About The Author
HENRY HOLMES AND SUCHADA TANGTONGTAVY It was in 1973 that Henry Holmes and Suchada Tangtongtavy first began exploring the problems of communication and teamwork ex-perienced by both foreigners and Thais, which led to a continuing series of training courses and seminars to improve working relationships. But their first work in this field goes back to the mid-1960s, when both worked with the United States Peace Corps, helping young volunteers get ready to serve in Southeast Asia. Khun Suchada studied European History and Southeast Asian Political Science, but is really a sociologist by profession. During her twenty-year career in cross-cultural team-building, she has conducted more than three hundred seminar workshops. Among her unusual undertakings was the task of being the first woman to inter-view Thais and Expatriates aboard a gas-drilling platform in the Gulf of Thailand, which led to a unique team-building project. Dr. Holmes is a graduate of Harvard and Mas-sachusetts with degrees in Anthropology and Education. He has been in Asia for nearly thirty years, twenty-five of them in Thailand. After his Ford Foundation funded doctoral thesis about a rural Thai village, he has been working closely with multinational organizations, helping them analyze the successes and blunders of foreigners and Thais, as well as his own. The courses origi-nated by Holmes and Khun Suchada have served several thousand managers and their spouses, from sixty different nationalities. Henry and Khun Suchada have two grown children who speak two languages and eat many different kinds of food.
About The Book
A must for everyone who has busi-ness responsibility in Thailand. You will enjoy it after the first reading, but it will be your reference throughout your stay in the kingdom
Introduction
Here is an incident narrated to us by a friend who witnessed a cross-cultural flub. A Japanese executive working in Thailand walked into a confer-ence room with his five Thai assistants, ready to begin negotiations with another company. He began by introducing his staff, "This is my secretary; she is my head." Using polite hand gestures, he went on to say, "These two gentlemen are my left and right hand." That's a nice touch, we thought as we listened to the story. He really knows how to recognize and motivate his people. Since the Japanese aren't especially known for praising, it was nice to hear about this one really using the skill effectively. Finally, he introduced the last two members of his negotiating party, "And these two gentlemen are my feet." Working with the Thais If you are someone who is brand new to Thailand and you hear haven't exactly scored 7.3 on the Richter Scale of Humor. In other this story, you might shrug your shoulders, feeling that the authors words. "So what?" On the other hand, if you have read some of the guidebooks, you would no doubt recognize this gesture as one of the (relatively few) no-no's or taboos mentioned about the Thai the foreigner would be quite disastrous for the morale of the mem-culture. And indeed, it is fairly certain that this innocent effort by your own society, you might imagine your boss picking his nose in bers of his team. To get an idea of a comparable reaction within your presence, or your customer belching in front of you at dinner. The Thais get quite an emotional jolt if a colleague misuses those feet of his while communicating with them. It is the veteran Ex-patriate who, hearing the story, might smile a bit ruefully, as he remembers some of his own early experiences where he committed gaffes like this. It is easy and perhaps natural to believe that living and working in Thailand basically boils down to two things: doing your job and avoiding local taboos. The Thais, you might assume, will forgive a foreigner the occasional faux pas; after all, the Expat is not intention-ally trying to offend anyone. And, except for a few minor cultural "details" or quaint dif-ferences, we're all the same, right?.
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