Aaroninatl, thx a lot for these useful tips.
With ur permission, m curious: OOH, u highlight communication difficulties for non-Spanish speakers; OTOH, u rcmnd taking them out to dine, which persumably entails friendly conversation.....
They fact that Thais believe that older people should show less respect to younger ones, doesnt mean that I must do the same. I m not judgemental about their tradition, and I dont care if they laugh at my attitude.
I beg to differ.
A Wai is a sign of respect and manners. Locals do it according to their traditional habits. Farangs may do it under the wrong circumstances, but EVERYONE involved knows he is doing it in order to show respect.
I Wai bar boys and almost anyone else I come in contact with. It's a polite greeting / farewell. And if it makes anyone laugh, so b it.
I apologize if I'm crossing a line here, and if I'll come across as a goody2shoes.
The correspondence with the plummer is at the very least.....ethically problematic: waving badly-needed money in front of a guy, in order to entice him to do something which he repeatedly explains he prefers not to do..... )-: