Overview of Speaking in Thailand
by Tom Antion
At the end of this article are miscellaneous tips supplied by readers.
|
| Tom contemplating a location for the group's banner on the back of an elephant. |
Preparation:
I had only short notice to prepare for an eleven day trip to Thailand. My first step was to arrange for shots that pertained to Southeast Asia. I was travelling all first class and staying at resort locations, but I still felt that I should be prepared for this and future travel to Asia so I visited a local Doctor who had a subspecialty in the required shots. Keep in mind that some speakers I have talked to skipped shots altogether without a problem.
I got
Overall I spent about $300.00 and will have several hundred more dollars to spend to finish off the follow up shots.
To find out the recommended shots for different areas of the country visit the Center for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/
Research:
I visited a travel store and bought several books and videos about Thailand. The best for me was Culture Shock Thailand. It really got into the minds of the Thai people to help me understand what was going on and what I should do to fit in or at least not make a fool of myself.
Weather:
It would be hot so I packed almost all cotton shirts, pants, shorts etc. It was not yet the rainy season so I didn't bother with an umbrella. I knew I could buy one there cheaply if I needed one and many of the more exclusive hotels provide them in the rooms.
Visit http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/ for expected weather averages around the world.
Clothing:
Knowing that it was going to be hot was not enough. My research about the country told me that certain places would not allow shorts (Temples, palace, etc.). In fact, I saw people outside the Grand Palace trying to put long pants on right at the guards gate so they would be allowed in. Check your itinerary and ask your tour guide or program organizer if there are any places that would prohibit shorts. If you can visit them all in one day, you will save yourself from wearing long pants and burning up on every other day of your trip.
Business meetings were formal and included coat and tie for men and business suit for women. Apparently the heat does not affect this. The conventional wisdom of the area is that dressing up shows your respect for the meeting and people attending.
I was a little worried about mosquitos in the evening so I bought the suggested repellent which includes the substance DEET. I never used it or felt the need to. It is suggested to have long sleeve garments available if mosquitos always seem to like you. One of the resort hotels had bug zappers in the rooms.
Computers:
As most of my subscribers know, I was really concerned about the problems with carrying my laptop with me on this trip. To take it I would have to deal with insurance, converter plugs, Internet access, and the trouble of lugging it half way across the world with very little time to use it.
I ended up leaving the laptop home, but here is what I found:
My own insurance policy would not cover the computer outside the USA. Many readers of GREAT SPEAKING said that a simple rider on their inland marine policy would cover their laptop, but apparently mine wouldn't.
Voltage
Thailand uses 220 volts and from what I understand most laptops have a switch that changes
between 110 and 220. If yours doesn't travel stores or radio shack has converters. Also,
Thailand's wall plugs are different so you'll need an adapter for that too.
Some of the five star hotels where I stayed had full conversion available already installed in each room, however, I doubt that lesser grade hotels would have gone to this trouble.
Cybercafes
One of the hotels I stayed in had a 24 hour Internet access business center where I rented
a computer for about $15.00 per hour. I walked a block down the street and saw three
"Cybercafe's" within 50 yards of each other. One was a combo laundry/Internet
access, one was a photoshop/Internet access and one was a restaurant/Internet access.
Rates were about 1/4 of the five star hotel's and the equipment was modern.
Overall I wasn't able to keep up the normal computer activity I'm used to, but I'm still glad I didn't bother with the laptop.
For laptop tips visit http://laptoptravel.com
The trip:
Thai Airways was FANTASTIC. The service is better than I experienced anywhere in the world. In fact, this was true for all of Thailand.
I flew Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles on Southwest (which I always enjoy) and stayed the night. Having been to Southeast Asia before, I wanted to break up the trip a little and get some sleep before taking some of the long legs. From LA we flew 11 hours and 20 minutes to Osaka, Japan. I watched three movies and conversed with my group. We had a brief layover in Osaka and flew the remaining 5 plus hours to Bangkok.
We arrived around Midnight and went thru customs like a breeze because we had a local tour operator (Ricco Tours) handling everything. No hassle whatsoever with customs. We boarded a bus that took us to the Royal Orchid Sheraton where we were greeted at 1:00 AM with personal butlers for each of us. This was a sight to be seen . . . butlers in full tuxedo in the middle of the night. Each butler took an individual guest to their suite that overlooked the Chao Praya river.
I won't bore you with all the details of the nine days I spent in country, but I can tell you that the service everywhere is the best I've ever experienced. The people of Thailand are wonderful. They are taught respect, kindness and attention to detail at a young age and they are truly service oriented. They literally put us to shame.
Some areas we visited:
Grand Palace . . . Don't wear shorts and be ready to take your shoes off to see the Golden Buddha
Ride a Tuk Tuk . . . Three wheeled taxi. Bangkok is known for them
Chao Praya River . . . Take a "long tailed boat" and see a mixture of the old and new. Make sure you feed the cat fish. Thousands of them will come right up to the boat. For pictures of river visit http://www.hasekamp.demon.nl/river.htm
Rose Garden
. . . Gorgeous Thai cultural show . . .Naturally they got me up on stage. Beautiful place
for a honeymoon. http://www.rose-garden.com/
Patpong area of Bangkok . . . wild late night activities, outrageous shopping. This area is not for the faint of heart. Lots of sleeze and really sad disgusting sites.
Thailand Handicraft Center. . . .Anything from small handmade trinkets to handcarved living room sets unmatched anywhere. You can watch the craftspersons making the furniture and also see how rice paper is made. Buy something and it will be wrapped in the rice paper.
Floating Market
. . . Take a canal boat and bargain with traders floating by. You must go here in the
morning because they are only open 1/2 day.
Pattaya .
. . Go south a couple hours from Bangkok and experience Beach Street at the city of
Pattaya. Lots of shopping and nightclubs. Beach and water are going thru a massive cleanup
effort.
BITEC . . . Really modern convention center just outside Bangkok
Thai Airways . . . Not everyone will get to do this, but I got to fly (I used to be a charter pilot) a 747 simulator. I landed at London Heathrow after I decided to go around on the first approach because I was too high. I bounced it in safely on the second try.
If you are speaking:
I was the main speaker at a seminar hosted by CIMPA the Connected International Meeting Professionals Association, Thailand Association of Tourism, and Thailand Incentive and Convention Association. I did my usual stop in the room the night before and started troubleshooting and connecting with staff who spoke little English. You can expect most of the business people you come across to speak English, but few of the set up crew or wait staff.
Make sure you have photographs of flip charts, lecterns, video projectors and such to help get your equipment needs across.
I was in the room two hours early on the day of the seminar and everything didn't come together until 5 minutes before start time.
I didn't have to do to much differently for this seminar. I did know not to make any comments about their king or religion which was a no brainer and they laughed when I used humor just as if I was in an American audience.
As I explained in GREAT SPEAKING this month, I seated the VIPs in special easy chairs in the front row to show respect for their positions.
Even though I announced several times that questions were really OK, I still could not get one person to ask a question to me or to the panel of American meeting planners I moderated. This is because of the Asian concept of "FACE." To them, asking questions means either they are insulting me because I did not explain my subject enough, or they were admitting that they were too stupid to understand me. To be ready for this, I had questions prepared for me to ask the panel. During my session, I used comments like, "I am frequently asked blah, blah, blah . . ." and then I would give the answer to the question. This gave me total control over the dead and pitiful silence you have when no one wants to ask a question.
Overall
I'm dying to return to Thailand. I loved it.
Click here for Great Speaking Reader Tips When Traveling to Thailand
xyz