Things Not To Do In Thai Culture
These are the basic no-no’s while you’re in the Kingdom of Thailand. Don’t take them lightly.
- Never talk bad about or disrespect the King or the Royal Family. This also goes for objects that bear their seal or likeness such as money. If you drop a baht note, do NOT step on it. It’s like stepping on the King’s face. If you don’t get beaten or even killed by the Thai mob that heard you say/do it, you’ll end up in prison on charges of Lese Majeste. Suffice to say you won’t be winning any popularity contests while staying in ‘The Bangkok Hilton”.
- Never talk bad about or disrespect Buddha or the Buddhist religion. Case in point; A mentally disturbed Thai man started hacking up a famous Buddhist pagoda type statue called the Erawan one morning with a hammer. A mob killed him within minutes. Literally. Don’t mess around with their religion or royals, period.
- Do not point at things with your feet. Feet are the ‘lowest’ part of your body and using them to point at things is a sign of great disrespect. Especially NEVER use it to point at a Buddha statue or image of the King or Royal Family member’s likeness.
- Do not touch Thai people on their head. It is the highest part of your body and it’s to be treated with respect. Hats go on your head, that’s about it. NEVER touch something like a hat, with your foot.
- Do not get caught with drugs of any kind here, you’ll go to jail for a long time or end up on death row. Seriously.
- Don’t be loud, obnoxious or lose your temper. In Thailand it’s considered a weakness for someone to have to raise their voice or cause a scene to get their point across and you’ll be looked down upon.
- Do not get in a fight with a Thai person. Not only will the police more than likely see it his way, but every Thai man within a 10 mile radius will come over to join in on your beating. I’ve seen it happen a few times, thankfully not to me.
If you can heed these basic warnings you’ll be safe. These are the big no-no’s. Yes there’s tons of other things you should not do in Thai culture, but the big ones are covered here. Thailand is a wonderful place where most people are smiling and happy to Westerners or farangs. Just use some common sense and heed the above rules and you’ll get along just fine. Explore Thailand, it truly is amazing!
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2 comments
Traditionally showing any signs of public affection – kissing,hugging, hand holding were all taboo and caused offense but this seems to be changing nowadays especially in big cities like Bangkok or tourist areas.
This is a very important post. I’m surprised more tourists, travelers to Thailand don’t comment on their experiences before and/or after their first visit to the Land of Smiles aka Siam.
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