Do's and Don't's

Before travelling to Thailand you will hear about hundreds of rules. Some are important, some are irrelevant. This is not a definitive list, but follow these rules and you shouldn’t upset anyone and you might even make some friends on the way.

Firstly: Thailand is a country, Thai people are people.

Westerners seem to forget this, or misunderstand this. Any experienced traveler will tell you, people are people wherever you go. Each nation may have its own small indoctrinates but everyone wants the same thing. 

We all want respect. Treat the Thai people (all people actually) with the respect that you want yourself to be treated.

DO:

Smile: Thailand is the land of smiles. A smile can genuinely diffuse an argument, initiate conversation and endear yourself to others. A problem with the language barrier? Smile. Someone bumped into you by accident? Smile. Even if it’s forced, smile.

Attempt to learn the language: Thai is a tonal language with a huge alphabet and can seem impossible to learn. Even someone with only a few words in their locker (thank you, goodbye, hello) can brighten a Thai person’s day. The vast majority of Westerners in Thailand have zero Thai whatsoever. Thais really appreciate the effort and will be suitably impressed with anyone who attempts to learn their language. A Westerner with no Thai will not be respected. Plus, the look of amazement when a Westerner breaks out in Thai is priceless.

Tip: Not a lot, not over the top. Thailand is a service based nation. Great pride is taken to satisfy the customer and service is always (well, nearly always) done with a smile. Bare in mind the average wage here and tip accordingly. It is always appreciated.

Integrate yourself: Thailand, Bangkok in particular really has all the comforts of home for us Farang. There’s no shame in utilizing these of course. However, why come here and have no interaction with the people or the country? Try some new food, try a new Thai restaurant, new bar, new hangout. Speak to people, say hello. The Thais are a fun loving, friendly, caring race. To come to Thailand and have no interaction is a huge waste.

Take photographs: Thailand is photo crazy. Everywhere you go you will see Thais photographing themselves, their friends or their food. There are some amazing photo op’s in this country, go for a walk with your camera and snap away some priceless memories.

Dress accordingly: Thailand is hot, right? Take your top off and walk around, right? Wrong. Topless Westerners (men and women) are extremely offensive in what is, a conservative nation. Don’t dress provocatively. When visiting temples follow the dresscode: cover legs, no strappy tops, vests and remember to take your shoes off.

Wear deodorant: Please. Its hot, we sweat. We get it. No need for smelly people. The look of disgust seen to often on the Skytrain when a smelly tourist gets on. Common sense again, but very important. Deodorant please.

Hail a taxi correctly: Don’t raise yoyr hand or whistle, New York taxi style. Raise your arm horizontally not above shoulder level and motion by moving your arm up and down slowly. (Hint: watch a local first).

Wai: (That’s putting your hand in the prayer position and bowing slightly). Don’t be over the top, don’t wai everyone (it’s like you walking round your own country and shaking the hand of everyone you see, you seem crazy!). If someone wais you, wai back. Ignore rules about who to wai and who not to wai, it’s a sign of respect to reciprocate the wai and will not hurt to do so.

Respect religion: the vast majority of the country is Buddhist. Respect images of Buddha, respect monks (don’t touch them, but again, why would you?). Respect Thai Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, everyone. 

Common sense.

DON’T:

If we've put it here, it's really bad. Don't do it!

Feet: Don’t touch people with your feet, point at people, point at things, put your feet up in a taxi or Tuk-Tuk or put your feet up in public. Feet are seen as the lowest part of your body and extremely offensive in Thai culture. Keep your feet down and away from people. If you drop something, don’t stand on it!

Touch heads: It is disrespectful to touch Thai people by the head, the highest part of your body. A simple rub of the head seems harmless to us but can offend the hardest of Thais. The situation should never arise, but please don’t touch anyone on the head with your feet (still don’t understand who would do that!).

Mention the Royal Family: Thailand has strict Lese Majeste laws. Play it safe and don’t mention the reveared Royal Family at all. Don’t like facebook pages regarding them, don’t join in conversations about them and don’t ask Thais about them. Never, ever mention them and you’ll be fine.

Kiss in public: No over the top public displays of affection. Again, Thailand is a conservative nation. They won’t tell you so, but PDA will offend any Thai person that seems it. Save it for the bedroom guys.

Get angry: Thailand can be frustrating, you will have moments when you want to explode. Try not to! Thais avoid confrontation and do not like to lose face. Try and breath, try and smile. Ask yourself, what would Jesus do? Well, maybe not that far, but you get the idea.

You may read travel guides mentioning all kinds of other things (rules about which hand you eat with etc). The truth is that most of these are out of date and in reality, will not offend anyone. Thai people won’t refuse to shake your hands and offering to shake hands will not offend anyone! 

Just use your common sense and respect the country you are in.

An extra general rule to think about: If you’re in Pattaya, you can pretty much ignore most of these.

I know in England that we like to moan about ‘bloody foreigners’. Don’t give Thais a reason to do the same.