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the thai people

2 Mar 2007.

Although an irate foreigner can get things moving, it is considered embarrassing and a loss of face for those involved.

Like other Asians, Thai people attach a great deal of importance to the concept of face, which involves gaining, preserving and enhancing respect and status. Foreigners should avoid actions or words that may cause a Thai to lose face in public. If criticism or potentially status-damaging actions or words are necessary, make effort to find a more subtle way of getting your message across. The Thai is likely respond more appropriately.

Two things that Thais revere most are faith (Buddhism) and monarchy, and it would be a grievous offense to criticize one or both. Buddhist monks - with their shaved heads and bodies draped in saffron robes - appear to grace every street. They are forbidden from coming into contact with women, so female tourists should avoid sitting beside them. Wats (monastic temples) are liberally sprinkled throughout the city and kingdom - about 27,000 in all. Treat every Buddha image, small or large, with the same reverence the locals do.

It's a serious offense to defame King Bhumibol, age 72 and not in the best of health, or the Royal family. Even stepping on money carrying the King's image to stop it from being blown away can potentially land the owner of the offending foot in jail. Jokes about the Royal family won't go down well and is a topic best avoided.

Ethnic groups

Apart from the dominant Thais (75 percent), minorities include about 50 different mountain or tribal peoples, generally concentrated in the north and along the western border. These groups, which represent 11 percent of the population, speak their own languages. Lao are very close cousins of the Thais, with about 20 million living in the semi-arid, poor northeast of Thailand known as Isaan.

Ethnic Tai originally migrated from China. Tai tribes - which account for 14 percent of the population - still live in the mountains of northern Thailand, southern China, northeastern India, Indochina, and Myanmar.