I reckon courtesy is one of the cornerstones of professionalism, so in an idle moment I happened to google search on "cornerstones of professionalism" and came across this paper (yeah, I know, I know, too much time on my hands) http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2004/sonnenberg/index.htm

While the paper applies to people working in the mining industry, the author talks a lot about the general concept of professionalism (and yes, courtesy made it in there under 'respect'). He mentions traits like integrity, competence, honesty, ethics, attitide, loyalty, initiative, confidence, candour ... and so on.

This got me thinking though, is 'professionalism' one of those things like 'common sense' and 'good manners' which often gets mentioned in TV discussion threads ... in other words a Thai version of each exists, but just doesn't dovetail with our western ideal.

I'd be especially interested to hear from expats working in professional roles in Thailand ... about what they think about this issue. Does one model of professionalism fit all (should it?), or is it horses for courses?

The simple answer is NO.

If you want to be successful in Thailand, learn form the Chinese

They are outsiders just like us, there is a lot to learn from them.

And also learn from the Japanese. They teach the west quality control in the early 80's

And learn from Mr Carlos Ghosn, a truly international manager

I'd say most people agree professionalism is a positive concept in the work place. It's the interpretations and definitions that differ and hence the same single concept doesn't apply.

Again for all the words you list. Yes most would agree they most of them are important positive traits. Again though, interpretation and definitions differ.

Additionally, the traits do not exist in isolation and sometimes conflict. Reasons can be found for that based on cultures and values. For example I would (almost) always put integrity above loyalty, particularly in the work place. However, in many collective societies with a stronger relationship based focus they will put loyalty above integrity. When you can have both, everything is fine, when there's a choice needed is where you see the differences.

Candour would probably be one of the larger differences as well, with your average Thai preferring to maintain harmony, than speak candidly in many situations

Obviously again you're talking averages, generalisations etc, and different individuals will do different things regardless of national culture. Collective societies like Thailand tend to be more homogenous in understanding their behaviour than say western, but there's still enough individuals to make differences