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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO UBND THÀNH PHỐ HẢI PHÒNG
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG
KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ
SINH VIÊN: NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI QUỲNH
A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON GESTURES OF
VIETNAMESE AND THAI FOR GREETING
HẢI PHÒNG - 2021

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Mẫu bìa trong khổ A4 (210x 298mm)
BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO UBND THÀNH PHỐ HẢI PHÒNG
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG
KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ
HỌ VÀ TÊN SINH VIÊN: NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI QUỲNH
MÃ SINH VIÊN: 173122201600
A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON GESTURES OF
VIETNAMESE –THAI FOR GREETING
CHUYÊN NGÀNH: NGÔN NGỮ ANH
Người hướng dẫn: Thạc sĩ Nguyễn Thị Thùy Giang
HẢI PHÒNG - 2021

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DECLARATION
Title: A cross-culturalstudy on gestures ofVietnamese and Thai for greeting.
My thesis is conducted underthe supervision of M.A. Nguyen ThiThuy Giang
of the English Department at Hai Phong University. I declare that the information
reported in this paper is the result of my own work, except where due to referent is
made. I hereby certify that the information cited in the thesis has been clearly
identified.
Haiphong, June 2021
Nguyễn Thị Hải Quỳnh

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On the completion of this study, I have a lot of help from my supervisor, my
teachers, my family and my lovely friends with assistance, guidance, encouragement
and idea contribution…
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and indebtedness to
my supervisor - Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy Giang, M.A. of her invaluable guidance,
precious detailed comments and advices to complete this study.
Secondly, I would like to send my endless thanks and gratefulness to the
Leadership of Haiphong University for always creating the best learning
environment during my four-years study at Hai Phong University. Thanks to the
Dean and teachers of Foreign Language Department, who always devote their
enthusiasm and love to students, not afraid of difficulties, dedicated to teaching,
helping us have good equipment before really entering the threshold of life.
Especially, I am profoundly grateful to Mrs. Pham Thi Men, M.A, my lecturer ofthe
subject Cross - cultural Communication. She has inspired and provided me with the
basic knowledge so that I can base on to build my graduation paper.
I wish to thank Mr. Trinh Van Sachwho spent his time searching for precious
books and references on Cross Culture Communication and Gestures that I can refer
and select a large of knowledge throughout this study.
Furthermore, I would like to thank all the Vietnamese in Hai Phong and 30
Thai people on Facebook and Instagram who spent their precious time completing
my survey questionnaire.
Last but not least, I owe my deep thanks to my family, my colleagues, my
close friends who always encourage and support me to complete this graduation
paper.

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Hai Phong, ………,2021
Nguyen Thi Hai Quynh
CONTENTS
DECLARATION............................................................................................3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................4
LISTS OF DIAGRAMS, FIGURES...............................................................8
PART 1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................10
1.Rationale ............................................................................................ 10
2. Research Aims ................................................................................... 11
3. Research Questions. ........................................................................... 11
4. Research methods............................................................................... 11
5. Scope of the Study.............................................................................. 12
6. Design of the study............................................................................. 12
PART II: DEVELOPMENT.........................................................................13
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................13
1.1 Culture............................................................................................. 13
1.2 Communication................................................................................ 15
1.2.1 Definition of Communication. ..................................................... 15
1.2.2. Classification of communication................................................. 16
1.2.2.1. Verbal Communication. (VC) .............................................. 18
1.2.2.2 Nonverbal communication. (NVC)......................................... 18
1.3 Cross-cultural communication........................................................... 19
1.4 Gestures........................................................................................... 20
1.4.1 Definitions of Gestures............................................................... 20
1.4.2 Classification of Gestures. .......................................................... 21
1.4.3 Gestures across cultures .............................................................. 23
1.5 Greeting. .......................................................................................... 27
1.5.1 The common nonverbal greetings................................................ 28

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1.5.1.1 Handshaking......................................................................... 28
1.5.1.2 Hugging ............................................................................... 29
1.5.1.3 Waving arm.......................................................................... 30
1.5.1.4 Bowing................................................................................. 30
1.5.1.5 Smiling................................................................................. 31
1.5.1.6 Nodding ............................................................................... 33
1.5.1.7 V-sign ................................................................................... 34
1.5.1.8 Patting................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY.........................................................................36
2.1 Description of the participants........................................................... 36
2.2. Description of the survey questionnaires........................................... 37
2.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of doing questionnaires. ............... 38
CHAPTER 3: FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS............................................39
3.1 Greeting gestures by the Vietnamese informants. ............................... 40
3.1.1 Data analysis of greeting gesture ................................................. 40
3.1.1.1: Common greeting gestures are used in Vietnam. ................... 40
3.1.1.2 Frequency of using greeting gestures. .................................... 41
3.1.1.3 The influence of the age on using greeting gestures. ............... 41
3.1.1.4 The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures........ 43
3.1.1.5 The influence of gender on using greeting gestures................. 44
3.1.1.6 The influence of social status on using greeting gestures......... 45
3.2 Greeting gestures by Thai informants. ............................................... 46
3.2.1 Data analysis of greeting gesture ................................................. 47
3.2.1.1: Common greeting gestures are used in Thailand.................... 47
3.2.1.2 Frequency of using greeting gestures. .................................... 48
3.2.1.3 The influence of the age on using greeting gestures. ............... 48
3.2.1.4 The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures........ 50
3.2.1.5 The influence of gender on using greeting gestures................. 51

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3.2.1.6 The influence of social status on using greeting gestures......... 52
3.3 The similarities and differences of using gestures for greeting in Vietnam
and Thailand............................................................................................. 53
3.3.1. The similarities........................................................................... 53
3.3.2. The differences........................................................................... 54
PART III. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS.....................................58
1.Summary............................................................................................ 58
2.Suggestions for avoidance of culture shock. ......................................... 59
3. Suggestions for further study .............................................................. 61
REFERENCES...................................................................................... 61

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LISTS OF DIAGRAMS, FIGURES
• Diagrams
Diagram 1: Classification of communication
• Figures
Figure 1: The cultural iceberg
Figure 2: A slap backof head
Figure 3: An arm crossing
Figure 4: Sign Language
Figure 5: The O.K. sign
Figure 6: The waving hand.
Figure 7: The Thumb-up
Figure 8: The thumb-up is used for hitch-hikers
Figure 9: The V-sign with palm out
Figure 10: The V-sign with palm in
Figure 11: The V-sign at a Campaign
Figure 12: The V-sign is used in photographs
Figure 13: The baseball team of Texas is making the “Hook ‘Horns”
Figure 14: The Rock‘n’ Roll symbol

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Figure 15: The “Hook‘Horns” means that you are being cuckolded.
Figure 16: The O.K sign
Figure 17: Hand shaking
Figure 18: Hugging
Figure 19: Waving
Figure 20: Bowing
Figure 21: The smile
Figure 22: Nodding
Figure 23: V sign for greeting
Figure 24: Patting for greeting
Figure 25: The monks are collecting donations
Figure 26: The monk Wai
Figure 27: A student is greeting her teacher
Figure 28: Using Wai by people of the same social status
 Chart
Chart 1: The average of common using in Vietnam
Chart 2 & 8: Frequency of using greeting gestures of Vietnamese people
Chart 3: The influence of age on using greeting gestures
Chart 4: The influence of relationship on using greeting gestures
Chart 5: The influence of gender on using greeting gestures
Chart 6: The influence of social status on using greeting gestures
Chart 7: Common greeting gestures are used in Thailand.
Chart 9: The influence of age on using greeting gestures in Thailand.
Chart 10: The influence of relationship on using greeting gestures in Thailand.
Chart 11: The influence of gender on using greeting gestures in Thailand.
Chart 12: The influence of social status on using greeting gestures in Thailand.

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PART 1. INTRODUCTION
1.Rationale
There are many other greetings that are dependentonthe speaker's relationship
or social standing with the person addressed. This greeting, on the other hand, can
be used by anyone. According to Wikipedia: “The formal greeting may involve a
verbal acknowledgment and sometimes a handshake, but beyond that, facial
expression, gestures, body language, and eye contact can all signal what type of
greeting is expected”. However, improper non-verbal greetings that may result in
failure of establishing and maintaining the relationship in initial meetings have still
been witnessed.
Practically, todaydue to the increasing effects and influences of globalization,
international communication takes place more often than ever. Regardless of the
important role that non-verbal aspects play in communication, the emphasis is very
much on teaching and learning the spoken language. We can know more about the
differences and similarities of greeting gestures between Vietnamese and Thai

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people. Thus, we canlearn how to usegestures and language which match the context
and make the conversations more effective.
This research is conducted in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of
non-verbal communication and greetings in particular for effective communication
in initial meetings and avoidance of culture shock in cross-cultural communication.
2. ResearchAims
The research aims to studysome commonly used/popular gestures forgreeting
used by Thai and Vietnamese people; raising the awareness of the usage of gestures
for greeting for effective communication.
As aforementioned, the aim of this study is to compare the similarities and
differences in using greeting gestures between Thailand and Vietnam. Besides, this
study also introduces some common greeting gestures in Thailand and Vietnam so
that people can expand their knowledge of greeting gestures in two countries.
Moreover, the studygives out somefactors influencing onusing greeting in Thailand
and Vietnam so that people can avoid mistakes, behave in properways, and make an
efficient communication when crossing cultures.
3. ResearchQuestions.
1. What greeting gestures are popular in Thai?
2. What greeting gestures are commonly used by Vietnamese people?
3. What are the similarities and differences onusing gestures forgreeting between
Vietnam and Thailand?
4. What are suggestions for avoidance of culture shockwhen greeting in Vietnam
and Thailand?
4. Researchmethods
The main methods employed are quantitative and qualitative with the
presentation of data collected from various sources of material with proper

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description and; analysis of data collected through survey questionnaires with
contrastive analysis where relevant.
5. Scope ofthe Study
Greeting gestures are a large theme. We are able to see that there are many
alternative types ofgreeting gestures within the world. During this paper, main focus
will be on some gestures commonly used for greeting including: Handshaking,
Hugging, Kissing, Waving, Bowing, Smiling, Nodding, V-sign, Patting (on one’s
back). Furthermore, I will concentrate oncomparison the similarities and differences
in using gestures and avoid culture shock in cross- culture communication between
two countries: Vietnamese and Thailand.
6. Designof the study
The study contains three parts:
- Part I: Introduction presents the rationales, aims, research questions, scope
of the Study, methods and design of the study.
- Part II includes three chapters:
+ The first chapter talks about literature review which provides readers the overview
of culture, communication and gesture and greeting for gestures.
+ The next chapter is about the study ofthe research, it describes the participants and
the survey questionnaire.
+ The final chapter is findings analyses and comparison. I compare and analyze the
findings of the survey and evaluation questionnaires and then, I point out the
similarities and differences in the using greeting gesture in 2 countries.
- Part III concludes and presents an overview of the study and suggestions for
avoidance of greeting among two countries.

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Culture
No one can make a unity definition for Culture. The reason is that there are so
many different ones. Some authors define that culture is the characteristics and
knowledge ofa particular group ofpeople, encompassinglanguage, religion, cuisine,
social habits, music and arts. According to Arnold (1869). “Culture is the study of
perfection, and it originates from the love of perfection, which is ‘all the love of our
neighbor, theimpulsestowardsaction, help and beneficence, thedesire for removing
human error, clearing human confusion, and diminishing human misery’”.

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Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhokn (1952:47) released “Culture: A critical
analysis of concepts and definitions” in 1952, with more than 200 pages devoted to
various definitions of it. They also pointed out that “Culture consists of patterns,
explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquires and transmitted by symbols,
constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their
embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas
and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the other hand, be
considered as products ofaction, and on the other as conditioning elements offurther
action”.
As reported by Nguyen Quang (1998:3) culture “is a share background (such
as: national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and
communication style, custom, beliefs, attitudes, and values. Culture in this text does
not refer to art, music, literature, food, clothing styles, and so on. It refers to the
informal and often hidden patterns of human interactions, expressions, and
viewpoints that people in one culture share. The hidden nature of culture has been
compared to an iceberg, most of which is hidden underwater! Like the iceberg most
of the influence of culture on an individual cannot be seen. The part ofculture that is
exposed is not always that which creates cross-cultural difficulties; the hidden
aspects of culture have significant effects on behavior and on interactions with
others.”

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Figure 1 Theculture iceberg
In summary, synthesis of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that is both
a result and essential to the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge
to generations. As a result, culture consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs,
forbiddances, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies,
and symbols. It has played a vital role in human evolution, allowing human beings
to adapt the environment to their own purposes rather than depend solely on natural
selection to achieve adaptive success. Every society has its own culture or
sociocultural system. The breadth of options inherent in areas such as language,
ritual, and social organization, as well as historical processes such as the formation
of relationships with other cultures, all contribute to cultural variation. The culture
(or cultures) in which he or she lives has a significant impact on an individual's
attitudes, values, ideals, and beliefs.
1.2 Communication
1.2.1 Definition of Communication.
There are various definitions of communication, according to Nguyen Quang
(1998:3), “Communication as the process of sharing meaning through verbal and
nonverbal behavior”.

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“Communication is any process in which people share information, ideas, and
feelings. That process involves not only the spoken and written word, but also body
language, personalmannerisms and style” and “Communication, then, is vital to our
lives. To live is to communicate” by Hybels (1992:5).
“Human communication is a conscious or unconscious, intentional, or
unintentional process in which feelings and ideas are expressed in verbal and non-
verbal messages”. (Berko,1989:4)
Communication is defined by Lustig and Koester as “a symbolic, interpretive,
transactional, contextual process in which people create shared meanings”. (2010:3)
From the different definitions above, we can see that communication is a
process of exchanging information, ideas, feeling, thoughts, emotions of speech,
signals, writing or behavior. In communication process, the sender forms a message
and encodes it into words or symbols. The encoded message is transmitted to the
receiver and the receiver decodes it for understanding the message.
1.2.2. Classificationofcommunication.
Communication is divided into verbal communication (VC) and non-verbal
communication (NVC). It can be seen in Nguyen Quang’s chart as below:
COMMUNICATION
Verbal Communication Nonverbal Communication

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Diagram 1: Classification of communication
Intralanguage
- Vocabulary
- Grammatical rules
- Phonetic rules
- Rules of language use
Paralanguage Extralanguage
Environmental
language
Object language
(Artefacts)
Body language
(Action language/ kinesics)
- Eye contact
- Facial expressions
- Gestures
- Postures
- Touch/Haptics/Tactile
- Clothing
- Jewellery
- Make up
- Artificial scents
- Flowers/gifts
-…
- Setting
- Conversational
distance/
Proxemics/ Space
- Time/ Chronemics
- Lighting system
- Color
- Heat
-…
- Vocal characteristics
+ Pitch
+ Volume
+ Rate
+ Vocal quality
+ Types vocal flow
- Vocal interferences
- Silence

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1.2.2.1. VerbalCommunication. (VC)
Verbal communication refers to the use odd sounds and language to convey a
massage. We use it as a vehicle for expressing request, ideas and impressions and is
important with learning and studying.
For example: When your friend says: “I want to go out!”. We all know that
he/she wants to go out to do something.
When people characteristically define verbal communication, they tend to
refer to spoken language. However, verbal communication refers to any encounter
in which information is communicated through the useofwords. Bythis way, writing
is also a form of verbal communication. Both writing and speaking rely on the
speaker, and the listener understands the meaning of the words and sounds. Hence,
we can use both writing and speaking for VC.
Speaking communication is the process ofexpressing information or ideas by
word of mouth. It can be done by face-to-face conversations, speech, telephonic
conversation, video, radio, television and voice on the internet.
Writing communication is the type of interaction by written word. A written
massage may be printed or and written. It can be transmitted through letter, email,
report, massage… and is influenced by vocabulary, grammatical rules, phonetics
rules and rules of language use.
1.2.2.2Nonverbalcommunication. (NVC)
“Nonverbal Communication is a ‘silence’ language, including the use of
gestures, facial expressions, eyes contact, and conversation distance.” (Levine and
Adelman- 1993).
“Nonverbal communication may cover any aspect of communication that
not purely verbal. More precisely, nonverbal communication can be viewed
from two different perspectives” (R.F.Verderber. 1993).

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According to Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George's book, Contemporary
Management, nonverbal communication is “the encoding of messages by means of
facial expressions, body language, and styles of dress.”
In addition, Mark Knapp and Judith Hall (1997) have defined nonverbal
communication: “Nonverbal communication refers to communication effected by
means other than words.”
In summary, NVC can be defined easily as a process of transitions the
information without using words. But, Nguyen Quang defined it clearly through the
diagram 1 which I mentioned above.
There are two types of NVC: paralanguage and extralanguage.
Paralanguage is concerned with how words are said and it deals with the
expression of emotion. Vocal characteristics, vocal interferences and silence/ pause
are three types of paralanguage.
Extralanguage consists of body language, object language and environmental
language.
1.3 Cross-culturalcommunication
Nowadays, we are living in a modern society where all the countries of the
world when thought of as being closely connected by modern communication and
trade. As the world is growing day by day, we can interact with people from many
different places and cultures. While modern technology has made it easier for us to
communicate with people anywhere in the world, we can meet some difficulties if
we do not know how to deal with people from different cultures and languages.
We can avoid language and cultural misunderstandings by increasing our
knowledge and making friends with foreigners from different countries to know
more about their cultural background.

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According to Nguyen Quang (1998:3): “Communication (verbal or nonverbal)
between people from different cultures; communication that is influenced and
cultural values, attitudes and behavior: the influence of culture on people’ reactions
and responses to each other.”
Cross-cultural communication can be defined as “an awareness that specific
cultural and/or social and/or linguistic and/or economic and/or historical and/or
gender based differences matter in cross-cultural interaction, demonstrated through
appropriately shaping one’s discourse with individuals of different backgrounds
from one’s own”.
Throughout definitions above, we can see that cross-culture communication is
very necessary in this time, especially for those who will work with foreigners, go
overseas to work or study. Furthermore, it also helps the people who non-native or
native to avoid extreme attitudes in countries other than their native ones.
1.4 Gestures
1.4.1 Definitions of Gestures.
“It is gestures that use us as their instruments, as their bearers and
incarnations.” – Milan Kundera. “Considered jointly with speech, gestures open a
“window” onto the mind…taking gesture into account, we see patterns not revealed
by speech alone and see more comprehensively how meanings are constructed.
Gesture is not only a display of meaning butis part of the act ofconstructing meaning
itself, adding a “material carrier” that helps bring meaning into existence…” (Mc
Neil, 1992). According to Hybels and Weaver II (1988:345) that “gestures are made
up of hands and arm”. However, Carr (1998: 78) claims that gestures are the use of
hands, arms, head and legs, or Richards (1992: 157) thinks that gestures are
movements of the face or bodywhich communicate meaning. For example: waving
hand can be understood as greeting, avoiding a look may be comprehended as

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dishonestyor shyness. Thereare number ofdefinitions ofgesture bydifferent authors
and researchers, but Nguyen Quang has provided a full definition of gestures as
follows: “Gestures can be understood as the movements of arms, legs and body
which are used independently or with words in communication in order to
emphasize or replace words, to controlor display one's feelings and attitudes, and to
express one's thought.”
In short, gestures present many functions which may replace speech (during
dialogue or when speech is not used), control the flow and rhythm of interaction,
maintain attention, add emphasis or classify to speech, describe and memorize the
content of speakers.
1.4.2 ClassificationofGestures.
Some anthropologists divide our actions and gestures into three major
categories: instinctive, coded and acquired.
Instinctive gestures are those we do almost unconsciously. For example, we
may slap the back of our heads (Figure 1) when we are suddenly shocked or
surprised. The performance of this gesture may illustrate that we have a sudden
upsetting or surprising event or experience. Another common instinctive gesture is
when one crosses one's arm in front of the chest, which is a signal of defensiveness
or, on the other hand, perhaps the person is merely chilly (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: A slap back of head

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Figure 3: An arm crossing
Coded or technical, gestures are created by pre-established agreement.
Examples are hand signals used by TV directors, referees, umpires and brokers in
the stockand commodity markets. The best-knowncoded language today is the Sign
Language for the Deaf-Mute (see Figure 3).
Figure 4: Sign Language
Acquired gestures, according to Axtell, are socially generated and many of
them have no known origins (e.g., the "O.K." sign) (Figure 4) or no rhyme no reason
(e.g., the hand waving, as in hello and good bye) ( Figure 5).

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Figure 5: The O.K. Sign Figure 6: The waving hand.
According to Axtell (1998:5), this acquired gestures has been loosely and informally
collected among separate societies with no particular logic except that they are
widely used and understood among a certain group of people. As you know, this
grouping of gesture conveys many meanings and differ across cultures, which are
accepted in one society but considered very rude or even insolent to other.
1.4.3 Gestures acrosscultures
The gestures which are mentioned above are community- specific. They often
mean different things among different societies. Forexample, the “Thumbs-up”has
become an almost universal signal for approval, commonly practiced in North
America, most of Europe and countries in other parts in the world (see figure 6). In
the U.S and parts of Europe, the thumbs-up gesture commonly used by hitch-hikers
(see Figure 7) who are thumbing for a ride and it is also an O.K. signal. However, it
should be cautious about using this gesture in Nigeria as it is considered a very rude
and insulting signal. Lack of awareness of this easily leads to misunderstandings,
communication breakdowns, and even culture shock among people from different
cultures.

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Figure 7: The Thumb-up Figure 8: The Thumb-up is used for hitch-hikers.
“The V sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised
and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched” and nowadays, it
is a very popular gesture in the world. Its started off in World War II, followed by
the Peace Movement of the 1960s. The “V” gesture has multiple meanings that
depend on whether the palm faces away from or toward the body. The “V” gesture
with the palm out (Figure 9) has positive meaning as “peace” or “ victory” (figure
11) which is understood around the world, especially in North America and other
countries highly influenced by the American of the 1960s and ‘70s. On the other
hand, in some countries such as United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand, Ireland, with the palm in (Figure 10), the “V” gesture, which translates
roughly to mean “Up yours!” used to insult other(s). Someother East Asian countries
like China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the V sign is a popular cute pose
in photographs (figure 12). In short, it is used in both casualand formal settings. For
the most parts in these countries, the gesture is divorced from its previous meanings
as a peacesign oras an insult; for mostthe meaning ofthe sign is “victory” or“yeah”,
implying a feeling of happiness. It is used in both directions (palm facing the signer
and palm facing forward)” (Wikipedia).

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Figure 9: The V with palm out. Figure 10: The V with palm in.
Figure 11: US president using the Figure 12: The V sign is posed
gesture as a victory sign (1968). in photographs.
The“Horns”, or“Hook 'em Horns” gesture, also has different meanings (both
positive and negative) in different countries in the world. It is shown by the index
and pinkie finger sextended from a fist and the gesture resembles a horned animal.
In the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries where hard rockmade
its indelible mark, it is seen as a rock ‘n’roll symbol. For thousands of avid Texas
football fan, on the other hand, this is the time-honoured rallying gesture forthe
University of Texas Longhorns football. In Italy and Malta, the gesture also hangs
onas asymbolto keep away from evils and bad luck. In contrast, in Southern Europe,
especially in Spain, Portugal, and Malta where the horns are used primarily mean
that a wife is cheating on a husband. As a result, in these places if one is shown this
gesture by his friends, neighbours or colleagues, he must feel insulted and furious as
he is signaled that his wife is being unfaithful.

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Figure 13: The baseball team of Texas Figure 14: The Rock ‘n’ Roll symbol
is making the “Hook ’Horns”
Figure 15: The “Hook ’Horns” means that you are being cuckolded.
The O.K sign (see Figure 15) when you put your index finger and your thumb
together for an O, you are giving an O.K. sign. In Anglicist culture is interpreted
good/ well-done, but in Japanese, it is a symbol for money; in the South of France:
zero or worthless. In short, there are millions of gestures in the world and even more
interpretations. From these examples it is definite that cultural misunderstanding of
gestures can produce confused results and that one's cultural background should
always be considered before coming to conclusions about his or her gestures. Within
this study we will focus on gestures for greeting to find out the significance of
greeting gestures as well as their distinguishing usage across cultures, especially
between Vietnamese and Thai. The nature and extent of this diversity will be made
clearer in the following chapter.

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Figure 16: The O.K. sign
1.5 Greeting.
Greeting is commonly understood as a friendly or polite actions that you say
or do when you meet or welcome someone.
“Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally
make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type
of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between
individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other.” (Wikipedia).
There are two types of greeting: nonverbal and verbal greeting.
A greeting may include of an exchange of formal expression, kisses,
handshakes, hugs, and variety of gestures. The form of greeting is decided by social
etiquette, as well as by the relationship of the people.
However, in some situations, because of the distance communication or
language barriers, the form of non-verbal greeting is used more commonly.
In brief, greetings, in almost every language, obviously help to establish and
maintain a relationship in an initial meeting and to facilitate the conversation.
According to a survey it appears that greeting gestures are easily used whenever
communicative situations take place. In the following section we are introducing a

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variety of greeting gestures between Thai and Vietnamese in use. However, only
some popular greeting gestures are looked into the extent of the study.
1.5.1 The common nonverbal greetings.
1.5.1.1 Handshaking
A handshake is a short formal action in which one person graphs another
person’s hand and in most cases accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of
the grasped hands.
Figure 17: Hand Shaking
Handshaking is one of the most common gestures around the world and it is
often regarded as the customary greeting in business situation. Handshaking is
commonly done in meeting, greeting, offering congratulations, or completing an
agreement. The aim of this act is to transfer trust, balance and equality.
When we were a child, we used to learn the protocolof handshaking from our
parents, our teachers or the people who are around us. As far as I though, the most
widely accepted theory is that hand shaking originated in medieval Europe where
knights would extend their hand to other knights in order to show that they had no
weapons hidden or concealed behind their back.
People ofall races, shapes, sizes and status use the handshake as a way to greet
a person, make an agreement orsay goodbye. That’s why the most commonphysical

29
way to greet people around the world is now the handshake including some Asian
countries such as Viet Nam, China, Japan, Singapore...by their own tradition. But,
when you travel, study or live in Thailand, there are a few things that you need to
keep in your mind. Firstly, Thailand has a special way to greeting which people call
“Wai” (I will present it in the following section). It’s usually used by native Thai
with each other. Nowadays, Thailand is in a Westernized socialsetting, handshaking
may take place by foreigners with native Thai but you have to wait for the person in
charge to initiate the process.
1.5.1.2Hugging
Figure 18: Hugging
In Latin American countries, the hug is called the abrazo. Which means
“embrace”. It is often accompanied two people put their arms around the neck, back,
or waist of one another and hold each other closely.
It’s a common way to explain affection and emotional warmth, sometimes
arising from joy or happiness when joined up with someoneor meet someone absent
after a long time. It may be as some have observed, that Asian people are often shy.
It is the truth. Hugging is seemed to be popular with Westerners, but when you travel
to somecountries in Asia, don'ttouch, hug orkiss them at the first meet. Asian people

30
are not familiar with these kinds of body languages. Actually, they use hugging for
greeting but it is rarely. Asian only use it when they meet parents, relatives, close
friends, lovers or at the occasional events.
1.5.1.3Waving arm
Waving arm is a common greeting gesture with the hand which is raised and
moved side to side, it also means a sign of departure.
“The original gesture of waving was saluting. Prior to the 18th century,
knights removed the guard of their helmets to show their identity, following with a
salute to show they come in peace; saluting is also used to show others that they are
not armed with weapons and do not pose a threat. The action of saluting was
formalised only in the 1780s by European armies, since then, it has become a
common way of properly addressing one another in the military setting…”
(Wikipedia).
Ordinarily, waving hand is usually used with acquaintances, do not use with
stranger or in business. This gesture is a good way to draw attention, a common
greeting and farewell in some nations but you have to know when it is used and
belongs to the situations or their culture.
1.5.1.4 Bowing
What is bowing? Bowing is an action with the body is bent forward at the
waist. It shows the utmost respect and humility toward the figure to whom one bows
Figure 19: Waving arm

31
Figure 20: Bowing
This gesture can beseen in Asian countries suchas Thailand, Viet Nam, Japan,
China, Korea, India….and Germany where the citizens are still bowing to say Hello.
When bowing, the younger personor the personin a lower social position will make
a deeper bow first, while the senior person can either not bow or perform a slight
bow in return.
The bow “is also typical of nobility and aristocracy in many countries and
distinctively in Europe and used in religious contexts, as a form of worship or
veneration.” (Wikipedia). In Japan, bowing is the standard greeting and they divided
into three types of bow: An informal 15-degreebow, a formal 30-degreebow, and a
bow for greater than 30 degrees. In Thailand, the people use the bow with one more
gesture (handshaking) to make their own traditional greeting which is called “Wai”.
In Viet Nam, this gesture is more common that you can see a slight bow everywhere.
In short the bow is such a good way for meeting and departing, furthermore it is a
required and expected part of any apology or expression of thanks.
1.5.1.5Smiling
Smiling evolved from pulling the lips backthe teeth as a sign of fear and some
smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes. The smile is a
gesture that is exclusive of human and it can be observed when was the newborn.

32
Figure 21: The smile
Around the world, smiling is an expression as a sign of happiness, pleasure,
friendliness, enjoyment or loving feeling. Sometimes, the smile may show disguise
true feelings. It is the reasons of confusion across cultures. For instance, Americans
consider smiling at strangers in public spaces freely, but in Russia, smiling at
strangers in public to be unusual and even suspicious behavior. Furthermore, in
Southeast Asian, smiling is not only for greeting but also to convert sadness or
embarrassment. If you have any overseas Asian friends and they want to tell you
some their sad stories, look at them, you will see that they will start their story with
a slightly smile.
Besides, smiling when greeting is high-priority. You can use a smile for
greeting instead of saying hello. Imagine that, when you just step out of your house
to go to work and see your neighbor, then you smile at them instead of saying
“Hello”. I’m sure that, they will do the same to you. Your greeting smiling shows
that you are sociable, you put your neighbor at ease and make a good impression on
them. We are likely to see the smile used in public for greeting, especially in some
Asian countries suchas Thailand where is known as a land ofsmile, Vietnam, China,
Japan, Korea,… and a smile also needs be combined with the other greeting gestures
to become a perfect pair like waving, handshaking, …

33
1.5.1.6Nodding
“A nod of the head is a gesture in which the head is tilted in alternating up and
down arcs along the sagittal plane. In many cultures, it is most commonly, but not
universally, used to indicate agreement, acceptance, or acknowledgment.”
(Wikipedia)
We will find that this gesture is used with different meanings. In most of the
world, nodding means “yes”, any time a question requires an affirmative answer is a
time to use the nod “yes” gesture. Areas in which nodding generally takes this
meaning include the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, most of
Europe, South America and North America. On the other hand, there are some
countries such as Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Turkey…where this
gesture means the exact opposite. That is, the up and down nod actually means “no”,
while the right to left version which means “no” everywhere else means “yes”.
Figure 22: Nodding
According to Wikipedia “nodding can also be used as a form of nonverbal
greeting or acknowledgement of another's presence; in this context, it is essentially
an especially mild form of bowing, with just enough movement to show a degree of
respect without additional formality. This includes the traditional downwards nod,
or the upwards nod (which is more informal and usually used among friends or
subordinates). To increase the formality, the downwards nod may also be
accompanied by a suitable verbal greeting.”

34
1.5.1.7V-sign
Figure23: V sign for greeting
As mentioned above, V sign is a popular gesture of the world. with the index
and middle fingers are raised and parted, while the other fingers are clenched. It has
various meanings, depending on the cultural context and how it is presented.
We can find numbers of theories and different interpretations of the origin of
the V sign. But on the website Wikipedia, the origin of this gesture is obviously
“When displayed with the palm inward toward the signer, it can be an offensive
gesture in some Commonwealth nations, dating back to at least 1900. The more
widespread use as a victory sign (“V for Victory”), with the back of the hand toward
the signer was introduced in January 1941 as part of a campaign by the Allies of
World War II. During the Vietnam War, in the 1960s, the “V sign” was widely
adopted bythe counterculture as a symbolof peace. Shortly thereafter, it also became
a gesture associated with fun used in photographs, especially in East Asia, where the
gesture is also associated with cuteness.”
Currently, V-sign has becomemoreand more popular. It can beseen anywhere
in the world. This gesture also means “peace” and is a common gesture used in
photographs. The people around the world think that V-sign is a symbol of the luck
and happiness, particularly Asian countries such as Japanese, Chinese, Korea and
Vietnam. Moreover, Asian uses V sign as a greeting instead of “Hello or Hi”. For

35
example, in Vietnamese, the number two is pronounced “hai”, similar to saying “Hi”
in English. So when you meet a local person (usually someone who cannot speak
English well) and see them putting their fingers in a V shape to you, they are saying
“Hi”. If that V shape appears when people are taking a photo, it means “victory”.
1.5.1.8 Patting
Figure 24: Patting for greeting.
A lightly touching someoneor something with your hand to show affection or
approval is patting. Patting on the back or shoulder can be used for greeting but it is
an informal gesture. People usually use it to greet friends, colleagues of the same
age, socialstatus or even low social status., There are a lot of men who pat each other
on the back or shoulder for greeting in Greece. In Vietnam, adults usually greet
children with patting, but do not do the opposite, it will be an impolite and rude act
if you greet the adults and the older than you. In Thailand, the local people can use
patting when they meet their friends by lightly touching on the back or shoulder to
notice their arrival but do not pat on the head, Thai people seem to hate it because it
is taboo, especially patting on the heads of children.

36
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1 Descriptionof the participants
In this paper, 100 people was chosen to carry out the survey. Half of them are
Vietnamese people who are living in Hai Phong city and the remainder are Thai
people who also can speak English. Besides, this survey will require the participants
to tick the questions about age, gender and occupation which they normally consider
for greeting. The permeants of informants are indicated at the table below:
The parameters of
informants
Vietnamese (N=50) Thai (N=50)
Male
(N=30)
Female
(N=20)
Male
(N=30)
Female
(N=20)
Under 20 years old 4 2 2 3
From 21 to 29 years old 15 12 10 9
From 30 to 40 years old 8 4 11 5
Over 40 years old 3 2 7 3
Studying participants 11 13 12 10
Working participants 19 7 18 10
Table 1: The parameters of informants

37
According to the table 1: There are some differences between the participants
of Vietnamese and native Thai speakers. They are different age from under 20 to
over 40 and most of them from 21 to 29 years old. 60% of Vietnamese people and
native Thai speakers are males. The majority of participants in this survey are
working. The minority of participants are female and the people who are studying.
2.2. Descriptionof the survey questionnaires
A survey was carried out to collect data for this study as I mentioned in the
methods ofthe study. The survey consists of12 questions and supplies a general and
detailed analysis on using greeting gestures of Thai and Vietnamese people. So that,
a comparison on the use of greeting gestures in Vietnam and Thailand is
demonstrated.
The questionnaire was delivered to the participants and they took a few
minutes to answer all the questions in it. They were encouraged to give their answers
objectively, it helps for the data of the research more accurate and can find out the
specific numbers. Through this, the research can analyse the similarities and
differences on the use of gestures for greeting between Vietnamese and Thai people.
The questionnaire is written bothin Vietnamese and English fornative Thai who also
can speak English.
There are 12 questions in the questionnaire:
- Question 1: Age of the participants.
- Question 2: Gender of the participants.
- Question 3: Occupation of the participants.
- Question 4: Address of participants
- Question 5: Frequency of using greeting gestures.
- Question 6: The influence of the age on using greeting gestures.
- Question 7: Common greeting gestures are used in Thailand and Vietnam.

38
- Question 8&9: The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures.
- Question 10: The influence of social status on using greeting gestures
- Question 11&12: The close-ended questions and open-ended questions to give
more information of participants about this survey.
2.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages ofdoing questionnaires.
A questionnaire is an instrument that consists of a series ofquestions designed
to collect information from participants. A research questionnaire usually consists of
a combination of closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data collected from a
questionnaire can bebothqualitative and quantitative in nature. A questionnaire may
or may not be the form of a survey, but a survey always consists of a questionnaire.
Moreover, there are some benefits to improve that a questionnaire is a great way to
collect data information for research.
Firstly, this is a budget way to collect data. Nowadays, the social network is
attached to our lives, so it is easy to place the questionnaire in website or email to
participants and there is no need to visit each respondentindividually so that, it does
not require high cost or even no cost of doing research.
Secondly, it is seemed to be the best tool to collect information more than
interview or observation when the population is spread over a territory. It allows a
national or even international coverage.
Finally, a questionnaire is rapidly and puts less pressure on the respondents.
The answers can be obtained very quickly in the questionnaire method. In this case,
there is no need to personally visit each respondent or continue the study for an
extended period of time. Compared to another method, the mail questionnaire is
quicker. In addition, this instrument puts less pressure on respondents to answer
instantly. They can answer it themselves in their free time, while interviewing or
observing requires fixed on time and situation.

39
In contrast, a questionnaire lacks of personal contact. In case of the
questionnaire the researcher does notgo to thefield, they are notable to communicate
directly with the respondents. If the respondent does not understand some of the
technical terms or he/she has any doubt, there is nobody who will solve that problem
for the respondent. Although the researcher tries in the bestpossibleway to make the
questionnaire simple, accurate and convenient, the purpose and objectives of the
questionnaire can be much better explained personally than any other way. Without
the appropriate personalcontact, it is more difficult to motivate respondents to fill in
the questionnaire.
CHAPTER 3: FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS
The investigation results about the use of gesture for greeting of Vietnamese
and Thai people are showed in the following charts. The survey has open and closed
questionnaires but I only analyse the closed questions in this chapter. The open-
ended questions will supply more information for comparing on the use of greeting
gestures of Vietnamese and Thai in the next section.

40
3.1 Greeting gestures by the Vietnamese informants.
3.1.1 Data analysis of greeting gesture
3.1.1.1:Common greeting gestures are used in Vietnam.
Chart 1: The average of common using greeting gestures in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, handshaking, smiling and waving are the most common way for
greeting with each other, 100% participants chose handshaking. The second is
smiling with 90%. It seems to be that Vietnamese people like using smiling when
they meet someone, and we can see that, a smile can bring a good impression at the
beginning of the conversation. Waving is less than smiling 6%. Nodding occupies
with 70%. The rest greeting gestures consisting of bowing, hugging, kissing, high
five, V-sign and back-patting are sometimes used.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Vietnam

41
3.1.1.2 Frequency of using greeting gestures.
Chart 2: Frequency of using greeting gestures of Vietnamese people
According to the chart 1, the frequency of using gestures is common ways for
greeting by Vietnamese. The majority of Vietnamese choose“always” and “usually”
which means that in the daily life, they constantly like using gestures for greeting
everyone around them. But among them, there are also peoplewho prefer to greet by
direct rather than gesture. The informant’s reports said that gesture were difficult in
understanding sometimes, informal etiquette or information might get distorted so
that they sometimes or rarely use gestures for greeting. At least, in this survey, there
is not any informant never use gestures for greeting up to now.
3.1.1.3The influence of the age on using greeting gestures.
Always
(44%)
Usually
(40%)
Sometimes
(14%)
Rarely (2%) Never (0%)

42
Chart 3: The influence of age on using greeting gestures.
According to the chart 1, in Vietnam, at the older, there are 3 common ways
to greet as: bowing, hugging and handshaking. Bowing is the mostchosenone, 100%
survey participants choosethis gesture. 60% ofthem chosehugging for greeting with
the older. Handshaking is also a common way to greet the older people and it
accounts for 56%. Meanwhile, kissing, smiling, are less commonly used. They only
occupy from 24% to 40%. Nobody using waving, nodding, high-five, V-sign and
back-patting to greet, it means that these gestures must not use for greeting with the
older in Vietnam, it will be rude if you use waving, nodding, high-five, V-sign and
patting with someone who is older than you.
Three common ways to greet the same age in Vietnam are waiving, smiling
and back-patting. 90% the survey participants from Vietnam choseto use waving to
greet others. We can see that Vietnamese people use waving as a friendly way to
greet their friends or anyone who are the same age with them. Back-patting is used
by80% peopleand smiling is chosenby70% people. Besides, handshaking, nodding,
V-sign, high five are also used in some situations.
With the younger, Vietnamese people usually greet by smiling, nodding and
waving. 90% of the survey participants agree to use smiling and nodding, 80% of
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
The older The same age The younger The children

43
them choose waving and 60% of them choose back-patting when greeting the
younger. Other greeting gestures such as hugging, high five, V-sign are sometimes
used.
To greet the children, Vietnamese people usually use smiling, nodding and
hugging. 80% survey participants choose smiling. 70% and 60% of them agree to
use nodding and waving. In addition, they also show their fondness for the children
by waving, kissing, high five and back-patting.
3.1.1.4The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures.
Chart 4: The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures.
What greeting gestures will you do when you meet someone at the first time?
At the first meeting, Vietnamese people usually greet each other by handshaking and
smiling. 80% people chose smiling and handshaking is higher than smiling 10%.
Some people also chosebowing, nodding and V-sign to greet at the first time. They
account from 26% to 40%.
When meeting few times, Vietnamese people prefer to use other gestures like
waving, nodding smiling, back- patting, high five and V-sign. Waving is used the
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Who you meet the first time
Who you meet a few times
Who you have known for a long time

44
most, it occupies for94%. Thesecond is smiling with 86%. High five, nodding, back-
patting and V-sign are common use with medium proportion.
Vietnamese people use waving, smiling, back-patting, V-sign, back-patting to
greet someone who they known for a long time. Waving is used the most with 92%.
The second is smiling, it occupies for 90% which is the same rate with smiling for
meeting few times. Besides, back-patting and V-sign are often used; there are 60%
Vietnamese participants choose them. Hugging, nodding and high five are also
chosen but their rate is not high.
We can easy see that the mostcommon way which Vietnamese people use for
greeting is smiling, but nobody uses kissing in Vietnam.
3.1.1.5The influence of gender on using greeting gestures.
Chart5: The influence of gender on using greeting gestures
The chart indicates that Vietnamese people usually use different greeting
gestures when greeting the same sex and the opposite people. The most common
ways for greeting The chart shows that Vietnamese people use different greeting
gestures. When they greeting the same sex, they often use waving, smiling and back-
patting. 100% of participants chose waving which they use to greet the same sex.
The second is waving with 96% which is less than smiling for 4%. Back-patting
0
20
40
60
80
100
The same sex The opposite sex

45
occupies for 72%. Some greeting gestures such as handshaking, bowing, V-sign,
nodding, high-five, hugging are also chosen but it seems that they are not common
ways for greeting by the same sex. The last gesture which nobody chose is kissing.
It is noticeable that kissing is not a good option to greet someone in Vietnam.
We can see from the chart, smiling is still in the first place with 86%. In
addition, the oppositesex use bowing and handshaking are higher than the same sex.
There are 54% Vietnamese people chose bowing and 80% people chose
handshaking. Kissing and hugging are not used to greeting the opposite sex in
Vietnam. On the other hand, the other gestures also are the great way for greeting the
opposite sex with the average fluctuates from 16 to 60%.
3.1.1.6The influence of socialstatus on using greeting gestures
Chart6: The influence of social status on using greeting gestures
The chart shows that handshaking and smiling are used to greet with people at
all social status. Nevertheless, when greeting with the higher status, handshaking,
bowing and smiling are the great ways with high proportion. 100% participants chose
these gestures to greet their boss or someone is higher position. There is one more
gesture with a small proportion for greet with the high status. It is hugging, 10%
0
20
40
60
80
100
The high status The same status the lower status

46
which means only 5 persons chose hugging in a total of 50 participants. Besides,
nobody chose waving, patting, high five and V-sign at all.
With people of the same status, handshaking, waving, smiling, nodding and
hugging are usually used. Handshaking and smiling are chosen by 100% survey
participants, hugging and nodding are usually used. Hugging and nodding accounts
for 80% people. Nodding accounts for 72% and back-patting is less than 2%. High
five and V-sign are also used but their proportions are not high. High five is 46%, V-
sign is 40%.
100% survey participants from Vietnam usually greet by handshaking,
smiling, nodding and back-patting occupies for 96%. Besides, hugging, kissing and
V-sign are used but less common.
3.2 Greeting gestures by Thai informants.
This section, I will focus on greeting gesture which are used by Thai people.
Thailand is a country with a very unique traditional culture and the people here are
friendly, polite and very careful in communication and commonbehavior. Therefore,
they pay great attention to greetings and especially their traditional way of greeting.
In fact, due to distance and time constraints, finding and providing
questionnaires for foreigners is rather challenging. I combined with the Internet to
send this survey to Thai people. The difficulty was overcome, however, thanks to the
enthusiastic and relentless assistance of Thai people. In addition, because we are
finding out the common greeting gesture of Thailand, so I added one more gesture
which is called Wai – the tradition greeting of Thai people.

47
3.2.1 Data analysis of greeting gesture
3.2.1.1:Common greeting gestures are usedin Thailand.
Chart 7: Common greeting gestures are used in Thailand.
We all knew that Thailand is a “land of smiling” that is a reason why smiling
accounts for100%. With the same proportionis Wai, becauseof its tradition, todays,
Thailand is still having their own greeting gesture and it creates a tradition
characteristic that only available in Thailand. 80% participants reckon handshaking
is a commonway to greet people in Thai and it usually uses in business or any formal
situations. Meanwhile, bowing, nodding, waving, high-five, back-patting and V-sign
are used less frequently. They occupy from 16% to 60%. The data indicates that
hugging and kissing are not common way for greeting in Thailand. As you can see,
in Western, they are similar with kissing and hugging for greeting, but if you come
to Thailand, it must not kiss or hug for greeting. They are seemed to be insolent
actions here.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Thai people

48
3.2.1.2Frequencyof using greeting gestures.
Chart 8: Frequency of using greeting gestures of Thai people
The chart shows that half of Thai people chose “always” and the second is
“usually” with 40%. Not only Vietnamese people like using greeting gestures, but
they also use it frequently in the daily life. There are some people who sometime use
greeting but only with small proportion. They occupyfor 6,6% and the rest is 3,4%
which is “rarely” and nobody choose “never”
3.2.1.3The influence of the age on using greeting gestures.
Chart 9: The influence of age on using greeting gestures in Thailand.
Always
(50%)
Usually
(40%)
Someti…
Rarely
(3,4%)
Never
(0%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
The older The same age The younger The children

49
The chart indicates that Thai people often use Wai and smiling to greet with
the older. Wai and smiling occupy 100%. Moreover, other gesture is used such as
hugging with 30%, bowing with 44% to show respect. Handshaking is rarely used
with 10% for whom they meet in business. Kissing, high five, V-sign are not used
for greeting the older. In short, there are only two common ways for greeting the
older in Thailand.
With the same age, there are 3commonways to greet, they are smiling, waving
and back-patting. Smiling is ranked the first choice to greet the same age. Back-
patting and waving are the second with 80%. The other gestures fluctuate from 10%
to 40%. Kissing is not chosen for greet in this country.
On the other hand, there are more ways to greet the younger. In Thailand,
smiling is still the most commonway when greeting the younger. The chart indicates
that smiling is used by 100% survey participants. Furthermore, they also choose
waving and nodding. Waving is 70% and nodding is 60%.
With the children, the most common greeting gesture is smiling. Smiling
accounts for 100%. The second choice to greet the children is nodding with 80%.
Waving occupies with 70%. In some situations, hugging, patting, high five and V-
sign are also used.
In Thailand, Wai is not used for greeting against the younger and the children
and they should offer a Wai first with the older or the senior. Instead, they give a
quick nod of the head, a smile or simply pull your hands up to the starting position
and then drop them without moving the fingers up towards the face as a sign of.

50
3.2.1.4The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures.
Chart 10: The influence of relationships on using greeting gestures in Thailand.
At the first time meet each other, Thai people usually greet by Wai,
handshaking or smiling. 100% people chose Wai and smiling, handshaking is the
second with 70%. Some people chose bowing which occupies 42% to show their
respect when they meet someone at the first time.
It seems that there are very few differences in using greeting gestures of Thai
people to the person who they have met a few times or they have known for a long
time. They are also waving and smiling with high proportion. Back-patting is used
with the people who they have known for a long time more than the people who they
meet a few time because it is seemed as a friendly gesture, especially with friends.
High five, V-sign, Wai and hugging are also used but their proportions are not high.
Kissing is not chosen in both these situations of relationship.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Who you meet the first time
Who you meet a few times
Who you have known for a long time

51
3.2.1.5The influence of gender on using greeting gestures.
Chart11: The influence of genderon using greeting gestures in Thailand.
In general, gender doesn't have much effect on using greeting gestures in
Thailand. They frequently use smiling, waving hands, handshaking, nodding and
Wai of the same sex and of the opposite sex. 100% of people chooseto smile to say
hello of the same sex and of the opposite sex. 100% of people choose handshake to
greet with people of the opposite sex, but only 80% participants use handshaking
with the same sex. Waiis 96% of people who are the same sex use to greet each other
and 90% of people say hello of the opposite sex. Waving is contrary to Wai, there
are 90% people use it with the same sex and the proportion of the opposite sex is
higher than the same sex for 4%.
In this situation, nodding seems to be increasing. 70% people use nodding
when they greet with the same sex and 100% of participants chose for say hello to
the opposite sex. On the other hand, few people use back-patting, V-sign, high five
and bowing with low proportion to greet people of the same and opposite sex. And
only 10% people use hugging for greeting with the same age, all of them are females.
Kissing is not used because in Thailand, using a kiss for greeting is unaccepted, it is
just only for closest relationship as love or the people in the family.
0
20
40
60
80
100
The same sex The opposite sex

52
3.2.1.6The influence of socialstatus on using greeting gestures
Chart12: The influence of social status on using greeting gestures
As we can see from the chart, smiling is chosen by 100% participants to greet
with people at all social status. And Waialso seems to be a commonway for greeting
with the higher status with 100%. After that is bowing, it is available when they meet
their grandparents, parents or their boss in business to show their respect to them.
there are 50% participants chose solemn handshaking with the higher status.
Hugging, kissing, waving, nodding, high five, V-sign and back-patting are not
chosen. The participants show that these gestures are not a way to greet someone
who is in the higher position than you, if not, it will be insolent gestures.
With people of the same status, handshaking, waving, smiling, nodding, back
–patting and Wai are common gesture which they chose to use frequently. They
occupy high proportions. smiling is chosen by 100% participants. The second is
waving and Waiwhich usually used with high percentage. There are 44 people chose
waving and Wai, it means that waving and the traditional greeting occupy for 88%.
The next is back-patting with 70%, the local people also use this friendly gesture to
greet the same status with them. Handshaking accounts for 60%, it is as same as
0
20
40
60
80
100
The high status The same status the lower status

53
nodding. High five and V-sign are also chosenbut their proportions are not so high.
They do not use bowing, hugging and kissing with this level.
For the lower status, 100% Thai participants often greet by smiling and
nodding. In addition, waving is also chosen and have a high proportion with 86%.
Another way for greeting with the lower status is handshaking and back-patting, in
some situations, Thai people use hugging and V-sign to show their friendly
personality with the lower status but not impolite. Hugging is 40%, back-patting is
50% as handshaking, V-sign and Waiare 40%. Actually, in Thailand, they sometimes
do Wai with the lower status.
3.3 The similarities and differences of using gestures for greeting in Vietnam
and Thailand.
3.3.1. The similarities
In this part, Iwould like to give somesimilarities to help everybodyunderstand
more about Vietnamese and Thailand greetings culture clearly. As far as I thought,
Vietnamese and Thailand are both located in Asia and have similar attitudes in
greetings: Thai as well as Vietnamese people are very friendly, polite when greeting.
According to the results of the survey, we can see that Vietnamese and Thai
people who commonly use some gestures for greeting. The gesture that they use the
most is smiling. Vietnam is a typical Southeast Asian country for enthusiasm.
Especially, they always smile at anyone, anywhere when they greeting, this is the
most impressive thing for anyone who has been in Vietnam. Thailand is also known
as “The land of Smiles”. In Thailand, a smile is much more than just a smile, it is a
subtle form of interpersonal messaging. Smiling becomes a common way for Thai
people to greet with each other. The second gestures which Vietnamese and Thailand
use is handshaking and we can see it is often used in business. This gesture is one of
the most popular gestures in existence, it is widely used between people of all ranks

54
and status. In the past, Thai people do not shake hands but nowadays, the
globalization of the world is growing strongly, Vietnam and Thailand are amazing
destinations for the tourists around the world so that the cultural influence of hand
shaking gestures from the West in these two countries is quite normal, especially in
the capitals or big cities. Moreover, waving seems to be a common gesture which is
used in Vietnam and Thailand by the people with the same status, age, between
friends or the adults with the children. On the other hand, back-patting, hugging,
bowing, high five and V-sign are used as well but not frequently. Because of the
importance of ritual, Vietnamese and Thailand do not use much kissing as Western
people especially among people who differ in age, gender, social status.
Both Vietnamese and Thai people pay attention to age, relationships, gender,
social status in greeting, while occupation does not matter at all.
3.3.2. The differences
On the other hand, there are some differences in using greeting gestures
between Vietnam and Thailand.
Firstly, in Vietnam, age and social status play an important role in using
greeting gestures. The traditional greeting which Vietnamese use is a slight bowand
cross their arms with a greeting to greet the older orhandshake with the higher status.
Nowadays, it is no longer a requirement, but when meeting Vietnamese people, they
never forget to say hello and combine with pronouns like “Em chào thầy/cô ạ!”,
“Cháu chào bác ạ” … with the older or the higher status, or shorten “Chào bạn!”,
“Chào em/anh!”.
ForThai people, the traditional way ofgreeting is to put the hands on the head
orin front ofthe chest, it is called Wai. To make it more obviously, this is a definition
and classification of Wai which I want to introduce in this paper:

55
The “Wai” is pronounced like the word “why,” is the traditional greeting in
Thailand. This type of greeting consists of a slight bow with both palms firmly
pressed together in a prayer position. In general, people would associate this with
“sawadee (“khrap” for men and “kha” for woman)” in Thailand.
There are some levels of “Wai”:
Depending on who you talk to, that’s when the placement of your hand would
differ. Technically, the higher you place it, the more respect you show.
 The first level: Giving a Wai to Buddha images and monks (The monk Wai).
Thailand is a national religion. Buddhism is a key componentto the identities
of many Thais. Many will give daily offerings to things like spirit houses and Thai
people believe that they will live longer and happier lives by making and gaining
merit. And you are almost guaranteed to see some monks in Thailand. They have
yellow and orange robes which are prominent in a sea of modern-day clothing (see
Figure 25). Many Thais donate to monks who are collecting donations in the streets
on their day off. At this level, you have to give the highest Wai. Your thumbs are
between the eyebrows; the index fingers point up past the forehead and then bow so
that your face is parallel to the floor, with your back bent. When it comes to a “Wai”
to royalty, Thais will bow or curtsey whilst they slowly make this gesture.
Figure 25: The monks are collecting
donations.
Figure 26: The monk Wai

56
 Thesecond level: Giving a Waiatsomeoneat higherstatusor older (Themore
respectful Wai):
You have to show your respect to anyone older or at higher status than you
such as your grandparents, parents, elder relatives, teachers, bosses, … You would
put your palms together. Your thumps are at the tip of your noseand youshould bend
forward.
Figure 27: A student is greeting her teacher.
 The third level: Giving Wai to older people or the same level.
This is used in general with people who you meet socially like workers,
neighbors, friends…
You would put your palms together. Your thumps are positioned at your chin
level and you should bend a bit forward.
Figure 28: Using Wai by people of the same social status
Nowadays, this gesture is still existing and quite commonin Thai society even
though the 3 levels are sometimes mixed up. If you have some Thai friends and they

57
are the same age as you, you can “Wai” at the third level but don’t need to bow or
don’t even have to do the ‘Wai’ with your friends. You can just say “sawadii” or
“wadii” with a nice smile. I think your friends might feel comfortable with it rather
than do “Wai” with them.
Furthermore, the older in Thailand do not do “Wai” again with the children
when they greet them becauseit is the customof Thai. Instead, they give a quick nod
of the head, a warm smile to greet them.
In Thai Lan, Foreigners should not go around giving the “Wai” to everyone
they meet. Today, Thailand is in a Westernized social setting so that foreigners can
greet someone with a nod, a slight bow, a pat, waving or a warm simile. Anyway,
trying to “Wai” in Thailand or when you met Thais, it will be a new experience of
yours.
Secondly, in Vietnam, touching gestures such as kissing are hugging are
hardly used in Vietnam. But between the family member, it seems to be familiar,
when you come to Vietnamese home, you can easily see that the children will greet
their grandparents or parents with a hug or a kiss on the chess, and the grandparents
or parents will do the same gestures with them. But in Thailand, to show respect for
the older, the young Thai people usually use Wai as a common way to greet and the
older often use a smile or a nod to reply their greeting and they never do Wai with
the children.
In short, Thailand and Vietnam are in SoutheastAsia, between these countries,
there are many features of geographical location, natural, economic and cultural
conditions with many favorable conditions for economic development and cultural
exchange. This has created similarities as well as unique characteristics in terms of
communication culture.

58
PART III. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
1. Summary
As mentioned above, greeting gestures play a very important role and is an
integral part of our life. When you work and communicate with foreigners or when
you visit another country, firstly, you've got to review about greeting gestures or
traditional greeting of that country. Moreover, I also made a decision to carry out the
study with the hope of finding the similarities and differences in using greeting
gestures in Thailand and Vietnam to avoid misunderstandings which may occur in
communication in cross-cultural communication.
In addition, this study can supply not only Vietnamese but also foreigners,
who want to know more about the greeting gestures which are used in Vietnam and
Thailand, how to use them correctly and avoid insolent actions when come into
contact with culture of Vietnam or Thailand.
In short, greeting becomes a typical cultural beauty of each nation. In the
context of current integration, the interference and cultural influence is extremely
strong, preserving cultural identity is a very necessary task of each person. The
ancients of Vietnamese used to say that “nhập gia phải tùy tục”, but if we have an
understanding of the customs and practices of your country, we have many

59
advantages in teaching, learning and exchanging. Therefore, having a sense of
comparing and contrasting with your country's culture is extremely necessary to have
appropriate behavior with the culture of each ethnic group, contributing to the gap
between foreigners and Vietnamese. closer to each other.
2. Suggestionsfor avoidance ofculture shock.
Moving to a different country for traveling, studying or working can be very
hard, especially if it’s a location that you have just heard about it and never been
there before. You will have many questions may bear in your mind as your studies,
your social life, or how your journey will be. You contact with a new environment;
I am sure about that you will be hit with culture shock. So that, I will offer some
suggestions about how to avoid culture shock when you travel to Thailand or
Vietnam or even any countries in the world.
Firstly, you should learn about their greeting culture. Greeting is playing an
important role in daily life, they are very focused on greeting, especially for older or
higher status people, they will use more formal gestures than those of the same age
and younger people. As we can see, although Vietnam and Thailand are the same
continent but there are still many similarities and differences between Vietnam and
Thailand. Both countries follow Buddhism so they pay great attention to rules and
rituals, they do not use touching gestures much such as hugging or kissing when
greeting in public like Westerners. In other hand, Westerners often using touching
greeting gestures more than Asian. Forexample, in North America and Europe, they
use kissing on lips, cheeks, hand or forehead as a greeting with each other who they
know very well; in Latin America countries, they use a hug which is called abrazo
with hearty claps on the back,… Throughout of it, I can see that each nation around
the world has its own traditional greeting gestures therefore learning about culture of
the country where you are going to visit is crucial for you.

60
Secondly, listen and observethe local people's gestures over a period of time.
Be careful with your gestures, actions orwords, becauseif you go to another country,
they may misunderstand your actions because of cultural differences. For example,
in Vietnam, handshaking, waving canbeaccepted. InThailand, handshaking, waving
can be easily seen some developing cities as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya,
Phuket,… where are popular destinations for foreigners but in some remote areas,
the old-fashioned people treasure a greeting, especially with statuses, and they won't
expect a foreigner to initiate a Wai but if offered one , not returning it would be an
insult with them.
Thirdly, sharing about your culture and the correction process. When you are
confused with some issues, don’t be afraid and confess that which it means in your
country. It is supportive to help you break the barriers and ease your adjustment.
Moreover, it can be great if you have one or more native friends in that country, you
can share about your culture and vice versa. I think it is the best way to learn more
about the traditional through the local people here.
In short, it is hard to say that there is definitely a solution to avoid culture
shock. The best things about experiencing a whole new culture is that you can learn
something completely unknown from your mistakes. Any form of learning leads to
personal growth, and you'll experience lots of positive moments that you'll cherish
for life. Culture shockis a thing, the majority of us experienced, experiences and will
experience during our life. Do not be scared of it, you should open your mine, there
will bepeople willing to help you overcoming it. Culture shockis never easy to grasp
and it plays an important role in studying for everyone so that we can easier
overcoming barriers and avoid culture shock of new environment.

61
3. Suggestions forfurther study
If I have any chances for further study, I hope I will travel to Thailand and
interview the survey respondents face to face to investigate the data deeply and
thoroughly. Moreover, I will learn more about using greeting gestures in Thailand
and Vietnam of each region in different times. Thailand is not only the most special
country in Asian with friendly citizens, but also with the diversity of food, especially
vendor food. These things make Thailand becomes a great option of any travelers.
That is the reason why I am really impressed with Thailand and I hope somedays in
the future, I will have a fly to “the land of smile”.
REFERENCES
- Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn (1952) Culture: A Critical Review of
Concepts and Definitions. Vintage Books publisher.
- David McNeill (1992) Hand and Mind: What Gestures Reveal about Thought.
- Gareth R. Jones, Jennifer M. George (2008) Contemporary Management
- Hybells, S and Weaver II, R.L. (1989). Communicating Effectively. Von
Hoffmann Press, Inc.
- Hybels S., et. al., (1992), Communicating Effectively, McGraw-ill, Inc.
- Lustig, M. and Koester, J (1996) Intercultural competence. Interpersonal
Communication across Cultures. Harper Collins College Publishers.
- Milan Kundera (1990) Immortality Fiction.
- Matthew Arnold: Culture and Anarchy, 1869

62
- Mark L. Knapp and Judith A. Hall (2013). Nonverbal Communication in
Human Interaction. Wadsworth Publishing.
- Nguyen Quang (2000) Intercultural Communication. Vietnam National
University - Hanoi, College of Foreign languages.
- Nguyen Quang (2011) An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 2.
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, University of Language and International
Studies.
- R. E. Axtell. (1998) Gestures: The do’s and taboos of body
- The cultural of Thailand.
http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_th.htm
- Thailand, the land of smile “https://www.impactgrouphr.com/insights/thailand-
the-land-of-the-smiles”
- The definition of Greeting by Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeting
- Verderber, R. F (1993) The Challenge of Effective Speaking
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
SAMPLE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THAI PEOPLE
My survey questionnaire is designed to collect data for my research on “A
CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON GESTURES OF VIETNAMESE – THAI
PEOPLE FOR GREETING” with the foreigners who have been in Thailand and
socialized with Thai’s culture. In addition, this appendix is for Thai people and we
want to know how they will greet in Thailand so that I added one more greeting
gesture “Wai- traditional greeting of Thai people” to make your assistance in
responding to the following questions is highly appreciated. You don’thave to write

63
your name on it. Please give me your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee
the success of the investigation.
Thank you very much for your help!
From question 1 to question 11 Please tick () to give your opinion!
1. Age
 Under 20 years old  21-29 years old
 30-40 years old  Over 40 years old
2. Gender
 Male  Female
3. Occupation
Studying Working Other
4. Where do you live in Thailand? (Bangkok / Pattaya / Chiang Mai…)
.........................................................................................................
5. What greeting gestures are commonly used in Thailand?
Thailand
Handshaking
Hugging
Waving
Bowing
Kissing
Smiling
Nodding
High five

64
V-sign
Back-patting
Wai
Other
 If you choose “Other”, please explain what way that you use to greet
someone in your area.
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
6. How often do you use gestures for greeting?
1 Always 
2 Usually 
3 Sometimes 
4 Rarely 
5 Never 
7. When greeting someone in Thailand, which way do you choose?
The older The same age
The
younger
The children
Handshaking
Hugging
Waving
Bowing
Kissing

65
Smiling
Nodding
High five
V-sign
Back-patting
Wai
Other
 You can choose as many responses as applicable.
8. When greeting a person in Thailand, which ways do you choose?
Who you meet the
first time.
Who you meet a
few times.
Who you have
known for a long
time.
Handshaking
Hugging
Waving
Bowing
Kissing
Smiling
Nodding
High five

66
V-sign
Back-patting
Wai
Other
 If you choose “Other”, please explain what way that you use to greet
those subjects.
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
9. What ways do you choose to greet person when you are in Thailand?
The same sex
The opposite sex
Handshaking
Hugging
Waving
Bowing
Kissing
Smiling

67
Nodding
High five
V-sign
Back-patting
Wai
Other
10.When greeting a person, which way do you choose?
The higher status The same status
The lower status.
Handshaking
Hugging
Waving
Bowing
Kissing
Smiling
Nodding
High five
V-sign
Back-patting

68
Wai
Other
11.Have you ever greeted with a Vietnamese?
 Yes  No
If you choose “Yes”, could you explain that what gestures you used and
give some experiences when you use gestures to greet with Vietnamese!
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
12. If you have more information, please contribute to improve this survey
better.
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
Thank you!
APPENDIX B
BẢNG ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO NGƯỜI VIỆT NAM

69
Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát của tôi được thiết kế nhằm mục đíchđểthu thập dữ liệu
cho bản nghiên cứu của tôi về “NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA TRONG
VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CỬ CHỈ ĐỂ CHÀO HỎI CỦA NGƯỜI VIỆT NAM VÀ NGƯỜI
THÁI” với những người đến từ “Xứ sở Chùa Vàng”. Sựhợp tác của bạn là một niềm
vinh hạnh cho tôi. Bạn không cần phải viết tên của bạn trên bản khảo sát. Xin vui
lòng cho tôi câu trả lời của bạn một cáchchân thành vì nhờ đó, tôi có thể thành công
làm một cuộc điều tra có chất lượng.
Cảm ơn bạn rất nhiều vì sự giúp đỡ của bạn!
Từ câu 1 cho tới câu 11. Bạn hãy đánh dấu () để đưa ra ý kiến của bạn!
1. Độ tuổi
 Dưới 20 tuổi  Từ 21 đến 29 tuổi
 Từ 30 đến 40 tuổi  Trên 40 tuổi
2. Giới tính
 Nam  Nữ
3. Nghề nghiệp
 Học Sinh  Đi làm  Khác
4. Bạn đang sống ở quận/huyện nào trong thành phố Hải Phòng?
...............................................................................................................
5. Theo bạn, cách chào hỏi nào phổ biến ở Việt Nam?
Viet Nam
Bắt tay
Ôm
Vẫy tay
Cúi
Hôn

70
Cười
Gật đầu
Đập tay
Giơ tay chữ V
Vỗ vai
Khác
6. Bạn có thường sử dụng các cử chỉ để chào hỏi không?
1. Luôn luôn 
2. Thường xuyên 
3. Thỉnh thoảng 
4. Hiếm khi 
5. Không bao giờ 
7. Khi chào hỏi một người, bạn sẽ dùng cáchnào?
Người già
Người bằng
tuổi
Người nhỏ
tuổi hơn
Trẻ em
Bắt tay
Ôm
Vẫy tay
Cúi
Hôn
Cười
Gật đầu

71
Đập tay
Giơ tay chữ V
Vỗ vai
Khác
 Bạn có thể chọn hơn 1 đáp án trong cùng một hàng dọc
8. Khi chào hỏi, những cáchnào mà bạn thường dùng với các đối tượng
sau?
Người bạn gặp lần
đầu.
Người bạn gặp một
vài lần.
Người bạn đã quen
biết từ lâu.
Bắt tay
Ôm
Vẫy tay
Cúi
Hôn
Cười
Gật đầu
Đập tay
Giơ tay chữ V
Vỗ vai
Khác

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