General

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never to have been a European colony.

Language

Thai is the official language and is written left to right. There are no spaces between individual words. English is widely spoken by businesspeople.

Relationships

Thais avoid confrontation at all costs. They will never say “no” but will instead make implausible excuses or pretend that they don’t understand English.

Business Climate

Your initial meeting with Thai businesspeople may be over lunch or drinks, so that they can get to know you. Do not expect to discuss business during this first encounter. Never lose control of your emotions.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project is an interactive database that allows users to explore public opinion trends in 55 countries on topics ranging from attitudes towards the U.S. to peoples assessments of their own lives to views about globalization, democratization and extremism and other important issues.

Thailand ranks as no. 80 (of 180 countries) on Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.