Jingjok
The wai: who bows to whom
wâai
The wai — palms together, a small bow — is both greeting and thank-you. The rule foreigners miss: the younger or lower-status person wais first, and the senior person returns it, or just nods. So you wai your landlord, your partner's parents and monks (hands higher, thumbs to the eyebrows), but you do not wai the 7-Eleven cashier, the waiter or a child; a smile and ขอบคุณ is right. Staff wai customers as part of their job; returning it with a full wai is awkward, a nod is kind. Height matters: hands at the chest for peers, nose level for elders, forehead for monks and the King's image.
Try this today
Return a wai from someone older with your hands at nose height.
The words that carry it
Learn this in “Hello, Thailand” →
Your first 90 days of Thai
Culture cards in Jingjok are tied to the words that carry them, each ending in one thing to try today.
- WEEKS 1–2 · SURVIVEGreet anyone, pay, and order food and 7-Eleven exactly how you like it.
- WEEKS 3–6 · SETTLE INGet around by taxi, Grab and skytrain, find anything, and handle your landlord.
- WEEKS 7–12 · RUN YOUR LIFEPharmacy, bank, SIM and apps, how you feel, and a weekend away, all in Thai.
The first week is free.