In Thailand, we greet people differently from America. American people greet others by shaking hands, but Thai people greet people by placing the hands against each other and raising them to the face. As in the picture, women usually bend their knees and head when they "Wai", which we call greeting in Thai. Men usually bend their head and back, not knees. Moreover, greeting different people due to their status uses different Wai. If we wai people with the same age or people that we first meet, we point both of our index fingers against our nose.If we wai people who is older especially our parents, family members, and teachers, we point both of our index fingers in between our eyebrows. If we wai Buddhist monks or we call "Pra"or any Buddhist temples and statues, we need to point both of our index fingers against the top part of our foreheads.
PS. when women wai people that are the same age with them, they don't need to bend their knees.
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ReplyDeleteWe have a different style of greeting in Japan too, but women and men don't greet differently. The picture seems like that women and men greet differently in your country. Do you guys need to greet differently because of gender?
ReplyDeleteMen greeting in Thai is more in a manly way, but women greeting is neater and more in a humble way. Still, Thai men are superior than women. We perceive men as the leaders of the family. It has changed little by little over time for both genders to be equal.
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