Thai Greeting

Thai greeting or "Wai" in Thai is a basic manner that Thai people use in daily life. "Wai" is to press palms together (like when you prey) and bow slightly. Thai people 'wai' for paying respect to others. The more you respect the other person, the more you bow and the higher your palms held in relation to your face. We use 'wai' to greet, to thank and to apologize. While greeting, people usually say 'hello', 'goodbye', 'sorry' or what so ever at the same time.

Tips: The most popular word spoken when greeting is 'sa-wat-dee', which means 'well-being' or 'hello' in English.

Warning: When someone 'wai', we should acknowledge a salute to honor the answer to prevent misconduct or make people ashamed to show respect.

Experience: When I first came to the US, I felt very awkward to check hands instead of 'wai'. I felt like it's so 'American'. Also, I felt so weird to touch strangers, especially opposite-sex people, for the first time. Now I still feel a little bit 'not myself' but I'm trying to get used to. :))

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Today's site suggested: http://tipsonlearningthai.blogspot.com/ - A blog all about learning Thai, ways of improving your thai language skills, and more.