In February and March I shall be working in Thailand. I am looking for any cultural insights people might have from their own experience of working there. I have done some home work already and came across the following:
http://hmongstudies.org/ThaiCulture.pdf
http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Diversity_and_cross-cultural_issues_in_Thailand
http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Thailand.html
I am interested in the personal experience and insights of trainers who may have worked in Thailand. Appreciate any input recieved.
7 Responses
Thailand!
I don't have any advice I can give you however I can say I'm very jealous. Thailand is such a lovely country. I hope you get out and about whilst working Garry.
you poor thing…..
…you'll miss the snow and the ice and the rain and the whining about how the councils didn't grit enough and how the NHS has got us all on a 'death pathway'
The only advice I can offer is "Enjoy"
Rus
UK PLC
I have a little PPT Montage of all things good about the UK I always show when I work overseas.
Cricket, Rugby, David Beckham, Poilemen with funny hats, Punks in Camden, Morris Dancers, Fish and Chips, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud, Red Telephone Boxes, Black Cabs and of course The Queen.
PS: Manchester United and David Beckham get most interest. Everyone loves footballl and Man Utd, esecially in Asia.
Kids vs adults
A friend went out to Thailand and was caring for/teaching children. Very willing and keen and friendly…how much that translates to adult learning is open for discussion.
In my travels there, there is definitely an angle for appealing to the 'what's in it for me'. I find the Thai people overall quite friendly and accommodating.
Have fun!
Good reference point
Try "When cultures collide" by Richard D LEWIS – ISBN 13 978-1 9044838
Brearley Publishing- eight pages on Thailand with links to other countries -cultural protocols etc etc
Fun in Thailand!
Hello Garry,
I am not sure what levels you will be working with in Thailand or what sort of training you will be doing. I have worked in different parts of Thailand for the last 5 years running workshops for the spa and hospitality industry. The one thing I noticed is they love to have a lot of fun during their training. So I make sure I build in a lot of relevant energetic activities, energisers (with a purpose) and group work. I also make some activities competitive as this goes down well too. Visual workbooks/handouts are also really important – not just the text but colourful visuals to support the (limited) text.
"Loss of face' is a big thing in Thailand and can be 'devastating' for them. In other words they do not want to lose face in front of their colleagues. This means if you are doing any training that requires feedback from the participants to each other, they find it challenging to do this initially. e.g after recruitment skills practice, trainer training practice etc. They are very reluctant to say anything that may upset the person they are giving feedback to which means feedback from each other can be vague or only focus on positives. When I first experienced this it was like dragging teeth, then I quickly worked out different ways of getting them to share feedback and this seemed to work.
The other thing is to be totally mindful of their devotion to the King and make sure nothing could happen during the training that could question this devotion. For example we may do a practical exercise with a picture of the Queen or Royal Family (well I don't :-)) you just would not do this in Thailand. His picture is everywhere and at 0800 and 1800 each day the National Anthem plays and if you can hear it, you stop what you are doing and listen to the Anthem. When you go to the cinema the Anthem will play and you all stand up – I like it!
It is a great country, the people are friendly, the food is great and the culture is interesting. Have fun and if you would like any more specific information then email me [email protected] I am there myself at the end of March / early April speaking at a conference and running workshops.
Hope this gives you some insights!
Alison
Don’t . . .
. . . expect training facilitation to be the same as Europe.
As with many parts of Asia asking questions of a full room group elicits relatively little response. Split everything you want them to analyse, think about discuss and feedback into subgroups. Then get group representatives, or all of them to play back the group findings to the whole class.
. . . drink the water. Even brush your teeth with bottled water.
. . . forget to take a pack of Activated charcoal tablets (for mild cases) and Immodium (for emergencies)
Tony Latimer, MCC