocket guide and I will definitely be using Culture Smart books for my other trips

[Paul Anderson]

I read this book on a flight to Thailand. It’s an easy read and contains useful information which helped me better understand the country. Three things I learned:
1. Don’t speak negatively of the monarchy.
2. Dress appropriately when visiting Buddhist temples.
3. Use the Grab app to call a cab
There’s also a handy list of dos and don’ts for communicating in chapter 9

[Augusto Bernardi]

These books are always unfortunately rushed because there’s so much interesting information that I’m never satisfied at the end of any chapter. But it does cover an extremely wide range of topics on Thailand which was informative to some degree. Am I so fascinated on history that trying to summarise the entire history of Thailand until one small chapter always seems like a waste. It talked about the ancient kingdoms of Suttie and then Aya and then later I’ll regime from what I understand still exist to this day. Hi Anne seem to have a rather bumpy political history and intense one with its neighbours as well but they do have a strong presence throughout their modern history of their kings. That might be a gross understatement. I’m definitely looking forward to learning more about their history. I learned that Thailand used to have a different name prior to 1939 I believe. The second richest country in Southeast Asia which means that I guess a trails behind Vietnam. Bangkok is by a longshot. It’s most populous and important city. They don’t even call it Bangkok apparently it has a different in much longer name. There are several ethnic groups from Thailand and they have a rather small foreign population. Most of them being Indians I think. But they are very nationalistic. This is something that’s been embedded in them throughout their education. They are proud of their country, specifically from a moral perspective with their values and Buddhism. They are obviously very Buddhist and social hierarchy matters a lot in their culture. They have huge amount of pronouns meant to address the various status differences. One has to respect the status of those above you, especially in public, and they put tremendous amount of rules and manners in regards to this saving face is also a classic Asian feature which is important to their culture. They’re not very confrontational and they often avoid blaming in order to not create a fight or lose faith. Another important cultural theme is that height reflects status. This is important in relation to touching someone’s head ow bowing and also showing your feet, or the bottom of your feet, to someone else. That can be offensive. Even to the image of the king, Buddha or monks. So stepping on something, highly offensive. I’m eI’m Another big Nono is showing physical affection in public. This prudishness and traditional culture is contrasted with their rather liberal attitude towards sex. Brothels are technically illegal but they lurk just beneath the surface and are generally accepted even by authorities. They are also frugal with their money too. Saving money for later is also not common apparently.
Their Buddhism is a more extreme version of it and it is very common for men to at some point in their lives to be a monk. A huge chunk of their culture comes from India including the Ramayana and massage (like the school in Wat Po). There is also worship of the monarchy. The monarchy in Thailand is unique because it’s a success cult of personality. Established by the prior king, king Rama the 9th. The guide makes a big point on the sensitivity about the monarchy in Thai’s land with offensives that could easily land you in prison.
This people are very social and rarely turn an offer to go out down. This is mainly to do with their inability to often to party in small houses. Take shoes off at home. Gift giving is very much appreciated. Especially if it’s foreign and from foreigners. They also love clubs.

Thai people have a very close relationship with their parents throughout their life. So the family goes beyond the nuclear family. Very common to speak about one’s parents in a nostalgic way.

They live generally in apartments and are early risers. Birthdays aren’t a big deal but weddings and marriage are. People are generally cremated when they die.

Thai’s land is more liberal than other south East Asian countries but they still have some cultural inequalities for women that often stay at home. They have had a Thai prime minister though. Gay and other lgbtq people are accepted but their legal rights aren’t quite equal yet either.

It talked a lot about the food but I could never summarise that. It seems like a wonderful world to explore. The takeaway is that there are a lot of foreign words to get used to in order to distinguish them better. Alcohol is strictly controlled so it doesn’t have the great variety that food does.

In regard to the art, the Ramayana is a central theme and Thai classical music seems to have more notes and sounds than the European style.
The Sukhothai style of sculpture is considered the classic and most pleasing style nowadays. It’s unfortunate that the culture did not preserve the buildings once abandoned so they are now significantly worn down by the weather and time.


In the sports section of course I already knew all about May Thai but I am very intrigued by cockfighting. That’s definitely on the bucket list.

[Jason Keisling]

I'll be reading a lot of books on Thailand since I'm visiting this spring. This was a good introduction. It's a quick and easy read and I learned a lot. It's a good basic knowledge of history and culture that I can have when I read a more dense book on Thai culture and history later this year.

I'm also interested in reading geological and tectonic history of Thailand and Southeast Asia. Recommendations would be appreciated.

[SEBASTIAN SAJAROFF]

Really enjoyed it

I work as an IT team leader in Canada, though have of my team are based in Bangkok. I interact on a daily basis with my colleagues in Thailand, and this book helped me a lot to understand their reactions, to avoid cultural « faux pas » and to entertain a harmonious relation between both teams.

[Betti (bibliophile)]

The book provides a very informative and useful overview about Thailand. I highly recommend it to anyone who's either simply interested in or is planning to visit the country. It will surely help you avoid making any accidental faux pas.

[Eliana C]

You know what! For a non-fiction book that talks about a culture of one country the entire time this was bearable. Decently informative, very consumable from a western perspective, transparent about both good and bad, and simply written!
Glad I read it.

[Shawn L’s Book Notes & Quotes]

With minor editing, the following perfectly describes Bangkok:
“The city is hot, humid, and grimy.”
“Little effort is made to conceal the profound disparity in living conditions.”
The author of course goes on to state the positives about how exciting it is for the urban traveler to explore.

[Matt]

A very short but informative read on customs and cultures in Thailand.

[Jason]

Concise, useful guide. Probably should have read it earlier, like 2 years ago!

[JP]

Good intro to culture. Read in Thailand.

[Becka]

Audiobook

[Sandra K. Miller]

Very helpful

Complete but less wordy than some travel books. Provides an overview of a number of important topics including history, culture, and communication.

[Brianna Wells]

I read this book in preparation for a trip I have planned later this year to Phuket. It provided a lot of insight and knowledge that I will use to help me during my trip.

[Will Schmitt]

Very helpful!

[Kes]

Easy read and good introductory book to Thailand

[Lexxie]

Traveling to Thailand next month so we picked this one up as a start. It was a good, basic overview. The author isn't flawless and made a few random, odd comments, but again, good quick overview.

[John]

I hope to take a practical test of this material soon...

[Kristina]

A worthwhile read for the traveler or the Thai-curious. The sections on values, attitudes and do's and don'ts were my favorites.

[Kelly D.]

A brief overview to Thailand and Thai culture.

[HoboWannaBe]

Read for basic interaction skills before heading to Thailand. Repetitive. Good info organized well but written blandly. Needs more photos.