Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand June / July 2017: The Business Issue | Page 20

Business
9 SIMPLE RULES FOR
DOING BUSINESS
IN THAILAND
Navigating customs and cultures when doing business in a foreign
land is no easy task, and expats working in Thailand are bound to
encounter some peculiar or unfamiliar practices, as Matt Lucas reports.
1
ALL ABOUT
CONTEXT
In the 1970s, anthropologist Edward
Hall introduced the theory of high
and low context cultures — a term
that describes the broad-brush differ-
ences between the ways various soci-
etal groups behave. High context cul-
tures, found in Eastern countries such
as Thailand, are collective and focus
on group interests. By contrast, low
context cultures, found in countries
like the United States and Australia,
are more individualistic. Low context
culture means that communication
20 WANDERLUST
occurs more directly and explicitly
through language.
In high context societies, Hall pro-
posed that communication is large-
ly conveyed via contextual elements
such as body language, status and
tone of voice. And, when it comes to
business, building solid working rela-
tionships is typically more important
than the business at hand.
This means that those of us from
Western countries need to pay
special attention to our body lan-
guage and tone to be considered
polite while in Thailand. It also calls
for added patience in creating and
maintaining close business contacts
and relationships.
2
WITH ALL DUE
RESPECT
Relationship-building is a pivotal
component of business in any coun-
try. But here in Thailand, greng jai
heavily influences the workplace.
Greng jai can be described as a gen-
eral desire to be considerate of other
people’s feelings, even at the expense
of one’s own happiness and interests.
In day-to-day life, this custom may
manifest when a younger person
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