Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Thailand and their partners

Benefits of Attendance

This seminar aims at significantly improving the ability of the participants to meet the challenges of living and working abroad. The objective is to enable them to identify the stumbling blocks that lie ahead and to be able to adapt and integrate in Thailand.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand the context and the culture of Thailand
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand another mindset, work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles
• Strike the right balance between personal et professional lives

Training Approach

• A cross-cultural approach of International Mobility
• Country specific trainers
• Personalized and familiy focused action plan
• Access to the Nomad’ Network, an exclusive online tool for Akteos’ clients and experts:  find resources, exchange experiences, knowledge and insights

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Thailand

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Thai culture

• A wealth of resources concentrated on a peninsula in Indochina
• A young, rural population on the threshold of major change
• The key features of Thai identity: the monarchy, Buddhism and a national spirit
• A historical and cultural heritage dating back centuries
• A slow and chaotic transition to democracy
• A country at the heart of the global trading system

3. Thai values and behaviour patterns

• An Asian culture
• The cycle of time
• Saving face and keeping up appearances
• A respect for age and for foreigners
• Superstition as an essential aspect of Thai culture

4. Practical day-to-day information in Thailand

• Focus on the host town
• Infrastructure in need of improvement
• A few vital hygiene rules to be observed
• A country which is generally safe but with a number of violent hotspots to be avoided
• A huge choice of sporting and cultural activities to be discovered

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Thailand

1. The Thai corporate world

• The Sino-Thais: the kings of local business
• Working methods and the notion of quality: Thai pragmatism
• The central role played by business and commerce in Thailand
• The role of the state and the authorities in Thai economic life

2. Effective communication with Thai counterparts

• The circulation of information: a culture based on implicit communication
• Networking in Thailand: building up your circle of contacts
• The basics of effective communication: formality and moderation
• The working language, the role of the interpreter: ensuring that you are properly understood

3. Working with Thai colleagues

• Local management and corporate culture: the notion of hierarchy
• Responsibilities and decision-making: establishing your personal credibility
• Recruitment, loyalty building, training, knowledge transmission
• Motivating, delegating, providing feedback and praise, resolving conflicts

4. Successful meetings and negotiations in Thailand

• Understanding Thai negotiation strategies and methods
• Time and deadline management: learning to be patient, getting accustomed to waiting
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code, festivities
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, sexuality
• Humour: a double-edged sword