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The wai of a Thai bride

The wai has been adopted by western cultural symbols in Thailand, including Ronald McDonald.

The Thai greeting referred to as the wai (Thai: ไหว้) or in Lao as kub consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It is very similar to the Indian Añjali Mudrā/namasté and the Cambodian sampeah. The higher the hands are held in relation to the face and the lower the bow, the more respect or reverence the giver of the wai is showing.

The wai is also common as a way to thank someone or apologise.

The word often spoken with the wai as a greeting or farewell is sawatdee (สวัสดี). Phonetically, the word is pronounced "sa-wat-dee". This word was coined in the mid-1930s by Phraya Upakit Silapasan of Chulalongkorn University. This word, derived from the Sanskrit svasti (meaning "well-being"), had previously been used in Thai only as a formulaic opening to inscriptions. The strongly nationalist government of Plaek Pibulsonggram in the early 1940s promoted the use of the word sawatdee amongst the government bureaucracy as well as the wider populace as part of a wider set of cultural edicts to modernise Thailand.

[edit] Origin

The wai originated from an ancient greeting that was done to show neither individual had any weapons.^{[citation needed]} There exist multiple versions of the greeting based on social class, gender, and age.

One speculation is that it comes from Buddhism.^{[citation needed]} After certain prayers, one must clasp their hands together and bring it down towards the ground three times.

[edit] Similar gestures in other countries

In Indonesia, wai like gestures are in use in various parts of the country, including Java (called susunan, Lombok and Bali, where Hinduism and Buddhism had been or still is practiced. Historically in Malaysia and Brunei, it was used to convey thanks or salutations to a patron or higher personage, with the level of the hands raised in accordance with the rank or caste of the individual to whom it was used for.

Although not used as a greeting gesture, similar motions (the clasping of hands in prayer-like motion towards stomach, chest or below chin) are known in the Philippines to convey heartfelt gratitude, and is used by someone towards their benefactor or helper. The strong presence of Hindu-Buddhist cultural influence in the country before the Spanish colonisation links aspects of everyday Filipino culture to those of other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand, where the wai / svasti has also been used either historically or presently, as a greeting or thanking gesture.

[edit] References

Diller, Anthony (1991). "National Identity and Its Defenders". Chap 4 "What Makes Thai A Central Language" ISBN 974-7047-209
Barme, Scot (1993). "Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai Identity" ISBN 981-3016-58-2

[edit] See also

Namaste

Contents

[edit] Origin

[edit] Similar gestures in other countries

[edit] References

[edit] See also