Dear Hillary,
You had a letter the other week wondering if all Thai girls told lies. Yep, Hillary, you got it in one – not just Thai women, but blokes as well; it’s good manners here to tell other people what you think they want to hear. No matter that its BS, it’s polite! This can be very, very hard for farangs to make allowance for and to accept; most would regard this as lying/game-playing, the opposite of the straight-talking which most farangs (and especially we Aussies) want to use and hear in personal dealings.
Adrian
Dear Adrian,
I am so glad you can see that there is more than one way of communicating in this world, and different cultures will produce different ways of getting to the same end point (if you are lucky). Yes, Thais will tell you what they think you want to hear, so you have to beware. Sometimes it is better to phrase any question in two ways and see if you get the same response from your favorite Thai person.
