How to politely refuse to shake hands?

[whaleboneman]

Kind of funny that people who hang out in farang bars and...would worry about handshaking.

[tifino]

Kind of funny that people who hang out in farang bars and...would worry about handshaking.

worry shaking - unless it is a woman's or katoey's hand doin' it

[onthedarkside]

There really in no connection to Chiang Rai in this topic.

Moving to the health forum.

P.S. and I suggest all this trolling ceases.

[harrry]

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/preventing.htm

[pitchag]

This op is such a plonker , I lived in Australia for over 40 years and survived many thousand handshakes in Aussie you would not trust a man who refused to shake your hand firmly, not like a whimp, even the women like a firm hand shake, but not a crusher as some guys like to do to each other.

We never had all this germ killing crap when I was brought up in the bombed slums of the East End of London we played in the bomb ruins and built up a healthy immune system and was washed with carbolic soap in the once a week bath ( no bathroom just a tin bath in front of the kitchen fire) and a stand up wash in a bowl the rest of the week never knew anyone with allergies or food intolerance's in those days like you get today.

You are just a bunch of whinging poofters these days, if you refused to shake my offered hand I would have no dealings with you

P.S. I do shower 2 to 3 times a day now tend to sweat a bit in Thailand but do miss the kitchen fire.

The worst spreaders of coughs and cold are your children when they do insist of kissing and cuddling you with all the germs they pick up at school

Best thing to do is find out where they sell those bubbles that the boy lived in and get one for yourself nice and safe in your sterile cocoon.

Edited August 15, 2014 by pitchag

[h90]

Studies show, even when soap and water are available, the majority of men do not wash their hands after using the toilet.

I avoid shaking hands by giving a fist pump or something similar. If the guy is insistent, I carry the hand sanitizer and offer it to them while using it myself. Sure, there are many other ways to pick up germs during a night out, but I concern myself with the ones I can control.

I know guys who are coughing into their hands the moment they exit the plane and then don't understand why I don't want to shake their hand. Which one of us is being rude?

Take care of yourself.

P.s. I read one scientific study that estimated 2,000 different combinations of 'cold' viruses/germs. As a senior citizen, ive probably had a few hundred in my lifetime so I don't think I'll develop immunity or resistance to them all in multiple lifetimes even with reincarnation .

urine is sterile.....so the urine is surely better than the towel.

[h90]

This op is such a plonker , I lived in Australia for over 40 years and survived many thousand handshakes in Aussie you would not trust a man who refused to shake your hand firmly, not like a whimp, even the women like a firm hand shake, but not a crusher as some guys like to do to each other.

We never had all this germ killing crap when I was brought up in the bombed slums of the East End of London we played in the bomb ruins and built up a healthy immune system and was washed with carbolic soap in the once a week bath ( no bathroom just a tin bath in front of the kitchen fire) and a stand up wash in a bowl the rest of the week never knew anyone with allergies or food intolerance's in those days like you get today.

You are just a bunch of whinging poofters these days, if you refused to shake my offered hand I would have no dealings with you

P.S. I do shower 2 to 3 times a day now tend to sweat a bit in Thailand but do miss the kitchen fire.

The worst spreaders of coughs and cold are your children when they do insist of kissing and cuddling you with all the germs they pick up at school

Best thing to do is find out where they sell those bubbles that the boy lived in and get one for yourself nice and safe in your sterile cocoon.

Well I come from a very clean environment in Europe......and everyone shakes hands and no one even thought about getting any germs from it.

If you are afraid of hand shakes than it is a psychological problem......no point of trying to explain it with germs on the hands.

[transam]

Some forget that a handshake is a universal phenomena related to friendship. For sure at times it is false, look at how politicians use it to do their stuff.

BUT, us mere mortals must/can look through that stuff when a handshake means something, depends on the situation, folk shake hands after a fire fight covered in crap. perhaps a guys life was saved in a situation, blood and guts on hands, do you refuse it ? Naaaaaaaaaaah. The only time you refuse it is to tell someone they are a shit.

[tifino]

Become a Mason, learn some mystical non-handshake, and only leave the house one day a Month to join the small circle

[h90]

I found the perfect solution: amputate the right hand.

[moe666]

A small container of the aforementioned hand sanitizer.

Something people should be using regularly anyways.

Why should they be using this crap, with long termusage youwill suppress your immune system. My mother taught me not to piss my hands

[tifino]

I'm sensing severe flashback visions of watching mr'Monk' episodes - the ol' (wipe the hand with the tissue given by assistant after every handshake trick)

[BaldPlumber]

A small container of the aforementioned hand sanitizer.

Something people should be using regularly anyways.

Why should they be using this crap, with long termusage youwill suppress your immune system. My mother taught me not to piss my hands

I don't remember my mum teaching me that. I've probably and luckily suppressed that memory [emoji4]

[DrTuner]

One could always do the Indian tailor routine, grabbing the victim's hand by the elbow and starting the old "very good suit for you my dear I make good curry too you come to my shop friend". Guaranteed to create a decent distance to the hand grabbers.

[inbangkok]

The only way you can be getting sick by shaking hands is if you touch your face afterwords or touch your food with your hands. You can either flat out tell them that you don't shake hands and people are probably not going to take super kindly to it, or be more cautious of touching your face during the day.

And to tell you the truth, I hate shaking hands for the exact same reason as you. I usually just suck it up and do it anyway though......

[h90]

A small container of the aforementioned hand sanitizer.

Something people should be using regularly anyways.

Why should they be using this crap, with long termusage youwill suppress your immune system. My mother taught me not to piss my hands

urine is sterile so no problem with this.....

But after reading that I consider to piss on my hand before I have to shake hands with people I don't like.

[h90]

The only way you can be getting sick by shaking hands is if you touch your face afterwords or touch your food with your hands. You can either flat out tell them that you don't shake hands and people are probably not going to take super kindly to it, or be more cautious of touching your face during the day.

And to tell you the truth, I hate shaking hands for the exact same reason as you. I usually just suck it up and do it anyway though......

As my father taught me (he was sent around the planet to a lot not so clean places): It is most important to wash your hands BEFORE you piss, as you can get really nasty things from your fingers.

[attrayant]

I don't care if it's sterile or not; I don't want my hands to smell like urine.

[h90]

I never give out handshakes to local Thais so why would I do it to foreigners ? A nod , a friendly smile should be enough . a wai would be just plain stupid . And I always remember to wash my hands wherever I go, especially before I start eating with my hands, Most foreigners I've seen do not care about their hygiene, unlike Thais.

A lot Thais want to shake hands.....to show of that they know other cultures.....the same as the Farangs who wai everyone. And in general food hygiene and therefor infections Europe is a light year ahead of Thailand. (Taking shower and smelling bodies is a other topic).

[transam]

I never give out handshakes to local Thais so why would I do it to foreigners ? A nod , a friendly smile should be enough . a wai would be just plain stupid . And I always remember to wash my hands wherever I go, especially before I start eating with my hands, Most foreigners I've seen do not care about their hygiene, unlike Thais.

A lot Thais want to shake hands.....to show of that they know other cultures.....the same as the Farangs who wai everyone. And in general food hygiene and therefor infections Europe is a light year ahead of Thailand. (Taking shower and smelling bodies is a other topic).

Agree, but we farangs do have Legionnaires Disease in farangland, a "perfect" environment.....

[h90]

I never give out handshakes to local Thais so why would I do it to foreigners ? A nod , a friendly smile should be enough . a wai would be just plain stupid . And I always remember to wash my hands wherever I go, especially before I start eating with my hands, Most foreigners I've seen do not care about their hygiene, unlike Thais.

A lot Thais want to shake hands.....to show of that they know other cultures.....the same as the Farangs who wai everyone. And in general food hygiene and therefor infections Europe is a light year ahead of Thailand. (Taking shower and smelling bodies is a other topic).

Agree, but we farangs do have Legionnaires Disease in farangland, a "perfect" environment.....

Comes from the Airconditions and the hot water boiler mostly. I think mostly neither related to food nor to hand-shakes.

We also have food poisoning at places where the quality is not considered important (drafted military, schools/kindergarten, places for old people), but far less than in Thailand.

[Sheryl]

I don't think there is a polite way to swerve an offered hand. Men of a certain age shake hands almost instinctively, and it is rude to leave people hanging.

Just keep a tube of that hand sanitizer gel in your pocket and clean your hands after...

As above. Shake hands and just make a practice of washing your hands often. If concerned, use hand sanitizer between handwashing. You pick up more germs from door knobs, elevator buttons anf the like than you ever will from shaking hands.

[pomchop]

Only 51% of Americans wash their hands after sneezing or coughing, and only 17% wash them after shaking hands. This is a real public health problem because 80% of infections are spread by hand.

[slipperylobster]

Spray a white gauze wrap around bandage with yellow and green paint. Shred it a bit, and wrap it loosely around your hand. Then complain about the zombies that broke into your home the other night

[mantu]

OP needs to think out of the box a bit...

1. Get one of those joke hand buzzers they sell at novelty shops...

2. Wear a fake cast ( better yet a Benny Hill style fake arm and sling to free up the real arm for drinking)

3. Buy the lapel pin from this website....http://stophandshaking.com/

If all else fails, go here....http://www.giyf.com/

[h90]

Only 51% of Americans wash their hands after sneezing or coughing, and only 17% wash them after shaking hands. This is a real public health problem because 80% of infections are spread by hand.

So Thais must have only 20% of the infections that Americans have. As they don't shake hands.

Unemployment rate of doctors in Thailand must be very high.

[joealx]

Get a Hepatitis A vaccination so you won't get sick from someone who uses the hand to wipe instead of toilet paper.

[Sheryl]

Nowadays Hep A vaccine is part of the routine vaccination schedule in most countries so younger people will likely have had it already. Those older would definitely do well to get it as well as Hep B, there is a combined vaccine for the two.

However, it is highly unlikely that oen would get Hep A from shaking hands. The biggest risk from hands is the common cold and influenza viruses, and as mentioned touching door knobs and the like is more of a threat than shaking people's hands. It is not practically possible to keep your hands from touching anything that might contain pathogens unless you live in a plastic bubble. So the best approach is just to wash your hands often.

[h90]

Nowadays Hep A vaccine is part of the routine vaccination schedule in most countries so younger people will likely have had it already. Those older would definitely do well to get it as well as Hep B, there is a combined vaccine for the two.

However, it is highly unlikely that oen would get Hep A from shaking hands. The biggest risk from hands is the common cold and influenza viruses, and as mentioned touching door knobs and the like is more of a threat than shaking people's hands. It is not practically possible to keep your hands from touching anything that might contain pathogens unless you live in a plastic bubble. So the best approach is just to wash your hands often.

To add that Hep A and B vaccination need a check afterwards. Sometimes it doesn't work.

For example they tried twice to vaccinate me Hep B. And I don't have any antibodies they can detect. They told me that it doesn't work work on some people. I may or may not protected naturally. And I should try a vaccine from another brand.

Many people vaccine Hep A and B and trust they are protected while they are not.....

[Gumballl]

Wow, the OP is worried about germs/bacteria... and he is in Thailand!

Geez, you would think that the OP would be more worried about the size of his balls... or whether it is safe to even cross the street.