Do Thais have a communication problem ?
From the other thread about how useful is to learn Thai, it came to my attention that even when speaking perfect Thai, Thais will not really listen. In fact, I have observed this behavior many times over.
Examples:
- In the office: give instructions to staff in Thais, they don't do as being told and fuck it up
- Contractors: ask them in Thai to do something precisely, they do the exact opposite, after saying "krap, krap" etc... 100 times
It's not only with farangs, but I noticed the same things with Thais between themselves, they barely communicate with each other, only saying the minimum, no wonder many small miscommunication end up in big drama sometimes, they just don't talk. There is a small problem ? they don't say anything, they just accept it. A bigger problem ? again no talk but action is taken in the back, cowardly.
Other examples:
- Not saying hello to each other in the morning, unless others do it
- Not really saying goodbye when leaving a home (even between relatives)
- Not talking about a problem in greater details to find a solution, as soon as it becomes too detailed or complex, the conversation shutdowns.
However they speak a lot when they are at the table eating, kind of strange isn't it ? and they enjoy silly gossips and will go at length on them, not keeping much silent, ironically. Likewise, they will speak for hours on telephone or mobiles but will say practically nothing to each others face to face,
What's wrong with their language that would lead them to act like this ? could it be that they are missing the words to better express themselves and do not bother ? or is it that their society is so dysfunctional and noisy that they would better keep silent about their lives than add more noises to it ?
I would like to understand such behaviors, as it seems very unproductive.