Who is Big & Who is Little Determines Status & Obligation
All relationships in traditional Thai society, and almost all relationships in modern Thai culture, are governed by relationship between phu yai (literally, 'big person') and phu noi ('little person'). Phu noi are supposed to defer to phu yai following the lines of social rank defined by age, wealth, status, and personal and po?litical power. Examples of 'automatic' phu yai status include: adults to children, bosses to employees, elder classmate to younger classmate, elder sibling to younger sib?ling, teacher to student, military to civil?ian, Thai to non-Thai, and so on. While this tendency towards social rank?ing is somewhat the same as in many soci?eties around the world, Thai society has a set of mutual obligations between phu yai to phu noi that is very important. Phu noi are supposed to show a degree of deference and respect towards phu yai, but in return phu yai are obligated to take care of, or in some cases even sponsor phu noi they know well. (these concepts are called 'krengjai') In such relation?ships, phu noi can, ask phu yai for favors involving money or job influence, and Phu yai affirm their status by grant?ing such requests when they can. To refuse the request would be to risk loss of face and status.

Who is Older & Who is Younger
Age is a big determining factor when other factors are missing or not known. Depending on the relationship and age difference, kinship forms of address like Phi (elder sibling), Nong (younger sibling), Mae (mother) or Looung (uncle) are also used. In such cases the terms" phi" (elder sibling) and "nong" (younger sibling) are used more than phu yai or phu noi, even though the obligations remain the same. Even people who are not related quickly establish who is the phi and who is the nong. This is why one of the first questions Thais always ask new acquain?tances is how old they are. Typically, the phu yai always picks up the check, and when in a group, the person with the highest social rank pays. If they do not at least try to pay, they will lose face. Money is a big factor, and plays an important role in determining who is a phu yai, and who is not. At times even a younger successful businessperson will pay for an older person in spite of the age difference. In Thai society, whatever wealth one has should be shared, at least par?tially, with those who not as fortu?nate. Foreigners can obtain Thai-ness to a great degree by paying the bill for everyone when he is the eldest or wealthiest.

Names
All Thais also have nicknames, and they are used more than names between friends and co-workers. Thais love "Chu lin" nicknames, literally translated into English as "names for play" so almost everyone has one! Noi, Nat, A, Bee, Ning, Lek, Chi, Dang, Bum, Dow, Gow, Kem, Kung, Kai, Poo, Pla, Pawn, Jeab, Goo, Noi, Nooch and Boy are some of the more popular. Thais do not use their last name except in writing. First names only are used even in formal settings.

Name Titles
Thai equivalents of Mr., Miss, Ms., and Mrs. are rarely used as gender and marital status are not important in a name to Thais. The polite title "Koon" is used for everyone unless they are an elected official or officer. Noi would be called, "Koon Noi." If of rank the rank precedes the first name. People of rank are not called by their nickname in a formal setting. So Police Colonel Itipol, Superintendent of Pattaya Immigration Police would be addressed, "Pol. Col. Itipol." Thais are most often addressed by their first name with the honorific title khun, or other title preceding it. Rarely used formal terms of address are "Nai" for Mr. and "Naang" only for a married woman Mrs.

Name Titles to Show Rank or Respect
Thai people consider all Thais family. If the person is older or of more rank she will be politely called "Pee Noi." If younger, "Nong Noi", if her nich name is Noi. If he is a big person in society he is called "Tan", if a teacher, "Anjan" or "Krue", if an elected official he has a different title like "Niyoke" for mayor like Niyoke Nirun, the mayor of Pattaya, "Sorjaw" for the vice chairman of the council, like Sorjaw Raywat, Vice Chairman of the Chonburi Provincial Council, "Orborejar" for chairman of the council, like Orborjar Pinyo of the Chonburi Provincial Council and "Sor Sor" for an MP, like Sor Sor Chanyute, Pattaya's Memeber of Parliament who represents Pattaya in the national government.

Spending More Time Talking Gets Results
Spend time slowly and politely talking with Thais in a pleasant voice without over-explaining things. Details are not to important to Thais. Getting to the point in a slow polite way so they can help you are what is important. If you want to have a personal relationship with someone you are attracted to, spend time answering and asking "What's your name?," "Where do you come from?", "How old are you?" and the other few often asked questions used to break the ice and start a dialogue and maybe a relationship.

Saving Face
Thais believe strongly in the concept of sav?ing face, which means avoiding confrontation and trying not to embarrass themselves, or others. In order to do this, they usually do not bring up negative topics in everyday conversation, and even when they see stress or anxiety in another person, they won't say anything unless that person says something, or asks for their help. They often laugh at minor accidents, as when someone trips and falls. This may seem cruel and unfeeling to us, but they are not laughing 'at' the person, they are trying to save face on behalf of the other person. They are just putting the best possible face on an unpleasant situation.

Verbal Greetings
For males, the usual Thai greeting is Sawa-di-kap, if you are female the greeting is Sawa-?dii-kaa. Using this greeting is appreciated by Thais in the city, or in the countryside.

Gesture Greetings
Tradition?ally Thais do not shake hands, but greet each other with a wai. This is the gesture of placing the palms together before one's face and giving a slight nod of the head. If you are greeted by a Thai adult with a wai, you should wai in response. However, Thais nowadays also shake hands, and will almost always offer a handshake to foreigners. You do not return a wai to children, but a nod. If you have something in your hands its polite to lower your back and head a bit and nod to acknowledge the wai you received.

How to Offer a Business Card or Document
When you hand things to people, you should use either both hands, or your right hand only. Never use your left hand (this is reserved for bathroom personal hygiene). Books and other written materials are given a special status over other secular objects. You should not slide books or documents across a table or counter, and never place them on the floor. Use a chair if table space isn't available.

How to Receive a Business "Name" Card
Accepting a "name" card as Thais say is accepting a symbol of that person. Either use two hands and accept the corners closest to you while it is be presented to you, or accept it with your right hand while touching your right arm with your left hand. Then slowly place the card in front of you if you are at on the table, and leave it there until the person and you say goodbye. Do not just quickly put it in your pocket or wallet right when it is given to you.

Pointing Feet Can Represent Disrespect
Your feet are the lowest part of your body, and are considered dirty. You should never point your feet at people, or point at things with your feet, or move things with your feet. You should also not prop your feet up on chairs or tables, or touch someone's body with your foot. Never point your feet towards Monks or Buddhist images ever weather in a temple, home or office. If you are at a temple "Wat" sit mermaid style with your legs under your bottom if sitting in lotus position is uncomfortable, but never extend your feet out or show the bottoms of your feet toward religious images or people. It is also considered rude to step over someone. Always step around them, or if there is no other way to pass by, ask them to please move, even on a crowded train.

The Head is the Temple of the Body
In the same way, the head is regarded as the highest part of the body, so you should not touch adult Thais on the head, or muss their hair. If you do touch someone's by acci?dent, you should apologize right away. Also don't sit on pillows for sleeping.

Visiting Homes
Did you fall in love and now your going upcountry to meet the family? Well be prepared! Thais can be very hos?pitable and it's not unusual to be invited home for a meal or a sociable drink. Even if your visit is very brief, you will be offered something to eat or drink, and probably both. You are expected to take whatever is offered, and even if you are not hungry or thirsty or not, you should at least try it. To refuse it is considered to be impolite. As with temple buildings, you must always take off your shoes before entering a Thai home.

Shoes
Thais do not wear shoes in their homes. All temples and some guesthouses, offices and shops also request that you not wear shoes. A good rule of thumb is that if there are shoes by the door or the en?trance, you need to remove your shoes before you enter. It is important not to ignore this custom as the wearing of shoes in-doors is considered very ill-mannered.

Bathrooms
In Thailand, as in many other South-East Asian countries, the squat toilet is the norm, except in hotels and guesthouses geared to?wards tourists and international business travelers. The bathroom may be outside in its own little building. The traditional Asian toilet sits more or less flush with the surface of the floor, with two foot-pads on either side of the opening. For those who have never used this type of toilet, it may take some getting used to. Next to the toilet is a bucket or small reservoir filled with water, and usually with a plastic bowl floating on the water, or on the floor nearby. The water and bowl has two functions. The first is for the user to scoop water from the reservoir and use it to clean them. The second function is to flush the toilet. This is because they are not mechanical flush type toilets. A few scoops should be sufficient. If available, do not put tissue in the toilet; put it in the bin nearby.

Bus Service to All Parts of Thailand
For attractions, activities and sight seeing outside of Pattaya use the bus station to get you where you want to go. From the bus station on Pattaya Nua you can go to the Northern Bus Station, Ekami or Morchit stations in Bangkok, and connect with busses going to every major area of Thailand; including Chiang Mai, Surat, Ko Samui, Phuket, Hat Yai and Hua Hin. There are direct busses from Pattaya to the Bangkok International Airport, Roi Et, and Mukdahan. Because of the enormous growth in the Pattaya population, new destinations are being added all the time. There are two other places to catch buses outbound from Pattaya. On Sukhumvit Road between Pattaya Klang and Pattaya Tai on the East (far) side is the second biggest terminal with many direct buses to small and large cities and towns. At the Q8 gas station just north of Pattaya Klang on Sukhumvit there is a makeshift terminal in the front on the left side with bus service to Khonkean, Udon, Nong Kai and Moogahan and some other small places.

Yes, You are a Sexy Man!
Where else in the world can you be considered tall at 5' 7", a millionaire with US $25,000 in the bank or handsome with a bald head? Thai people see you as sexy or handsome if you look clean and "smart." A smile and a good attitude will get you laid or make you popular!

Sex
If you are new to Thailand you probably skimmed the book looking for this section, and, who can blame you! This is what so many men dream about in their lonely rooms back home! Bars of all kinds in Pattaya offer the attention and companionship of ladies (and men) eager to please. The bars want you to stay there and drink, bring your friends or make new ones of the other customers so you will stay longer, enjoy the company of the staff working in the bar and eager to please you. The bar girls (or guys) get a commission of usually 20 baht for each "Lady Drink" you buy them. They sit and drink and talk with you. Usually they order orange soda or soda with a splash of Mekong Thai whiskey or a "Spy" wine cooler. If you like another one you see better, no problem just tell the one with you to tell her to come sit down. After you meet the one who excites and interests you pay the "bar fine' so she can go with you to your room, out to dinner, to a movie or to Phuket, its up to you! The bar fine is paid to the bar for the loss of income the lady would generate in drink sales. At beer bars I is usually 200 baht and at a go-gos it is usually 500 baht. Service girls, bartenders and almost everyone else is available for companionship. However, the cashier is usually of limits because she handles the money.

Gay Scene In Pattaya
Boyz Town, Sunee Plaza and most places in Jomtien, particularly Jomtien Plaza cater to the gay crowd, although not exclusively. Thai culture is very tolerant of homosexual?ity, both male and female. The nation has no laws that discriminate against homosexuals and there is a fairly prominent gay scene around the country, especially in Pattaya where the Pattaya Gay Festival is an honored event. Whether speaking of dress or mannerism, lesbians and gays are generally accepted without comment. Public displays of affection, whether het?erosexual or homosexual, are frowned upon in Thai society. There is little, if any, social negativity towards gay people, provided that Thai cultural mores are respected. What people do in bed, whether straight or gay, is not expected to be a topic of general conversation, nor bragged about. In most Thai TV comedy programs there is a "Katoye", a man dressed in women's clothes. Male transvestites are admired, and the Tiffany Cabaret in Pattaya is the host venue for the Miss Tiffany World contest which is televised live on national TV on channel 3 every year.

Lesbian is Not a Polite Word, but Gay Women are Respected
There aren't any lesbian bars in Pattaya although opening one would be a good idea! There are many lesbians in Thailand. You may see lots of women coules walking around holding hands, although straight women do this, too. Thai lesbians prefer to call themselves Tom (for tomboy) or Dee (for lady). The term 'lesbian', in Thailand, suggests pornographic videos pro?duced for straight men. Tom and Dee, by contrast, are reasonably accepted and integrated categories for Thai women, roughly corresponding to the Western terms 'butch' and 'femnie'.

A Brief History of the Business of Sex
The number of women working as commercial sex workers (CSWs) increased immediately after prohibition, and the percentage of those aged between 15 and 19 increased from 15% to 25%. In the l960s and 1970s the Vietnam War brought unprecedented numbers of for?eign soldiers to Bangkok and Pattaya on R & R tours, creating a new class of sex workers who catered to foreigners rather than to Thais. "Industry Today" estimates of the num?ber of Thai citizens directly involved in the sex services vary wildly, but studies by Chulalongkorn University estimate around 200,000 to 220,000. Although often portrayed as Asia's sex capital, Thailand ac?tually ranks well behind Taiwan, the Philip?pines and India (not to mention several Western countries, such as the USA) in the per-capita number of sex workers, according to international human development reports.

Sociologists estimate that as many as 75% of post-puberty single Thai males en?gage the services of a prostitute an aver?age of two times a month. In highly urban Bangkok, the rates are lower thanks to in? creasing acceptance of extramarital sex and corresponding decline in demand for paid sex services. Today the highest per-capita concentration of sex workers is found in the North. Brothels are less common in the southern provinces, except in Chinese-dominated Phuket, Hat Yai and Yala, and in Thai-Malaysian border towns, where the clientele is almost exclusively Malay. Only an estimated 2% of all Thai sex workers work in bars and 1% in massage parlors. The remaining 97% work in private clubs, barber shops and brothels, and are only rarely patronized by non-Thai clients. In fact most of the country's sex industry is in?visible to the visiting foreigner, and it is thought that Thai-to-non-Thai transactions represent less than 5% of the total amount.

HIV & AIDS
The HIV & AIDS infection with the Human Im?munodeficiency Virus (HIV) may lead to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which is a fatal disease. Any expo?sure to blood, blood products or body fluids may put the individual at risk. Between 1991 and 1994 Thailand's over?all infection rate dropped 77%, an achieve?ment that earned Population Development Agency director Dr. Mechai Viravaidya (the owner of Cabbages & condoms Restaurant & Resorts) the prestigious Magsaysay Award in 1994. Ac?cording to the United Nations Human De?velopment Program, Thailand, like the USA, Australia and the UK, has belonged to the 'decrease or no growth' category since 1994. The World Health Organization reports that the infection rate and projected future vulnerability for AIDS in Thailand is now lower than for any other country in South-East Asia. As elsewhere around the world, absolute numbers will only increase with time until or unless a cure is dis?covered. In Thailand transmission is predomin?antly through heterosexual sexual activity (over 80%). The second most common source of HIV infection is intravenous in?jection by drug users who share needles (about 6%).

How to Avoid HIV & AIDS
Apart from abstinence, which we know you don't want to hear, the most effective preventative is always to practice safe sex by using condoms properly at all times when having sex. Do not share hypodermic needles, make sure clinics and hospitals use new, sealed in a package hypodermics and a government approved blood supply if you need new blood.

Dengue Fever
Sometimes mistakenly called Hemorrhagic Fever, Dengue Fever is a viral disease trans?mitted by mosquitoes, and occurs mostly in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, like Thailand and other parts of South East Asia, Africa and the Sub Sahara. Usually there is only a small risk to people traveling in these areas except during epidemics, which may be during, and just after the rainy season. Unlike the malaria mosquito, the mosquito which transmits the dengue virus is most active during the day. It is found mainly in urban areas. Most noticeably it is a larger, black mosquito, although be leery of all mosquitoes.

How to Avoid Dengue Fever
Many shops and superstores sell an electronic racquet about the size of a small tennis racquet with a shorter handle. These are great for swatting and electrocuting mosquitoes. Most mosquitoes bites occur at dusk and dawn when the light is changing so be particularly cautious during these times. If you are outdoors somewhere and especially if you are wearing shorts and you feel or see mosquitoes ask the server to get you a coil that is burnt and the smoke wards of mosquitoes. Not many people use mosquito repellant because the Thais do not like the smell, but if there are a lot of mosquitoes, you may need it.

Dengue Fever Symptoms
The symptoms of dengue fever in?clude a sudden high fever, headaches, joint and muscle pains, and nausea and vomit?ing. A rash of small red spots appears three to four days after the onset, and Dengue can be commonly mistaken for other infectious diseases, including the flu. Some doctors have misdiagnosed this and sent patients home only to return a day or two later. You should seek medical attention if you think you may he infected. The virus can be diagnosed by a blood test. There is no spe?cific treatment for dengue fever, but you should avoid aspirin, as it increases the risk of hemorrhaging. Recovery may take a long time, and with tired?ness lasting for several weeks.

Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF)
Severe com?plications of Dengue Fever are rare, but in its advanced stage includes dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) which can be fatal without prompt medical treat?ment. DHF is thought to be a result of a sec?ondary infection due to a different strain of the virus, and it usually affects residents in the countryside rather than travelers. Until a vaccine is available, as with malaria, the best precaution is to avoid being bitten by mosquito.

Bird Flu
Thailand has gone to extreme measures to squelch any outbreaks of bird flu outbreaks to avoid an epidemic. H5 N1 is a particular strain of flu that is transmittable to humans. As of the date of this writing, human to human transmission of Bird Flu does not occur, only bird to human transmission.

How to Avoid Bird Flu
Avoid handling raw poultry, eating undercooked duck, chicken or quail and walking with bare feet around bird droppings and your chances of contracting this potentially lethal disease is all but eliminated.

Bird Flu Symptoms
Symptoms include high fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches and conjunctivitis (red eye).

Keep Healthy with a Medical Kit
In addition to prevention and using vitamin C, It's a good idea to have a medical kit on hand. Keep a supply available of aspirin or paracetamol (acetaminophen) for pain or fever and an antihistamine for allergies, hay fever, and to ease the itch from insect bites or stings and to prevent motion sickness. Loperamide, Immodium (Thai brand) or diphenoxylate can eliminate diarrhea which almost every foreigner gets at least once here. If you have diarrhea for more than a day drink an electrolyte beverage every few hours. Pharmacies sell a powdered beverage that you stir into water and drink, It is similar to Gatorade. For nausea and vomiting have Prochlorperazine or metaclopramide. Have an antifungal cream or powder for fungal skin infections which foreigners often get around their toes. Stock an antiseptic (i.e.iodine) for cuts and abrasions and bandages or band-aids and other wound dressings. You will hear lots of people with a wet cough so keep cold and flu tablets, throat lozenges and nasal decongestant for use at the first signs of infection. Scissors, tweezers and a thermometer are good tools to keep in your bathroom or carry kit.

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