{"id":70,"date":"2017-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/log.cudoo.com\/2018\/03\/11\/thai-cultural-etiquette\/"},"modified":"2020-03-10T07:53:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T03:53:35","slug":"thai-cultural-etiquette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/thai-cultural-etiquette\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai Cultural Etiquette"},"content":{"rendered":"

What better place for a holiday than one of South East Asia\u2019s most popular travel destinations – Thailand? With its beautiful beaches, national parks, benign climate, and incredible cuisine, Thailand continues to dominate at the forefront of South Asian tourism, and with good reason. Every year Bangkok makes the list of the best cities to visit, ranking first in Euromonitor International’s list of “Top City Destinations” with 21 million visitors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thailand has a rich culture with its customs and traditions dating back thousands of years. Learn about Thai etiquette and the language and become a more confident and culturally sensitive traveler.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Attractions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thailand offers some of the best beach and island destinations with places such as Ko Samui and Railay. A true slice of paradise, Thai beaches deliver on their promise of white sand and clear blue waters. In addition, many of the islands offer other activities such as rock-climbing, white water rafting, kayaking and even elephant trekking, making these places immensely attractive options for families and couples. For vacationers searching for a feel of south Asian greenery and animal life, national parks such as the Khao Yai National Park and Kao Sok National Park offer a chance to immerse oneself in the natural beauty of Thailand. Along with the beautiful waterfalls and natural features, elephants can also be viewed in their natural habitat.<\/p>\n

\"thailand-2262894_960_720.jpg\"<\/p>\n

In the realm of music, festivals, and food, Thailand is often ranked highly with rich and unique aspects. A visit to Thailand would be incomplete without a viewing of the Poi dance, Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai where floating paper lanterns light up the night sky, and the wonder that is Thai cuisine. Market visits to the Night Bazaar or the Floating Markets are considered another necessity to truly enjoy the authenticity of local food, shopping and commerce.\u00a0Furthermore, the nightlife of Thailand, especially Bangkok, which ranges from hole-in-the-wall dive joints to extravagant rooftop bars and lively nightclubs, is an amazing attraction in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the only Southeast Asian state that avoided European colonial rule, Thailand boasts cultural and historical sites that date back to the Neolithic Civilization. With world heritage sites such as Sukhothai, Ayutthaya and Ban Chiang, Thai history is a well-documented reminder of a historically proud and unique society.<\/p>\n

The primary cultural influence of Thailand is drawn from animism, Buddism and Indian culture. As the world\u2019s most Buddhist nation, Thailand consists of an estimated 40,000 Buddhist temples (known as wat<\/em>), featuring unique bell-shaped stupa<\/em> and striking temple roofs. While most temples are open to tourists, care must be taken to dress appropriately (closed-toed shoes, shorts\/pants that cover the knee, no bare shoulders) and act respectfully (no hats, sunglasses, smoking, gum chewing, or overly loud talking, shoes to be removed before entering worship areas and camera should be used thoughtfully).<\/p>\n

Particular attractions that cannot be missed include Wat Pho, or the \u2018Temple of the Reclining Buddha\u2019, and Wat Arun, or the \u2018Temple of Dawn\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"thailand-2222596_960_720.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Cultural Etiquette<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dubbed the \u201cLand of Smiles\u201d, Thailand is a land of people quite tolerant of individualism. However, there is a vast cultural difference in comparison to western culture that tourists should be mindful of when visiting. Although western clothing is prevalent, Thai culture recommends a modest approach when it comes to dressing, especially in holy places.<\/p>\n

A traditional Thai greeting is called \u2018wai<\/em>\u2019 wherein a person places the palm of his or her hands together, with their fingers extended at chest level close to their body and bows slightly. \u00a0Affection in public between people of opposite sexes is minimal and not generally accepted.<\/p>\n

Thai food is eaten with a fork and a tablespoon rather than with chopsticks and a small amount of food is usually left over on the plate to indicate one is full. The king is also very highly respected, and disrespect toward any aspect of the monarchy is usually not tolerated.<\/p>\n

\"noodles-2098019_960_720.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Useful Thai Phrases<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hello (General greeting) – s\u00e0-w\u00e0t-dee<\/p>\n

How are you – s\u00e0-baai dee m\u0103i<\/p>\n

Reply to ‘how are you’ – s\u00e0-baai dee kr\u00f3p (m) \/ s\u00e0-baai dee k\u00e2 (f)<\/p>\n

Good morning or Good evening – s\u00e0-w\u00e0t-dee kr\u00e1p (m) \/ s\u00e0-w\u00e0t-dee k\u00e2 (f)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know – ch\u0103n m\u00e2i r\u00f3o<\/p>\n

I understand – ka\u0302o jai la\u0301ew<\/p>\n

How much is this – raa-kaa t\u00e2o r\u00e0i?<\/p>\n

Sorry – k\u014fr t\u00f4ht<\/p>\n

Thank you – k\u00f2p kun<\/p>\n

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Fun Facts About Thailand:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Language:\u00a0<\/span>Thai<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

Currency:\u00a0Thai baht<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country that was never colonized by a European country. In\u00a0fact, the name of the country\u00a0in the Thai language\u00a0is Prathet Thai,<\/em> which means \u201cland of the free.\u201d<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Its capital is Bangkok. However, the Thai name for Bangkok is\u00a0one of the longest names of a place in the world:\u00a0 <\/span>Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit. Phew! In case you were wondering, this means \u201cCity of Angels, Great City of Immortals, the Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra\u2019s Behest.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Bangkok is the world’s most visited city,\u00a0according to the Global Destinations Cities Index, ahead of London.<\/p>\n

4. Boxing is the national sport of Thailand, but\u00a0Elephant polo is another very popular sport. The King\u2019s Cup is one of the key events in the sport\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0It has 1,430 islands, including Koh Phi Phi Lee,\u00a0<\/i>featured in\u00a0Danny Boyle\u2019s film The Beach.<\/p>\n

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Have fun learning\u00a0Thai<\/a>\u00a0before you go and impress your Thai hosts. Click\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>\u00a0to find out what this means in Thai!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Please<\/span><\/p>\n

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What better place for a holiday than one of South East Asia\u2019s most popular travel destinations – Thailand? With its beautiful beaches, national parks, benign climate, and incredible cuisine, Thailand continues to dominate at the forefront of South Asian tourism, and with good reason. Every year Bangkok makes the list of the best cities to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[3709,3708,220,477,219,3056,1448,3707,54,2894,115,3704,852,111,3703,1763,3705,3706,3702,896],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5820,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/5820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cudoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}