53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for people going to Thailand, May 25, 2000
This review is from: Culture Shock! Thailand (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)
This is one of the funniest and nicest books I read when I prepared myself four years ago to go to live in Thailand.
Thailand is a very special country. It has never been for a long time conquered by alien powers and therefore has developed a unique, own culture. This book gives you a good insight and, much more, it wets your appetite. Going to live in Thailand, with the family, is a big shock in many ways. This book guides you nice and gently and with a lot of humor through your first embarrassing days. I have re-read the book , after four years, whilst now feeling complete at ease in this, indeed sometimes strange society. I still smiled a lot because I recognised so many situations.
The information is certainly not out dated as some reviews suggest. It should be more treated as reflection on the culture as taken too literally. Indeed, if you drive your car into some one else his Mercedes ( I've done it twice)the chances are that the gentleman stepping out his car will be extremely cross with you and express himself in that way instead of smiling at you and making the wai... However, in general people are much, much less aggressive and I have learned to be more relaxed even in situations like an accident as well.
Some things you will never get used to. When you fall flat on your face ( as happende to me in front of a lot of subordinates) everybody is roaring for laughter. And then you thank your little "Culture shock" for explaining to you these four years ago that they are not poking fun at you, but hiding their extreme embarrassment.
Read it.. It will prevent you from doing very stupid things and it will enrichen your stay in Thailand!
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A helpful start, but patchy sometimes vague coverage, August 3, 2002
This review is from: Culture Shock! Thailand (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)
This book remains the one volume available outside of Thailand that has been written for people who are planning to live, work, or study in that country (several guides of varying utility are available in Thailand). The book provides more info than a typical guidebook about Thai culture and customs, but I have found it not so much outdated as limited in scope. The section on supervising Thai workers does not go beyond putting on a happy face and bringing cream cakes to the office. In practice, one needs a wider repertoire of skills than that. Similarly, the advice on social behavior doesn't go much beyond the stuff that makes people paranoid about offending Thais (e.g., watching where your toes are pointed, not patting people on the head). In addition, the book does not help people with the inevtable "violations" of cultural rules by Thais themselves, nor does it provide simple startegies for adaptation (like learning to watch people and emulate their behavior). The book does not provide useful starting places for adapting to Thai culture---for example, the similarities in cultural codes to what one finds in non-urban parts of the US Midwest. It's surprising that this book has not undergone major revision and that no other has emerged as a replacemnt---it would not be difficult to do.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't find this kind of helpful culutre info on the web., May 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Culture Shock! Thailand (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)
Having lived in Thailand for several years, I have been searching for a book that captures the unique culture of Thailand. THIS IS THE BOOK. Culture Shock: Thailand explains the obvious and not so obvious aspects of Thais and their culture. For any one visiting or living in Thailand, read this book before going. The culture quiz at the end of the book has also been helpful when I have taught Thai culture to groups preparing to visit Thailand.
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