How To Survive in Thailand; Saving Face, Understanding Thai Culture & Language 

I learned more in this 30min episode about Thai culture than I learned in 2 30day trips… Great Job!

Chris is a legend and knows what he's talking, and writing about, no doubt about that! Nice one Pete, great video mate.

The quality of this channel definitely improved a lot during the last months. Great work 👌

I really want foreigners to watch this episode for learn indeed Thai culture.Good job.❤❤🙏👍👍

Absolutely 1st CLASS & essential viewing for everyone who are associated with Thai people anywhere in the world. Note - Thai often don't express their feelings but instead may give you a very particular look / stare.... reading the expression on their face can often speak volumes, (not unlike anyone else)

Thanks for raising this so overlooked aspect of Thai culture and relationships.Too many times seen the unfortunate fall out of a foreigner not understanding this with the consequences being even fatal in the extreme example. Best if you have upset someone rightly or wrongly is to try and seek blame for the situation, usually leads to a positive resolution in my experience. Another trip wire in Thai/foreigner relationships to watch out for is sarcasm. Being of an Anglo/Irish background sarcasm (black humour) pops up daily but just doesn't seem to cut too well with the average Thai.

I have a story about ‘Face’ which some might find interesting! I was with my ex….a Thai girl and I was in the room on Koh Chang suffering with a bit of sunstroke! I was hungry and asked her to go next door to 7-11 for a ham/cheese toasted sandwich. She returned with some weird spicy burgers that I just could not stomach. I was a bit annoyed and asked her why she brought me these! She told me 7-11 had sold out of ham/cheese toasties so she thought I might like the burgers because farangs like burgers! I was starving by this point and decided to go to 7-11 by myself and see what I could eat. I headed to the sandwich section and what did I find? Yep, ham/cheese toasted sandwich. Upon later questioning her further it turned out that when she was looking for my food another farang was hogging the sandwich area, taking his time deciding what to buy! Rather than ‘lose face’ and asking him to move over so she could get a toastie, she just went to a different section and bought me something completely different!

It is a a pleasure to listen to Christopher's on his chosen expat life in Thailand and understanding it's vagaries interesting, intelligent and beautifully put . A star amongst expatriates few reach this accomplishment when living and working in another culture .

What a great discussion! I had read about jai already but this was explained with such emotional fluency that it made more sense! I've experienced a few cases of nam jai, situations as described in the video, like letting someone go before you in a queue, or giving them way, etc and the reaction from the Thais has always been so grateful and at times surprised! Many foreigners complain that Thais don't like them but so far by showing kindness I've not had any major negative interactions, so it's very much about how you behave yourself, after all we are guests 😊

I love the respect shown older people in Thailand. Something we have lost in Australia. Example at my wifes house in Isaan ( Which is our base when there) Her mother had to move out and into grandmas house next door because our heads could not be higher than hers. An as we had the second floor she could not stay beneath us. Visiting grandma we had to kneel while she sat on a bench. Personally I love that sort of ettiquette. It will never happen in the west. But I do try very hard to comply with the customs of Isaan and I know that I have the full respect of my wifes family because of my attempts to get it right.

If you enjoyed this check out another one I did about the culture of saving face in Thailand: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vnl4diJz-Js.html

Thanks 2 all of you, that’s another excellent interview 👍🏻

Very interesting interview Pete, hit it on the head of a nail. Christopher's amazing, I need to get his "Jai" book, looks like it's self explanatory and a must read book 👍 What can I say, thank you Pete 🙏 (❤️🇹🇭)

Fascinating stuff Pete. Makes me realise I must learn Thai before I retire in Thailand 🇹🇭

Thank you so much to interview and save thai culture, I'm shared. 😊

Gday Pete, only been a subscriber a few months but absolutely love your informative content. Great mix of people being interviewed and subject matter. Great work mate 👍

An interesting circumstance in Face cultural practice is the status of Thai women married to westerners, the mia farang. I’ve seen the awkwardness in my Thai wife’s interactions with the villagers when we go there. Her status has changed and everyone is trying to recalibrate. And yes, it is awkward for me to have implicit status the details of which I don’t fully understand.

As a manager I’ve always said “Praise publicly, punish privately”.

Great interview!!! I learned a lot. Thanks to your guest and to you for having him on your show.. 🙏👍

Great interview. Thank you.

Brilliant explanation on the importance of respect and the benefits of a good heart ❤

A good book about “Face” in Thailand is, “The Way Thais Lead: Face as Social Capital” by Larry Persons

Excellent! Thanks so much….I love traveling and Southeast Asia is my favorite part of the world. I got two of Mr Moore’s books on kindle on Amazon so I can take them with me on my next trip there without the weight of actual books in my suitcase….please have him back soon so we can all benefit from his knowledge of Thailand. What a thoughtful and kind person….

So glad you came back for a second interview and touched on Heart Talk 🙏

This is the best interviev i saw on your channel!

Thank you Pete for such a wonderful and deep conversation I was enjoying every second of this video and didn’t want it to end. Keep it up mate🙏

This was exactly what I needed! Thank you! I'm going to buy the book now🙏

Thank you. I learnt something in another great interview Pete.

Mr.Moore พูด โดนใจ, ถูกใจ ใช่เลย.. คุณ อยู่ประเทศไทย นาน จนกระทั่ง เข้าใจ วัฒนธรรมไทย หลายๆเรื่อง..

Great interview. The "Heart" books are fascinating and instructive. I have read all of Christopher's "Calvino" books - detective stories with a bonus: they all tell readers a lot about Thai culture

Very exited to hear when you mentioned " saving face " lol been hear 7 year's and yes, you see this almost every day haha. Thankyou so much keep up the classic work as always. After watching the whole video at one time, i can safely say that you both have enlightened most farangs heart's within a very short time and not only farangs heart's, our loved ones heart's hear also in Thailand like our partners and everyone in our household. It brings a more compassionate understanding of the differences between farang and Thai people. If we could all be more compassionate in life, the world would almost be a perfect world. Thanks Pete and best of luck to you,your family and friends. Thanks Mr Moore.

Hi, I enjoyed your interview with good information and intelligent insights. I have summarised this and my summary is if you have anything negative to say to a Thai person do it in private and never in front of anyone. Be humble and respectful at all times because mainly you will be treated with respect. Take care GOD Bless you and yours. M

Thank you for the very interesting interview 🙏🏾

Once again, great interview. Thanks.

Great discussion, I would like more of these please.

Awesome!!

Very interesting video, enjoyed it a lot, thank you :)

I appreciate the insight and examples given.

Great video. Very good points. Makes you think. Maybe he's book should be sold at the airport as travel requirements.

Loving this intro music....attitude..sassey, owning this... Great work all round Pete 👏 👏

Hi Pete, you work hard to get the most interesting interviews. Well done mate. Christopher is a very interesting guy indeed

Great informative video.

some good info in this interview .... opens your eyes a bit

Thanks Pete and Christopher, that was fascinating and educational.

Enjoyed that very interesting, cheers

Another fascinating interview Pete!

Thanks Pete. I learned a lot from your video. Until now, I knew only Christopher G. Moore from his name on book covers (various bookstores in Thailand)..but I discovered that he has great thai culture. I will try to read books again. His "heart" book is a great one for thai language learning,

Could listen to this conversation for hours .. was very interesting and helpful Ty

You really have a talent Pete and I'm in awe of your ability to find such interesting people to interview.

Very interesting was that. I often wondered about the endless use of "Jai" a heart word often used in conversation.

Thanks for this Pete. I have been married for over 20 years to a Thai Woman and have just learned so many more things from your video. Very interesting. Hope your having a fantastic day Buddy!

Very well explained 👍

Another great interview. Just came across your channel accidentally a few days ago, watched many interviews and really enjoyed them. As a Thai man moving out of Thailand for a better life, it is Interesting to know how foreigners think about the country I escaped ( and unlikely to go back for a long haul) 😂

Very interesting! Thank you!

Splendid interview! Thank you both of you..,

What a wonderful opening to my exploration of my Thai family. I am excited.

keep 'em coming mate . top notch

Great blog and an education lesson in the culture in Thailand

Very interesting interview.

Another excellent video, very educational. Christopher has a wealth of knowledge!

I learn a lot guys, from your experiences

11 years I’ve been here and I learned more from this interview than I have in my entire stay.

Enjoyed this Pete ..

Loved this one, kâe tam dtaam jai dtua ayng gôr por :D

ฉันชอบรายการนี้❤

All companies in Thailand that employ westerners should show them this - Christopher is a great teacher.

Never watched any of your videos. Never watches a YT-video twice. Did both with this today. Thanx mate 👍👏

Fantastic

I think that not wanting to embarrass people or cause confrontation is actually a very human thing. I think us westerners actually are very concerned about face as well, we just don't necessarily call it that. A lot of these concepts are rather straightforward, but this videos makes it seem like they are more complex than they really are. Basically it comes down to: treat people with respect and try not to rock the boat...That's simply a human trait, nothing else. Also, Christopher's examples of people losing face are basically times that he confronted people who were speaking behind his back. He states they lost face from this. Try doing this anywhere in the world and the reaction will be the same. It's a mortifying thing for anyone to be on the receiving end of such a thing, but I don't necessarily think it really comes down to 'face' and the Thai concept of it... Also, who butts into someone's private conversation between two people in the manner that he explained,? that's kind of not really a cool thing to do anywhere and is liable to embarrass everyone involved. Why do it? I also think that if you are going to criticize someone anywhere in the world, it's best to do it one on one, I would never dream of calling someone out in a group of people, it's just not the proper thing to do. Also, he TOTALLY butchers the pronunciation of "Greng Jai"....

An excellent video.

This is gold

Very informative Pete ,, Good topic ,, thanks 🙏

This interview is very interesting indeed even for a Thai, myself.

Very interesting!

Excellent.

Thanks!

Pete is such a likeable dude. Love the channel bud.

A great lesson from someone who has been a working Farang in Thailand

Good content

Hey Pete.interesting info from your guest thank u.i always look from people who has jai dee.keep it rollin

Mr. Moore has a great way of explaining how face works in Thailand. I had to laugh about the story in the lift. Had many similar encounters myself almost daily since many Thais think I can not understand what they are saying. Most of the time just curious what I am doing. The worst case was two older Thai women walking past me in a restaurant as one mentioned sitting with me and the other shouted I do not sit with foreigners. I almost said something but instead just glared at the women for a long period of time. What I do not agree with is using face as a shield to avoid taking responsibility for your actions. I have my limits with it.

UNREEL!!! much appreciated UNREEL!!!

Very helpful, thankyou. As a potential purchaser of Heart Talk I was curious as to how the book is Indexed if one was looking for the appropriate term in a specific context

I picked up the book not got it yet but heart is always a good place to start

I think this extreme fear of "Loss of face" holds some cultures back from developing, it's like being unable to challenge power - the culture and society festers. In the West we have to get used to criticism - even a lot of jokes and banter involve someone losing face, just suck it up or you're soft! Then give it back. Very different kinds of communication.

🤩 wow I have Never seen such an in in depth description about Thai Culture. Don’t mind me being married to a Thai for 3 years and living here for 5 speaking the language. I have always wondered how to put it into words!

Very enjoyable!!! I just finished his book Spirit House. Btw, I was born in New York city but my parents came from Leitrim and Offaly.

I'm from the UK and I was always told to respect my elders when I was growing up.

P.S. already like & subscribed.

UPDATE: Christopher’s book Heart Talk is now available in paperback at Amazon www.amazon.com/dp/1694514013/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Heart+Talk+Moore&qid=1661651154&sr=8-1

Thank you so much for speaking with Christopher again. How interesting. Could listen to him all day. Funny thing, l named my first son Jai 38 years ago and didn't realise it meant heart.❤️

This was interesting

Love the interview! As a Thai, I can confirm he is a Thai guru.

Excellent video. As others have said. I learned a lot. I had an episode while in Bangkok that could have gotten out of hand. Luckily I hadn't drank that much so it didn't. I had been in the bar for several hours buying all the girls drinks, having the time of my life and I had brought only enough money to have a good time. No credit card. ATM card. So I started pulling the receipts out of the bucket. Checking to make sure I wasn't going over what I had in my pocket. The girls got all upset questioning why I was doing that and didn't I not trust them?! My main concern was to not lose face over not having enough money to pay the bill. Yet. They thought that I felt they were cheating me. Which wasn't the case. At first I started getting irritated about it because she kept saying why you checking why you checking? And my response was why shouldn't I check? Like as if we were going to have a serious conversation. But I was new in Thailand and still am wet behind the ears so to speak. But I realize that I needed to changed my tact so I explained to her why and that calmed them down. Three of them so does they could get pretty loud. I had just enough money left in my pocket to have a beer on the way back to the hotel at a different place that doesn't have that kind of environment. All good. These girls kind of are friends of mine now and two of them I talked to regularly. When I go back to Bangkok I will spend time with them. Separately. Have a lot to learn about the Thai culture and I appreciate this video for helping that along.

wise man. thanks

Thanks Pete,excellent session. Maybe I can find Mr Moore's work in Asia Books.

Fantastic interview. When I lived in Thailand many years ago, I’d give a wai to children. I was scolded by my girlfriend, as adults don’t do that. Very different in the west, where kids are taught to shake hands when greeting adults, as equals.

Excellent video, everything is based on your heart. When ever you are making a decision Thai people will always tell you go with your heart, think the heart is to go with what you really want but your head will always make you think twice about what you do. Think people in South East Asia are way happier people with a lot less than what people have in the western world. Look at the schools here everything is geared to enjoyment and happiness. Great video Pete love the different spectrum of people you interview.

Excellent discussion! Should be required viewing by anyone from the West wanting to visit the East.

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