When you arrive in Thailand and you appreciate that you will be living there the feelings you have inside are in all probability going to be mixed ones. It clearly is dependent hugely on what circumstances led you to be moving there and all and sundry has their own tale. From my point of view I was starting a new life because my other life had come to an end romantically speaking and on a business level. My ex companion and I were involved in all areas of my life, so when the connection ended, it blocked many doors socially, financially in truth in every conceivable way for me. So I had a blank canvas, a clean slate as they say, the only way is up from here et cetera. I have met countless expats who have similar stories so I recognized I was not alone, except when you firstly move to a fresh nation and absolutely start everything over, you can feel very lonely, so you should to be clear in your mind what you are trying to complete. All I knew was what I was not going to do except apart from that I was very approachable.
The remarkable thing about Thai citizens is that they are so warm and friendly so this is always a lovely thing. 1 approach Thai society differs from western traditions is that the Thai people will only judge by the behaviour they see themselves and not what they may be told about you. Even if you advise a Thai a cold hard fact, they will still go off and examine it for themselves, from time to time this can be quite trying and you may feel that nobody believes you, but you must not feel that way, this is one of the many colourful distinctions you will go through.
One more thing to bear in mind is that, as the Thais say, when you have a Thai friend, he will be a friend for life and call you brother, but receiving to that level uses time. Something to remember is that you will all the time be a ‘farang’ or foreigner no matter what you do and how you behave. This is nothing to do will not being accepted, you need to understand how the Thai class system works, it is a culture thing. The class thing is a real hard one to accept for westerners and will take time in getting used to. So in essence you have to be yourself at all times but be knowledgeable of others around you. In Thai language there is a thing they call “Kreng Jai” and this is a very significant thing to the Thai people, there is no translation for this, except the closest connotation is “To have consideration for how you may make somebody feel” this can be by your actions or things that you articulate.
A very excellent instance of this, and another thing to keep in mind, is assume the person who is showing you around and coaching you about the culture asks you to visit his home, he has already told you that when you enter a Thai dwelling you have got to take off your shoes. When you visit his residence and start to remove your shoes he could say “never mind, don’t bother, it’s only me”. The motivation he may do this is for the reason that he “Kreng Jai” to see you do that for him, but if you do not persist to take off your shoes you are behaving in a way that is not Kreng Jai. Confusing isn’t it? Something deep inside born out of his culture will make him not like that, even despite the fact that he advised you it was okay, you must use your own judgement all the time and you will be fine.
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Ed loves thai holidays so to book your best holidays click krabi holidays
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