Dumsoda Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Beautifully put, Sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Hi, "have to wear yellow shirts" This totally negates the idea that it is done to pay respect, isn't it? Respect is earned, it cannot be forced upon. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 It strikes me as odd that some secondary schools expect ALL their teachers to wear a yellow "king's shirt" on Mondays. But I imagine it is only in a sense of uniformity. Some schools have official blazers that the Farangs are supposed to wear too. In my Peace Corps days, I knew some secondary school vols who were actually told to wear the Thai government civil service uniform! They talked about it in my unie, so I had a uniform made. Then someone decided having the Farangs in uniform would look a bit odd, so I never did get to wear it. I was sort of looking forward to it, since I have eight military medals and ribbons to wear (US and South Vietnamese) and I knew the Thai soldiers at the local Army base would recognise them. Should have been good for some free drinks. As I recall, I eventually ended up giving the uniform away to a Thai colleague, who tried to have it cut down from my 180 cm height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom_Pom Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 for those of you who think you're "going native"...here are the absolute worst things you can do, in ascending order of severity: Worst things for fitting in with the locals and making them feel a bit better about foreigners, or the worst things for annoying expats suffering from PMS? Guilty of 1 and 3 (Of course 1 only when actually warranted and not to say thanks to the dek serve for not padding my bill too much). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 I don't wai anybody or anything. I'm not Thai' date=' don't want to be a Thai. I can respect and accept their customs but for sur, I will not be doing many of them. I do wear a yellow shirt, as I have a few nice ones and I think the color usually matches that of my eyes! [/quote'] So if the situation was reversed and you were in your own country, meeting up with a thai person, I hope you wouldnt get offended if the thai refused your offer of a handshake? I only wai family, never bargirls though. Offended? no way. I work in Japan and they mostly do not shake hands, no problem. Also, when they are in the USA, the older Japanese do not shake hands, no problem. I am ahead of the game a little as I understand many cultures and can easily deal with it. If some other nationality was in the USA, my home country, then up to them as to how they respond to a situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Phreako, you finally gave your name a meaning (kidding) Better wai than touch her hair Better wai than touch her with your feet/shoe Farangs that wai in bars look funny but it isn't the worst thing they can do! Wearing a yellow shirt to honor the king might look goofy but i it is someones opinion it deserves to be respected, if a farang likes the king and what he did or admires him for his inventions or his music (which is amazing btw) then a yellow shirt is "one" way to express it. People might look funny at him and some thais might be offended but those don't like farangs in the first place. People wear shirts from Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Michael Ballack, why not one to show your support for the king????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 And some folks show their support for Calvin Klein! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 p.s. Ballack is cool, but you can forget the Beckham shirts ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YimSiam Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 As for number 2; what if that person was actually a practicing Buddhist and performed a wai at every shrine? Or is your problem only with the location? That person would be wai'ing up the wrong tree - those shrines are for finicky little pissant animist godlets who get their panties in a bunch if they run out of green Fanta. Buddha doesn't give a damn about fanta (or anything else). I have no problem whatsoever with people wai'ing bargirls, and I'll do it myself for fun if I feel like it. I'm not establishing hierarchy or following customs if I do, I'm just fucking around in a bar, and if it makes me happy, I'll do it. As for the yellow shirts, they're hideous. But when I'm working in Thailand I do sometimes make an effort to wear the color-of-the-day tie (not just yellow), and it definitely gets me better service from the old admin ladies. The first time around they think it's by chance, the second time they notice, they start to put your files at the top of the stack... Not respecting culture, just exploiting it for personal gain... YimSiam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 I thought the "sheep shirt Monday" syndrome was supposed to finish at the end of 2006? What's the story with that? Everyone worried that others will think they are a bad person or "don't care" if they stop wearing it? Not compulsory in our office. I wouldn't wear one anyone. Whilst I repesct him, he's not my monarch so I wouldn't wear one. Also, I have *never* seen a Thai person wai a member of waiting staff or service staff. Maybe I just eat in the wrong places! (Does DATY count? Should I wai after that!) Ha ha! Hey KS - couldn't someone from the Thai government or similar see this thread and be unhappy about the negative comments regarding yellow shirts and then do something nasty??? Preahko - had you er... had a few when you wrote that post? Just wondering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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