1. Long Live the King: NEVER EVER talk bad about the King. Everyone in Thailand loves the King very much. He is actually the longest reigning current monarch and the world’s longest serving head of state. All over Thailand you will find huge posters and billboards of the King and Queen similar to the one in the picture below.
2. The Wai is how Thai people normally greet each other. The Wai is done by putting the hands together at the palms, raising them somewhere between the chest and forehead (depending on who you are greeting), and nodding. The higher the level of the hands the more respectful the Wai is for example when Wai-ing Buddha images the hands would be brought all the way up to the forehead, but if you are wai-ing a friend then you would keep your hands at your chest since you are equals. All of the students at my school Wai the Thai teacher, but they don’t normally Wai the foreign ones unless they are in trouble then they might Wai to emphasize their apology.
3. The difference between Ka and Kap. The Thai language is extremely difficult. They use tones so one word could mean like 5 different things depending on the tone, but one part of the language that is very easy to figure out are the words “Ka” and “Kap.” If you are a female you say “Ka” and if you are male you say “Kap.” These words are used to end just about every sentence or word you say in Thai. As Pom say’s “it softens the sentence” and makes it more polite.
4. Shoes and feet are evil. Ok not really, but for some reason Thai’s hate feet. They believe that since they are the lowest part of the body its rude to raise or prop your feet up on anything. Shoes indoors are also considered a no no. We have shoe racks outside the classrooms at my school for the students. I prefer to keep my shoes on while I teach, but at Jenn’s school they require her to take them off.
5. Spirit Houses and Trees. The spirit houses are found on properties all over Thailand. They are built to house the spirits that could cause problems for the people that currently occupy the land. People leave offerings of food and drinks to appease these spirits in front of the spirit houses.
8. Red pens are bad. Never write anyone’s name in a red pen apparently they believe its bad luck. One time at school I filled out a copy request form with a red pen and they wouldn’t even accept it. I had to get a new one and start over with a blue pen.
9. The pinky nail…a symbol of status? Thai’s tend to grow out their pinky nails to show that they are above the working class. They figure you can’t have long nails and do the work of the working class. I think this is, believe it or not, more common among males.
10. Transportation (This is such a big one we are just going to give it a blog of its own. Keep an eye out for it coming soon!)
xoxo,
Nichole and Jenny
