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Why do Thais use a limp hand to shake hands?

4675636b596f75

By 4675636b596f75
in ASEAN NOW Community Pub

Do you offer Thais a handshake?  

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DannyCarlton Gold Member

DannyCarlton

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

Depending on the Thai, I will teach them how to shake hands.

 

What an arrogant and ignorant sentence.

 

Teach yourself how to behave properly. 

Trust me, they'll never get into The Lodge if you don't teach them to shake hands properly. ????

 

 

 

 

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likerdup1 Silver Member

likerdup1

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Why else would you shake hands?

 

51 minutes ago, sanemax said:

When agreeing on a verbal deal

When agreeing on an herbal deal? Remember in Thailand the wacky weed is a very big no no! Unless they legalize it for medicinal reasons. Then you'll be have to Wai the Dr. if he prescribes for your legal high times ... ????

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likerdup1 Silver Member

likerdup1

Posted
Posted

I have a better poll. Why do some Thaivisa members make up lame Poll topics?

 

A) They think they are making earth shaking revelations but just only stating the obvious.

 

B) Here in Thailand they have finally found someone who will agree with just how important they think they are (namely their Thai girlfriend who is on salary and will tolerate listening to them talk all day long about nothing) and before long start believing what they have always thought about themselves.. that they are really very clever but nobody understands.

 

C) They need something else to do after looking in the mirror at themselves all day long.

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samsensam Gold Member

samsensam

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, likerdup1 said:

I have a better poll. Why do some Thaivisa members make up lame Poll topics?

 

A) They think they are making earth shaking revelations but just only stating the obvious.

 

B) Here in Thailand they have finally found someone who will agree with just how important they think they are (namely their Thai girlfriend who is on salary and will tolerate listening to them talk all day long about nothing) and before long start believing what they have always thought about themselves.. that they are really very clever but nobody understands.

 

C) They need something else to do after looking in the mirror at themselves all day long.

 

like it, i enjoy watching guys sitting in restaurants or coffee shops with their thai lovely spouting their egocentric words of wisdom as the lady sits there a fixed smile on her face but eyes betraying a) they don't understand a word of what he's going on about and/or b) if they do understand they couldn't care less.

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likerdup1 Silver Member

likerdup1

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, samsensam said:

 

like it, i enjoy watching guys sitting in restaurants or coffee shops with their thai lovely spouting their egocentric words of wisdom as the lady sits there a fixed smile on her face but eyes betraying a) they don't understand a word of what he's going on about and/or b) if they do understand they couldn't care less.

Ah, you've seen it too! I once was shown an apartment by a guy like that. His Thai girlfriend barely knew English but he would just go on all day long about how great he was "back in Auzzy land" and this and that... The condo he showed me..... WAS PERFECT FOR THE MAN WHO LOVES HIMSELF AND THINKS HE"S KING <deleted>.... IT HAD MIRRORS ON ALL THE WALLS!!! In fact the "bed chamber" looked like a small castle for the KING to do his deeds LOL!!!. it was so text book narcissistic it was pathetic.

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WalkingOrders Gold Member

WalkingOrders

Posted
Posted

I Wai to Thai all the time, sometimes perhaps inapropriately, but I try to be culturally correct with this, as I am a guest within their culture. I shake hands only when a Thai offers their hand to me. I then offer a firm handshake. A limp handshake for a Thai is often simply a matter of timing or misunderstanding a correct firm handshake. Much the same as me offering a wai inappropriately. I honestly do not even understand how anyone can live, or be visiting Thailand for years and only have Wai to Thai "about three times". For me, other then my occasional clumsiness on timing, or appropriateness, its second nature. And for the most part Thai seem to appreciate the courtesy. A common civil polite human interaction. Because I speak little Thai it offers me some communication of feeling.

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likerdup1 Silver Member

likerdup1

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

I Wai to Thai all the time, sometimes perhaps inapropriately, but I try to be culturally correct with this, as I am a guest within their culture. I

Degrees of Wai

As a rule of thumb, the position of your hands is indicative of the level of respect within the classic Thai greeting. All wais are not the same and the different gestures generally relate to who the other person is. The palms are pressed together with a gap between the thumbs and fingers and the elbows tucked in. The starting position is with the wrist either touching or near the chest or what yogis would identify as the heart chakra. As the head nods the hands move up to various points of the face.

The Peer-to-Peer Wai: This is used in general with people who you meet socially. As you slightly nod the hands move up so that the thumbs briefly touch the chin. This is a quick action, similar to a ‘hi’ rather than some drawn-out greeting.

The More Respectful Wai: This is used when greeting older people or those you deem to have a higher standing in some way. From the starting position, as the head tips forward slightly the hands some up so that the thumbs touch the nose. Again, this is usually a fairly swift movement, although a slower style is often used to give the gesture greater meaning and gravitas.

The Monk Wai: A real sign of reverence is used when Thais wai to monks. In this instance, the nod turns into more of a bow and the hands slide up so that the thumbs touch the eyebrows. When it comes to a wai to royalty, Thais will bow or curtsey whilst they slowly make this gesture.

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likerdup1 Silver Member

likerdup1

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

The reasons Thai's wai goes back hundreds of years and is to do with health and hygiene

People were worried about spreading disease so they used the wai instead.

Also the last thing you want to do is shake hands with somebody with a big sweaty palm in the tropics.

This is not so, do a little more Google research and you'll find it is more to do with why westerners shake hands. To show you don't have a WEAPON!

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ThaiBunny Silver Member

ThaiBunny

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, likerdup1 said:

This is not so, do a little more Google research and you'll find it is more to do with why westerners shake hands. To show you don't have a WEAPON!

Correct, and the reason why Boy Scouts use the left hand was originally to show trust that the other person is not carrying a weapon - https://lefthand.fandom.com/wiki/Left-handed_handshake

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faraday Platinum Member

faraday

Posted
Posted
On 9/7/2019 at 4:32 PM, bkk6060 said:

It is not their formal way of greeting so they are unaware.

But, I stopped shaking hands with Thai males after noticing they rarely wash their hands after going number 2.

Do you wait outside male toilets to check?

 

But tell me, how do you know they've had a number 2, it's puzzling, unless you're in the cubicle with them.......

 

:laugh:

 

Have a nice day.

 

 

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ThaiBunny Silver Member

ThaiBunny

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, faraday said:

Do you wait outside male toilets to check? But tell me, how do you know they've had a number 2, it's puzzling, unless you're in the cubicle with them.......

The fact is that if they touched a door handle on their way out they may as well not have washed their hands anyway

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sipi Gold Member

sipi

Posted
Posted

555555

 I started the exact same thread some years ago (I can't be assed looking up when) and it attracted the exact same boring predictable replies "Thais don't shake hands they wai" from the same "my <deleted> is bigger than yours" crowd.

Brings back fond memories.

Edit. And it wouldn't have been a poll because I don't care what other people think.

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chippendale Senior Member

chippendale

Posted
Posted
On 9/7/2019 at 4:41 PM, CharlieH said:

There are various forms of "greeting" in numerous countries, if it is not your native method its not unusual that an individual would get it wrong, not know, or preform the action badly.

 

Beyond the Handshake: How People Greet Each Other Around the World
  • Stick out your tongue. Tibet. ...
  • Bump noses. Qatar, Yemen, Oman. ...
  • Air kiss. France, Italy, Portugal, Latin America, The Philippines, Ukraine, and Québec, Canada. ...
  • Rub faces. ...
  • Sniff face
  • Clap your hands. ...
  • Put your hand on your heart.
  • Bow

As a few examples other than shaking hands.

 

https://www.afar.com/magazine/beyond-the-handshake-how-people-greet-each-other-around-the-world

 

 

Some sniff each other's butthole.

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sipi Gold Member

sipi

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, sipi said:

555555

 I started the exact same thread some years ago (I can't be assed looking up when) and it attracted the exact same boring predictable replies "Thais don't shake hands they wai" from the same "my <deleted> is bigger than yours" crowd.

Brings back fond memories.

Edit. And it wouldn't have been a poll because I don't care what other people think.

 

Almost 5 years. How time flies.

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