Sawatdee

This is how Thai people say hello, Sa-wa-dee is how it sounds. Now I was a little confused when I was there when saying hello and goodbye, when to wai and when not to wai. Now you may be asking what is a wai???


Glad you asked.


A wai is where you bring both hands together in front of your chest and bow your head ever so slightly (not a complete bow like the japenese, almost like a nod of appreciation). This is usually done at the same time as saying Sawadee. Now before I left I read up a couple of websites that advised me not to wai to everyone as a wai is a sign of respect, usually used by someone of lower stature of the person they’re wai-ing to.

It was hard to get a picture of someone giving a wai, I found this one on google images

Once I was there though I found it too hard to resist some of the time. I found though that I got a great response when I did and it did not seem to embarrass anyone like some websites would suggest. Other sites suggest it is rude not to return a wei to someone. I found that whilst some of my research before I left helped, keeping an open mind helped more. Some of the warnings I got from people actually possibly restricted some of the things I did through being too cautious.


My advice is to just use it sparingly and not all the time, I found sometimes acknowledging with a nod, a smile and a good morning I received the same in return.


Now; sawadee… Not always as simple as that. Some would say sawadee ka and then others sawadee khrup. Before I left to go to Thailand my understanding was that if saying hello to a woman it was sawadee ka and to a man, sawadee khrup.


When I got there though, a lot of the people were saying sawadee ka to me. Now either they assumed my sexuality and were having their own little joke hehehe or I had read the wrong websites. Rather than get it wrong, I stuck to just sawadee. This was a polite way of saying hello although it is said to be the informal way.


After more research at home I have discovered what I assumed after a few days in Thailand is that when a woman says hello to someone she is not familiar with or who she may not know well it is said as “sawadee ka” and a man for the same reason will use “sawadee krup”


Once a person gets to know you or feels comfortable with you they may start to use the informal hello which is just sawadee. oops - oh well...


Now I was told and also read that you should not point in Thailand as it is very rude to point to a Thai person, even with your feet. I don’t recall ever seeing anyone pointing in Thailand so this advice seems to have merit, use open handed gestures instead. Also in the temples there is signage that confirms not to point your feet at Buddha or point to Buddha.

And another piece of advice was not to pat people on the head. Thai people see the head as the highest part of their being and would not see the gesture as polite at all. The feet being the lowest part of the body should never be anywhere where the head rests.

Now; some of you may be thinking “what a boring post” You won’t think that if you ever get to Thailand.

I will be writing more about what I got up to in Thailand in other posts. They will be more like the last one below... chat soon