Travel Mania

By Randy Gaudet

Meeting and making friends with different people is an exciting part of travel anywhere.

In Northern Thailand, it helps to know a bit of the language and something about the protocol. To say "hello", say "Sawasdee Krup" for men and "Sawasdee Kha" for women.

To learn more Thai before you come, an excellent free teaching website can be found at Learning Thai. You will gain loads of respect from the Thai people if you learn some basics of the Thai language.

The Thais put a lot of emphasis on manners, so it's a good idea to learn to say "Thank you".

In Thai, it's "Kob Khun", followed by "Krup" or "Kha" for women.

The 'wai', made by placing your palms together in front of the upper chest, is the traditional Thai gesture of greeting or respect and the gesture is always appreciated.

The custom is that younger people 'wai' elders first, so let the children and persons you think are younger than you 'wai' before you 'wai' them.