Thai Diplomacy, Japanese Etiquette

In many ways, Thai and Japanese societies are similar, with sophisticated rules of etiquette and many shared cultural affinities...

In 2014, the Thai embassy released a "do’s and don’ts" list for Thai tourists when visiting Japan — Here is the list below:

BANGKOK – The Thai Embassy in Japan has some tips for Thai visitors: Don’t put your chopsticks in the serving bowl. If driving, stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. And just because you have kids doesn’t mean you can cut ahead in line.

The advice is part of an online manners guide the embassy posted on its Facebook page in response to criticism on social media about the behavior of Thai tourists in Japan. Most of the criticism came from Thai residents in Japan who reported sightings of “inappropriate” behavior on a popular Thai web forum, which inspired the embassy’s consular chief to pen the list of "10 do’s and don’ts."

“Japanese society is very unique. It is a society with strict rules that are not always obvious to visitors,” said Jessada Nanthachaiporn, the embassy’s first secretary. He said he intended the list as an educational tool, not as criticism of either culture.

Written in Thai, the code of conduct begins with escalator etiquette: Stand on the left, or walk on the right — except in the Kansai region, where the opposite applies.

There is separate elevator advice: The first person in holds the open button for others and should be the last person to leave.

In many ways, Thai and Japanese societies are similar, with sophisticated rules of etiquette and many shared cultural affinities, Jessada said. From a young age, Thais are taught the concept of “marayat” — or “good manners” — and values like humility and respect for elders, which are similar in Japan. But the same rules do not always apply.

His list offers advice on mobile phone use in buses and trains (“turn the ringer to silent”) and shopping: “Do not interrupt salespeople who are helping other customers.”

In Thailand, drivers often ignore crosswalks and zoom past pedestrians trying to cross. But in Japan, “Drivers must stop at zebra crossings and wait for people to cross the road, without honking the horn.”

Thais tend to eat family-style, sharing dishes, often without serving spoons. In Japan: “Do not use your chopsticks to pick up food for other people.”

Rather than take offense, Thais have applauded the list. The Facebook post has been shared and liked more than 1,300 times since it was posted last week. Commentators on Thai blogs have expressed admiration for Japanese customs, suggesting that if Thais adopted similar manners at home, the country would be seen as more developed. — Japan Times, 2014

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

1960's Travel Etiquette

Do you on planes hang assorted cameras, coats or other accessories including flight bags in your area so that they overlap and create a hazard anyway discomfort for the person behind or in front of you?

How Are Your Travel Manners? Check Yourself

By Gay Pauley UPI Women’s Editor

NEW YORK (UPI)— A tourist is judged by his travel manners and the better they are the better the impression made on strangers at home and abroad. The better also you will enjoy your trip if you exercise the rules of courtesy. 

Good manners add to good service you get too, from the motels, hotels, roadside eating places, airlines, trains and buses. Those catering to the vacationer, if pinned down could give you a list of gripes that long for correction. They are tolerant, because they are seeking the tourist dollar. But, from talking to various persons in the travel industry, we have compiled... 

 Pauley's Easy Guide for Testing Your Vacation Etiquette:

—Do you hog two seats in the bus, train or plane by deliberately placing your coat, purse or other paraphernalia on the second seat, hoping thereby to seal it off? 

—Do you on planes hang assorted cameras, coats or other accessories including flight bags in your area so that they overlap and create a hazard anyway discomfort for the person behind or in front of you? 

—Do you light a cigarette, pipe or cigar without asking whether smoking bothers the person sitting next to you? 

—Do you use the ash tray nearest you or prefer to lean over and use one of your neighbor, dusting ashes as you go? 

—Do you march up to the reception desk of hotel or motel and elbow others aside who are in line ahead of you to register? If you've pushed your way past others a little more patient during a busy tourist season, you’ve just won a top award for crudeness. 

—Do you adapt, if the conditions are not as perfect as promised? Some of the overseas countries are just getting into the swing of seeking you as guest for a holiday and the shower may not always work, the soap supply not be ample. But point out politely that flaw in the service. Creating a scene does not create a favorable impression of Americans. 

—In motor travel, especially in the United States, do you litter the roadside picnic areas as if litter did not hurt? Multiply your left-behind paper plates and cups, soft drink bottles, etc., by the hundreds who will use that picnic area in a given week and you see why some areas of the United States look like one big garbage heap. Crews eventually will pick up after you, but you’re not thinking of the others who want to enjoy the outdoors nor of the multi-million dollars of taxpayers’ money spent on cleanup alone. 

—Do your driving manners show in reverse? Tail-gating, nudging out of your lane at a stop light for a quick getaway when the light turns green... these invite disaster. 

—Do you remember to say, "thank you!" to the filling station attendant, the policeman or anyone else who acts as a free guide? There are a dozen times a day the tourist has a chance to say, "thank you!" and make traveling a treat instead of a trauma. — Madera Tribune, 1963

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia