[RagonaCon]

My typical greetings evolved from "Sawatdeekrup" to "wadee- kup" to now "hello- kup". Small chance it'll goes "Lo- kup" though.

[LesLattis]

I always thought of "hello" not as a greeting on the phone but rather a way to establish that you are being heard. like, you call someone, they say "hello" to answer the phone, and then you go on saying "hello, good morning / afternoon, I'm calling you to...." whatever. so hello is not really the greeting in itself.
I guess I am transferring our Hungarian phone etiquette to English.

as for "thank you", let me clarify. at my school, when you sit down at the teachers' tables in the canteen, the lunch ladies bring you a plate of fruits or snacks, and a jug of water (it's not self-service). farangs look up and say "thank you", Thai teachers don't look up and don't say anything. they don't tell farangs off for saying "thank you" but if you try to ask them why, they express their surprise at the farang habit of saying "thank you" all the time and explain that you don't need to say thanks to service staff.
I am having a hard time teaching my students (aged 5-6) to say "thank you" when I hand out snacks, pencils, books, homework, anything. they just don't get it. even though I think you are supposed to say "khap khun khrap/khaa" in Thai when handed something by an adult. I guess it comes from home. in Hungary, this is the very first thing kids are taught to say by parents, to greet adults and to say thank you. - not that we are a nice and polite nation by the way! on the contrary. service staff is notoriously rude in Hungary for example, I wouldn't thank most of them for anything because they almost hurl your tickets / weighed vegetables / change at you. but the kids can do it properly before they go off track.

[Aswdwdfg]

Richard Barrow: But how traditional is "sawasdee" for a greeting? Surely telephones have been around longer? So, isn't saying "hello" more traditional? True that "sawasdee" is recent, however, there wasn't a phone in our village in Trang until 1993... Although surely they had seen phone etiquette in Lakorn, movies, etc...

[RayFairhurst]

I don't know if it is universal, but telephone etiquette in the corporate setting as taught by secretarial schools (I think it is American-oriented ) is to drop the use of "Hello" and instead identify the name of the office and greet the caller --" XYZ Company, good morning/good afternoon (whatever)." (The other version is, " XYZ Company, may I help you? " )

If this is the practice encouraged in Thailand, then this is easier to get used to since "Sawatdee" sounds quite natural.

[Oswczrdz]

I remember that previous thread entitled 'When Siam became Thailand'. I found it intriguing and disturbing at the same time. Who are the racially pure Thai? Who are the 'genetically inferior breeds'? I want to learn more so that I will understand. Is there a 'Thai History For Dummies book'?

I found it interesting, and somewhat comforting to read further, in the linked blog, that some people wish to return to the original name 'Siam" which better reflects the countries diversity.

[Freefspruptpx]

After much reading and recalling from my last trip to BKK, I do agree with Surawut as whose name will show up on the reciever phone. The person would simply answer " Waa ngai kha/khrab" or " Hello kha/khrab" if its from a close friends or from a family member. However, they would greet you with "Sawasdee kha/khrab" if you say it first before they would answer with Waa ngai or Hello Kha/Khrab

Maybe its true that thai people are saying less (Khor thot). But my latest encounter of instead from the person who bum into me saying Khor thot, he give a slight bow and he rush off again. Which to me is good enough.

Some Thais would say "sorry" with a bow if they know that you are tourist and not a local...

[themsrsdude]

Slightly off topic, but I have noticed that generally Thai people don't say "please" and "thank you" even though they have words for them. This isn't because they are not polite. They have other ways to show respect like saying "krap/kaa". This causes problems when they start speaking English because they don't sound so polite. In our culture, we have to say "please" and "thank you". Thai people don't understand why I say "thank you" in Thai when the cashier gives me my change. They argue that I have just given them money and it should be the other way around. But, I tell them that I am thanking them for their service.

This is not every Thai as I see some say "thank you". But then maybe not as often as me. I even say "thank you" to the bus driver when I get off the bus.

Swedes have somewhat the same problem. We seldom say "please" as there isn't a similar manner in Swedish.

To make it worse Swedes are always on the first name basis. I remember when I first visited Canada and my friends there "sired" their own father

Anyway maybe it was this Bettis friends meant: Dont say "thank you" in english?

I don't know if it is universal, but telephone etiquette in the corporate setting as taught by secretarial schools (I think it is American-oriented ) is to drop the use of "Hello" and instead identify the name of the office and greet the caller --" XYZ Company, good morning/good afternoon (whatever)." (The other version is, " XYZ Company, may I help you? " )

If this is the practice encouraged in Thailand, then this is easier to get used to since "Sawatdee" sounds quite natural.

I think its universal. Most companies world over have a policy or at least make some effort to answer calls in a similar way

[LesLattis]

I recently had to go to the wonderful Thai culture course organised by the government for teachers, it is actually written in the manuals we got that much of "traditional" Thai culture is very recent. we were even shown a picture of those leaflets that explained to half-naked Thais how to dress "properly" (it was in a recent thread somewhere here at the forum). our presenter acknowledged that "civilisation" came from the west and that we as teachers should help Thailand to develop further, e.g. in taking safety and security measures seriously and not play around with human lives. I was a little surprised at this approach to the introduction to Thai culture! nevertheless, a colleague remarked in the end "so they told us now what they would like Thai culture to be like!" for example, we had the entire audience sneering when the five precepts, including the prohibition on alcohol consumption and adultery was brought up. our presenter said right away that Thais are hypocrites. (she was Thai!) our Muslim colleagues were especially amused.

[Aswdwdfg]

To some degree, that's universal, though, right? Those in power have to continually define the group they lead.

George Washington didn't chop down a cherry tree...

[RayFairhurst]

Slightly off topic, but I have noticed that generally Thai people don't say "please" and "thank you" even though they have words for them. This isn't because they are not polite. They have other ways to show respect like saying "krap/kaa". This causes problems when they start speaking English because they don't sound so polite. In our culture, we have to say "please" and "thank you". Thai people don't understand why I say "thank you" in Thai when the cashier gives me my change. They argue that I have just given them money and it should be the other way around. But, I tell them that I am thanking them for their service.

This is not every Thai as I see some say "thank you". But then maybe not as often as me. I even say "thank you" to the bus driver when I get off the bus.

Ohh, yes, the British 'thank you'--LOL, this was one of my first culture shocks during my first days in England. When I returned to my hotel to pick up my key from the desk, the guy at the counter always said "thank you very much" before I could even bat an eyelash. And the chambermaid also thanked me after she cleaned my room. This got me disoriented; I thought it's I who should thank them, not the other way around!

However, after I week I picked up the practice and I didn't allow anyone anymore to beat me in saying "thank you very much".

[Oswczrdz]

True that "sawasdee" is recent, however, there wasn't a phone in our village in Trang until 1993... Although surely they had seen phone etiquette in Lakorn, movies, etc...

How recent? What was used before?