Attractive Thailand (Thai way of greeting)

Thai way of greeting   :  WAI 

Wai is the most charming and universal greeting that Thai people are pound of.

It’s very easy. Just raise both hands, palms joined, and place them in the middle of the chest and bow your forehead to touch them.

We wai when young people greet older people.

We wai when we meet and part.

We wai when we want to apologize.(When we do something wrong.)

We wai when we want to show our appreciation.

We wai when we want to show respect to holy things such as shrines or spirit houses.

We wai when we pay respect to Buddha images.

When we wai a Buddha image, we do it for three times. The first for the Lord Buddha, the second for his teachings and the last one for monks.

We kneel down when we pay respect to Buddha images.

When someone younger than you was, you may do the same or just bow your head and say

“Sawasdee” which means “Hello” in English.

If you’re not sure if  the other person is older than you. You just do the same thing and greet him or her with “Sawasdee” or “Hello” in English. It has nothing to do with sex.

Don’t point foot at person. The feet are considered the lowest part of the body. Pointing them at someone is rude.

Sitting with your legs crossed and one foot is up and pointing at someone is also rude even though you don’t mean it.

It’s best to avoid crossing your legs when sitting opposite someone.

Avoid patting people on the head because the head is the highest part of the body.

Touching someone’s head is considered rude.

Bow your head when you walk past the older.

Kiss, hugging and all kinds of public displays of affect in are considered improper.

Kissing, hugging in front in front of a lot of people are considered improper.

We adopt this culture from the west.

At the end of the statement, say “ka” if you are female and say “krab” if you are male.

They like the words “Sir” and “Madam” in English. They show that you are polite. (civilized)

Let's see this conversation .

Tourist: Last night Natalie greeted the audience with the Thai “wai” at the beginning of a talk show. I was so impressed with her greeting gesture. I think she could do it more beautifully than many Thais.

Could you please teach me how to do it?

Guide: With great pleasure. Start with putting your hands together palm to palm. Make sure that your fingers are close like this. Next place your hands in the middle of your chest. Be sure the tips of the fingers point upward. Keep your elbows to the sides of your body and bow your head a little.

Guide: Well, almost all occasions. When you greet or pay respect to the person of the same age or status as you, you just bow your heads a little. When you greet a senior, raise the hands higher. Place the thumbs at the nose and bow your head the same way . When you pay homage to monks, place your thumbs between the eyebrows, but when you pay homage to principal Buddha images in the temple, do the same but sit (to the right side/ to the left side) and bow your head till it touches the ground for three times.