Thai "savoir-faire"

[pattaya127]

What i say is typical of our farang reactions. We often find out a bit later that when a thai said something, it may have nothing to do with the subject he/she talks about, but wants to convey a point without being straightforward, even leaving space for further changes, away from our farangy yesses and Nos.

This was inspired by the thread about pets in legal section.

 

here it is:

 

i reproduced an article about this thai/american athlete Tanya Roberts in the Sports section a month ago, where she was interviewed.

 

At some point, she is asked, if she wants to move from the USA and live in Thailand, and she answered that she really wants to, but she has 4 pets she loves, and is afraid the trip might be too harrowing for them, so not easy for her to make the move.

 

Well, my farang mind thought that was not a good reason if she really wants to, and 1 month later i realize she meant she did not want to go live in thailand, but intead of saying so, and be too abrupt, she played an emotional card she knows the thais can relate too, while not even committing her answer to a definite yes or no. Pure thai savoir-faire, IMO.

 

OK, do you guys have some instance of witnessing subtle double-entendres which left you perplexed or shaking your head at first, then realized "aaaaah...OK...I got it!"?

 

[jasmine]

Hi,

 

I am surprised that no-one replies, can it be that they don't understand?

 

One issue has been obvious to me is when some Thais deal with labor cost. Living in the West for as long as I have, I do ask a direct question and expect a direct answer. The last time I was in Thailand, I asked a contractor to give me an estimate on some building activities, he said "Don't worry, we can talk about that later, will give you a good price". And he went on for 2 weeks, it took my mother (he respects her) to tell him to give me the price or the deal was off.

 

My mother explained later that since he has known my mother and respects her as an aunt, he had a hard time talking about money. She pointed out also, that is why the Thais are not sucessful in business like the Chinese because of the "Kreng-Jai" and many think selling is a low-level job, rather be the givers if they can. What do you think?

 

Also, I faced with my mother's neighbor whose computer was acting up. He wanted me to fix it and was willing to pay (no one seemed to be able to fix it) but was afraid to mention the money and I was afraid to mention the money until my brother got involved. The sentence the guy started was like this "Ya Kid waa doo-thuk na krup, Phom yak tam waa kha som thou rai? = Please don't think that I am insulting you, how much would you charge to fix(it)?"

 

Cheers! ::

[pattaya127]

I am surprised that no-one replies

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So, Jas, it's betwwen me and you again..... ::

Reminds me of the infamous nazi Goebbels who said that when he hears the word culture, he pulls out his gun. Well, on nana, they pull out....Condoms! ::