CultureShock! Thailand: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Cultureshock Thailand: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)

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...Read more

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 The book provides more info than a typical guidebook about Thai culture and customs, but I have found it not so much outdated as limited in scope.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...Read more

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.