[Emunsesoxmete]

I guess it is up to parents to make their "rules" on greeting. if they want to wai, and teach the kids to wai, it's their business. if they go for a hug, or whatever else, it's their business too. if they don't speak, that's none of my business too - many kids are really sleepy in the mornings, they don't speak, they don't even want to be looked at. I really didn't like it when I saw teachers trying to force (!) the students / small kids to greet their parents with a wai. (not just ask or suggest but force.) (another school not mine.) if the parent wants or needs or expects a wai, and I've seen plenty of these, they should teach the kid themselves. teachers should teach them how to greet teachers and strangers and other parents, how to behave in a community etc.

btw, a friend working in a corporate environment (lots of farangs but mostly Thai) in Bangkok said that in two years, he didn't see a wai around him. he had to learn how to do it when he went to see his girlfriend's parents upcountry.