■Thai Society and Culture
◆ The Wai
◇The common form of greeting is the wai, which adheres to strict rules of protocol.
◇The standard form is raising both hands, palms joined with the fingers pointing upwards as if in prayer, lightly touching the body somewhere between the chest and the forehead.
◇The wai is both a sign of respect as well as a greeting. Respect and courtesy are exhibited by the height at which the hands are raised and how low the head is bowed to meet the thumbs of both hands.
◇You can make the wai may while sitting, walking, or standing.
◇The person who is junior in age or status will make the wai first.
◇The senior person makes the wai in return, usually with their hands held to somewhere around their chest.
◇If a junior person is standing and wants to wai a senior person who is sitting, the junior person will bend or lower their head while offering the wai.
◇If there is a great social distance between two people, the wai will not made in return.
◆ Buddhism in Thailand
◇Most Thais believe in Buddhism.
◇Buddhists believe that life does not begin with birth and end with death, but rather that every person has several lives on the basis of the lessons of life not yet learned and acts committed (karma) in previous lives.
◇Buddhists believe that selfishness and greed lead to suffering and that compassion and love bring happiness and welfare.
◇The true path to peace is to get rid of all desire, a condition which Buddhists explain as “nirvana”, an indescribable state unhampered by desire, suffering, or further rebirth, where a person simply is, and is completely at one with his/her surroundings.
◇Over 90% of the population in Thailand believe in Buddhism.
◆ Hierarchical Society
◇Thais have high regard for hierarchical relationships.
◇Social relationships are described as one person being superior to the other.