Beyond the smile: exploring Thai cultural nuances

I know that most of people who travelled to Thailand have the image of Thai people as very kind and smiling ones. Well, it’s not their only traits… Today I want to tell you about some traits of Thai people that I discovered and that surprised me: 

 • You’ll be surprised, but I think Thai people can be very straightforward and tactless sometimes with their comments and their questions. “You are rich / She’s fat/ I’m stupid” this type of comments confused me many times.

 • They openly speak about physiology. “Yesterday I ate something bad and I had diarrhea” I heard once from one Thai lady. “I have problems with urinating” I was told by another one. Oh and some jokes. I’m not a prude, but the jokes about the size were a little bit confusing too :)

 • Thai people like to gossip. And this is not my conclusion, I was told it by the Thais! Moreover, they like intrigues and interpersonal dramas. I was very surprised about some dramas that were going on at my school and the things Thai people are capable of doing to each other.

 • Both men and women are very jealous. I heard that jealousy is a very common reason for domestic violence and murders. 

 • Thai people like childish things and style in clothes. I saw many aged women wearing girlish dresses and accessories. It looked a bit odd to me sometimes. There also are animated images everywhere, even in some banks. 

 • It’s very hard to know what a Thai person really thinks. I guess, it’s common for most Asian cultures, it’s rooted in Asian culture and upbringing. A Thai person can smile and be very kind to you (I’m not talking about foreigners, they behave towards each other the same way), but inside they might feel and think something absolutely different. And the way how they hide their real feelings is very sophisticated.

 • Thai people avoid conflicts with all possible ways. You can’t come to a Thai person saying: “there’s an issue, let’s talk about it”. And a Thai person wouldn’t come to you with such a phrase either. A foreigner will find out that there was a problem after a Thai person had left already. I think, this is the most difficult trait for the Westerns to deal with.

What would you say, guys? Are their some traits of a culture you live/ed in that took time and effort to adjust to?

Street art, Bangkok