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Lack Of Manners


khunsanuk
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Does the community agree with our Great Leader ? I consider intra-urban high density traffic as a safety feature , meaning nothing moves anyway . May I further suggest to use the sidewalks as the locals do .

 

Yep, I am in agreement with the general premise about the lack of manners in Thailand. In certain situations, especially in the workplace, dealing with people of influence or with respected family members or government officials, Thais can be impeccably mannered. But out and about in general public they can lack manners and it can be every man for himself.

 

What used to always irk me was when you're in a restaurant and the staff would shout across at each other from one side of the room to the other, destroying any semblance of ambience, when it would have taken almost zero effort to walk across and talk quietly with their colleague.

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Maybe the choice of restaurant factors in that one. Can't say as I've noticed it at some though very evident at others. Unfortunately its more the greasy spoon spit on the floor type where they have the better quality food that tend to be the worst in that regard.

 

As for rudeness in social situations I find it often the more senior or respected or official types sometimes the rudest. Not caring to embark in conversation with a mere farang despite having more than passable conversation level English. Even in Thai would not be a big issue. Rather I tend to hear quizzical comments about "why is there a farang here?" even a "do we really need these people here?".

 

Then again, up in t'village, the screaming and shouting that goes on between the wooden shacks at 5 in the morning is something else.

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Hi,

 

>As for rudeness in social situations I find it often the more senior or respected or official types sometimes the rudest.

 

Agree fully. Was in a meeting with a high ranking gov official once. My business partner was doing a presentation. The gov guy's phone rings, he gets up and walks out. 10 min later he comes back in and sits down again. Not a word of apology.

 

Sanuk!

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I used to have a cross cultural book on Thailand, written by an American sociologist and his Thai wife ... just one of my many books that were borrowed and never returned. However, I remember the authors used a series of concentric circles to explain Thai behaviour. At the center were your family, close friends, and all who had power or influence over you (e.g. your boss or supervisors). With these people you had to be very polite and attentive. In the next ring were acquaintances and those at work who ranked lower than you. You'd still be polite, but not as much as with those of the inner circle. The outermost ring - the largest one - contained everyone else. You might be polite to them if you felt like it, but it wasn't really necessary, since they were strangers and you'd never seen them again. It was safe to be rude to them.

 

This analysis seems reasonably accurate to me. e.g. As a university lecturer I was automatically in the inner circle on campus, but outside of the university among strangers I was just another Farang. The way Thais treated me was noticeably different.

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Hi,

 

>Did you want to say that you could only get on train No.4 because 3 were too crowded ?

 

Correct :(

Used to be that I was able to get on the first or 2nd train, now it is not uncommon that I have to wait until the 4th or even 5th train.

The lines often stretch to the other side of the platform.

 

Sanuk!

 

In Japan, it's so bad that they use pushers to squeeze people into train like sardines.

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