People & Culture of Thailand

80% of the population of Thailand consists of ethnic Thais. Roughly 10% of the population is Chinese, with Malays adding an additional 4% to the blend.

Lao, Mon, Khmers, Indians, and Burmese make up a smaller percentage, while numerous ethnic hill tribes, inhabiting the mountainous border areas in the north of the country, are rarely included in population figures due to a lack of the necessary paperwork.

The Monarchy

The Royal Family is highly revered in Thailand, and images such as statues, photographs, pictures etc. should be shown due respect.

In a movie theatre, everybody is expected to stand during the playing of the Royal Anthem and a portrait of the King is shown on the screen.

Social Customs

Thais greet each other with a prayer-like gesture called a Wai. Generally, a younger person Wais an older person, who will then return it. Thais address each other (and usually foreigners) by their first names (which is also how they are listed in the telephone directory followed by their family name) This is prefixed by the polite word Khun. Public displays of affection, shouting and wild gesticulation are to be avoided as they are considered impolite.

The head is considered the highest part of the body, while the feet are considered the lowest, both literally and figuratively. Touching someone's head or pointing at people or things with the feet are, therefore, considered extremely rude. As with entering temples, shoes are removed before entering somebody's home.

Religion

Theravada Buddhism is the religion of over 95% of Thais. However, there are a small number of Muslims (4%) mainly in the south of the country. Christians make up another 1% with a smattering of other religions.

Neat and respectful dress should be worn in all religious shrines. It is not considered polite to visit religious monuments in shorts, miniskirts or hot pants. Trousers and jeans are considered unsuitable attire for women visiting a temple.

Though shoes can be worn in temple compounds, they should be removed before entering the chapel of the principal Buddha image. Indeed, all Buddha images are regarded as sacred, regardless of size, age or position, and should all be shown due respect. Buddhist monks are not allowed to touch or be touched by a woman, or accept anything from a woman's hand.

In a Muslim mosque, men should cover their heads, even with an open handkerchief, and women should be well covered with slacks or a long skirt, a long sleeved blouse buttoned to the neck, and a scarf over the head. Everyone should remove her/his shoes before entering the mosque. Mosques should not be visited during a religious gathering.

Language

The Thai language is tonal, with a change in pitch or accent capable of completely altering the meaning of a word creating a rather bewildering effect upon those who do not understand it. Over centuries the Thai language has evolved by absorbing words from Khmer, Mon, Chinese and Malay, and borrowing elements from Sanskrit and Pali. It was King Ramkamhaeng who first introduced the Thai alphabet in 1283, modelling it upon an Indian base with Khmer characters.

The modern Thai alphabet consists of forty-four consonants, twenty-four vowels, and four diacritical tone markers. The language is written from left to right, and words are strung together with only occasional breaks. Punctuation, upper or lower case lettering, prefixes or suffixes, noun genders, plurals, and verb conjugation are all absent from the language's grammer and sentence structure.

In Bangkok and the central plains, Standard Thai is spoken, and is considered the main dialect for business and the civil service. However there are three dialect variations in the north, north east (Isaan), and south, which, although they share most of the same words sound distinctly different. English is widely understood in Bangkok, where it is the major commercial language, and is spoken brokenly near beach resorts and tourist destinations, however off the beaten track English is rarely a language that is of any use.