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Working in Thailand can expose cultural differences in workplace communication that language skills alone won’t solve. Evo Terra learned that a smile during conflict could signal discomfort rather than agreement, and understanding those signals became essential to avoiding mistakes that could damage working relationships across cultures.
Evo is a podcasting pioneer, Podcasting for Dummies author, and longtime business and marketing professional who lived in Bangkok for more than two years. After struggling to find work and realizing his direct American communication style wasn’t translating well, a friend recommended Working with the Thais. The book became a practical guide to understanding Thai workplace culture, saving face, hierarchy, feedback, and cross-cultural communication.
Listen for:
- How Thai workplace culture differs from American workplace culture
- Why direct communication can create problems when working with Thai colleagues
- What smiling during conflict can mean in Thai culture
- How saving face affects workplace relationships in Thailand
- Why hierarchy and status shape communication in Thai workplaces
- What the Thai wai reveals about respect, status, and social expectations
- Why Western management styles can backfire in Thailand
- How working abroad can change cross-cultural communication habits
How Thai Workplace Culture Differs From American Workplace Culture
Evo came to Thailand with years of experience in advertising, marketing, startups, and business operations, but his usual direct style wasn’t helping him professionally. Working with the Thais gave him a framework for understanding why pressure, urgency, criticism, and hierarchy operated differently than he expected.
What Smiling During Conflict Can Mean in Thai Culture
At the school where Evo taught adults, he confronted a scheduler who kept assigning classes during hours he couldn’t work. She smiled during the tense exchange, a reaction he might once have read as dismissive. Instead, the book helped him recognize that the smile could signal discomfort, and the aftermath showed how badly a direct confrontation could damage a working relationship.
How Saving Face and Hierarchy Affect Thai Workplace Relationships
Evo became more aware of how public embarrassment could affect not just one person, but how others around them viewed that person too. He also began noticing how status changed tone, deference, body language, and even who initiated the Thai wai. Those patterns made hierarchy far more visible than it had been to him in American workplaces.
How Working in Thailand Changed Cross-Cultural Communication
After leaving Thailand, Evo found that the lessons stayed with him. He now pays closer attention to the status and role each person brings into an interaction, not to rank people, but to understand what the relationship requires. The experience made him less “in your face” and more aware that clear communication depends on how the other person interprets the exchange.
CONNECT WITH GUEST: EVO TERRA
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Working with the Thais | The Dragon Page | Podcasting for Dummies | The Three-Body Problem | Bangkok | Thailand | Thai wai | saving face
Music by Damon Castillo, featuring “Sometime Guy.”
Original publication date: April 23, 2019
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