Leonardo and the Thai Wai The Thai sign of salutation or mutual recognition is to raise both hands, joined palm to palm, lightly touching the body somewhere between the face and chest. The higher the hands are raised, the greater is the re
spect and courtesy conveyed. The person who is inferior in age or rank in the social scale of precedence initiates such a movement of the hands and the person receiving the salutation immediately recipocrates. The Thai salutation may be rendered while sitting, standing, walking or even lying in bed during illness. In rendering a salutation while standing to a most respected person who is sitting, one, as a decorum of good manners, will stoop or bend the head at the same time. When taking leave, the departing person will offer a salute in the same manner, followed in turn by a corresponding salute of the other person. Such a salutation is called a wai in Thai, and is often seen in Thai society.
When to wai The question of when to wai and how to wai is learnt from the earliest days of childhood. It comes naturally for a Thai, but is a problem for the visitor. A wai is not only reserved for greetings and farewells, but for a manner of other reasons too. When a person is receiving anything from a senior, he will raise his hands as a wai to the giver as a polite gesture of thanks before or after receiving it as circumstances demand. When someone is asking someone's pardon or favour, one usually makes such a wai too. During a Buddhist sermon, monks and lay persons will sit respectfully with their hands to chest level in a wai. A group of students passing their teacher at school will come smartly to attention and wai and bow with almost military precision. On buses and in taxis passengers wai sacred places and revered statues of past kings as they pass by. Even the drivers quickly take their hands off the wheel for a quick wai to a shrine put up to protect road users.
Who to wai The best advice to farang (westerners) in Thailand is that unless you receive a wai first, stick to the handshake with men and a polite smile with women. As you spend more time in Thailand you will soon learn some important rules:
How to Wai Children are taught at a very early age how to show the proper respect to their seniors. They are drilled in both the home and at school to perform the wai correctly. The following pictures demonstrate how to wai correctly. For a foreigner, it is best to bring your hands up so that your thumbs are at about nose level. You might also like to bend forward slightly depending on how much respect you want to show. The picture above of Leonardo giving a wai to the press was correctly done and was much appreciated by all of the Thai people watching. One final thing to remember is that the raising of the hands to wai and the lowering of the hands to a normal position should never be done with a sharp movement but rather in a more or less graceful manner such as in slow motion.
In the first set of pictures, two students from Primary 2 are greeting a teacher. The first picture shows the starting position with the hands at about chest level. They then bow down so that their thumbs reach the level of their nose. Notice that the girl also curtsies. In the second set of pictures, the students are performing wai phra, which is how you pay respects to a Buddha image or to a monk. In the picture to the right, of the kindergarten students, you can see that their hands are much higher with the thumbs at about forehead level and the students are bowing down more. In the picture on the left, the kindergarten students are showing the respectful position for when sitting and listening to a Buddhist sermon. Notice how the legs are tucked under the body. It is important in Buddhist culture for the feet not to be pointed at anyone. The picture to the right, shows two students making a wai to a monk or Buddha image from a sitting position.
In the picture, Leonardo raises his hands to wai the monk as a form of thanks. Notice that he also correctly bows his heads out of respect. The monk, by virtue of his holy saffron robes, does not return the wai to a layman, however old or great in rank, not even to the king. The appropriate way for a monk to respond in such a situation is by a gesture of acknowledgement either by speech or a facial expression of goodwill. At the start of every academic year, students all over Thailand take part in an elaborate ceremony called Wai Kru. They do this partly to thank their teachers for teaching them well in the past, but also in order to gain merit and good fortune for the future. The ceremony at our school starts with the principal lighting candles and incense sticks and paying homage to the Buddha image. Prayers are then read by senior students. Then everyone takes a vow to be loyal to the nation, religion and king, to be good pupils, to behave themselves, and to obey the school rules. Students from every class then come forward with gifts of decorative flowers for their teachers. [For pictures of this ceremony please visit the Wai Kru page on our school's web site.]
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"I think the release of a film like this will encourage young people to see the beauty of Thailand, and encourage more young backpackers to come here." (DiCaprio in his second statement to the press 5/Feb/99)
