What are the common miscommunications between Thais and foreigners?

Thais speak in a very different way to Westerners, and cultural misunderstandings can occur if you are not familiar with Thai culture.

The Thaiger newspaper's advice on communication between Thais and Westerners.

Thais are generally pleasant and relaxed, and will forgive visitors who make unintentional rude gestures.

See : Do's and don'ts in Thailand, the things you need to know

Making the effort to know some of these differences and what you should and should not do can help you avoid an embarrassing scenario.

Giving advice or opinion

Thai culture prefers indirect negative comments.

If a Thai friend or colleague wants to say something bad to you, he or she will do so discreetly, indirectly and politely.

They may try to pass off their bad comments as useful advice.

The Western approach to communication favours direct negative comments, which Thais hate and avoid.

This leads to misunderstandings, as foreigners are used to communicating directly.

When foreigners refuse to accept what Thais suggest they change or adapt, Thais question why they refuse to listen.

It sounds like a nice piece of advice rather than something serious.

For example, Michael is evaluated by his Thai boss, Nat, in a typical Thai way.

Michael receives Nat's feedback as friendly advice rather than as genuine constructive criticism.

Instead of guiding Michael in the right direction, Nat gives him his idea of how he might approach the tasks.

Another example (Pierre To), I wanted to learn more about meditation and had contacted a French-speaking foreign monk in northern Thailand.

This monk, I later learned, had a very bad reputation.

When I was on the bus, close to my destination, I spoke to a Thai man who knew this monk and tried to warn me.

But he never made any direct criticism of this monk, just told me that there were many other people or places where I could learn meditation.

In the end I had many problems with this monk, who has since been defrocked.

Conflict avoidance or confrontation

Thais do not like confrontation.

Arguments are likely to cause turmoil in relationships between friends and work colleagues.

They also think that arguing or expressing an opinion is disrespectful and embarrassing.

On the other hand, foreigners are more likely to express their opinions and be open-minded.

Differences of opinion are beneficial to the development of a working group.

Personal relationships are not affected as professional and personal relationships are separated.

This leads to misunderstandings, as foreigners often think they can challenge a Thai colleague without jeopardising the relationship.

The Thai colleague will think about it for days and wonder why his foreign teammate can be sometimes rude and sometimes nice.

For example, Jason and Vichai have a meeting about the project their boss has given them.

Vichai proposes his idea to Jason, who disagrees and prefers to take a different angle.

Vichai's mind is set on Jason's choice of words, and he lets his foreign colleague take the lead rather than challenge him with his idea.

Hierarchy or equality?

In Western countries, everyone's voice and opinion is heard and valued.

In Thai culture, this is not the norm.

The boss is rarely questioned, and everything he asks for is accepted.

For Thais, it is more important to be polite than to be correct, to give a creative answer or to suggest different ways of doing things.

In deciding whether or not to speak their minds, your Thai colleagues or friends should consider their age, rank and social status.

In addition, the Thais do not like to lose face.

This is an example of hierarchy or equality.

Robert has just got a job in Thailand and is delighted with his new experience.

He has many new ideas about what he could bring to the table.

On the first day, he presented his ideas to his new Thai colleagues, but the response was not what he expected.

As a new employee, his opinion does not count.

Explicit or implicit?

It's Friday night, and the company you work for is going out to dinner.

Your Thai colleague, Bank, is late for lunch after having to finish a last-minute job.

The team has ordered pizzas and there is only one slice left when Bank arrives.

However, William asks if he can have the last slice, and Bank agrees even though he hasn't eaten yet and his stomach is rumbling.

For the Thais, it's completely different.

They communicate in a very contextual way.

Whatever they express, there is a level of complexity that most outsiders ignore.

When a Thai asks you if you have eaten, for example, he asks you much more than if you have eaten.

He wants to know more about your day and your plans.

When foreigners expect their Thai friends to speak their minds and interact in a Western way, they run into problems.

Communication out of context is normal for foreigners.

If foreigners say they don't want something, they don't want it.

Direct and simple communication is best when addressing others.

Source: The Thaiger