Working with the Thais (PB) | By Holmes, Henry (Author) | White Lotus

Of course we’re the same. We see. We hear. We enjoy. We hate. We fight. We love. We want the best for our families. We may not all speak the same language, but when it gets down to the crunch, we can all communicate and cooperate. You want to be happy? Fine, do so! You need my help to be happy? Good, let’s see what we can do. People are the same wherever you go—from Pretoria to Paris, from Mexico City to Bangkok. Well, if we are so similar, why do foreigners complain so often about working with the Thais? And why do Thais frequently find foreigners so arrogant and exasperating?

All people may see and hear and fear and enjoy, but it’s very possible that we aren’t seeing and hearing and fearing and enjoying in the same way as they are. I can bow, but I refuse to demean myself. I can restrain my anger, but I refuse to idly watch injustice being done. I can physically consume that food, but it is not what civilized people eat. In the end, our fundamental goals in life must be remarkably similar. But it is in the means we use to reach these goals that the differences emerge. And it is at this level, more importantly than at the superficial level of social do’s and don’ts, where the opportunities lie for us to develop understanding, respect, and the effective relationships we seek between ourselves and our Thai colleagues.

Working with the Thais (PB) | By Holmes, Henry (Author) | White Lotus