Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and nose but will migrate above the crown of the head when greeting or showing
gratitude to a monk.
Gauging where you, as a foreigner, fit into this system is a convenient ice-breaker.
Thais will often ask a laundry list of questions: where are you from, how old are you,
are you married, do you have children? They are sizing you up in the social strata.
In most cases, you'll get the best of both worlds: Thais will care for you as if you are
a child and honour you as if you are a
pôo yài
(literally 'big person', or elder). When
sharing a meal, don't be surprised if a Thai host puts the tastiest piece of fish on
your plate.
Thais regard each other as part of an extended family and will use familial prefixes
such as
pêe
(elder sibling) and
nórng
(younger sibling) when addressing friends as
well as blood relations. This convention is often translated into English by bilingual
Thais, leading foreigners to think that their Thai friends have large immediate famil-
ies. Thais might also use
Ъăh
(aunt) or
lung
(uncle) to refer to an older person.
Rarely do foreigners get embraced in this grand family reunion;
fa·ràng
is the catch-
all term for foreigner. It is mostly descriptive but can sometimes express cultural
frustrations.
