Module 1: Successful personal 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 professional 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