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| Behind the Smiles July 2000
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The DBS Bank which owns the Thai Danu Bank for which I work is preparing a corporate video. The video demonstrates the service aspects of the bank and change initiatives underway in 3 countries of which Thailand in one. I had a chance to work with the external Australian producer and the British cameraman for 2 days. There are several tales to share. We spent some time together on the road filming two of the bank's branches and Sanam Luang in front of the Grand Palace. On the road, the Australian producer and the British cameraman discussed the up and coming Bangkok governor election. They noticed the hundreds of candidate posters on every block in the citys. They asked me if the people who put them up would take them down after the end of the campaign. I doubt that. I guess government staff, as always, will do the garbage clearing. In this governor election campaign, there are more male candidates and at least 4 female candidates. As visitors, foreigners often notice things that we just take for granted. "...They are all showing fake smiles...", said my guests. "...They all have the car salesman smile, showing their insincerity...". I wonder if Bangkokians will elect the candidate who has the best car salesman smile to be a governor. I had never noticed that before. But when one takes a closer look at those posters, their smiles are as observed. I then asked them about the female candidates. They said that they looked better and their smiles seemed more sincere. As usual, as the campaign progressed, the citizenry added "creative improvements" to the posters. Samak, the leading candidate was favoured for make up attempts with moustaches attached. Some creative souls also blacked out a couple of his teeth, which made me think that maybe locals as well found the smiles a bit off-putting. As we visited the various Thai Danu branches to film branch managers and customer service staff, we had to use clip microphones in order to capture the voice of each person on film. Most of them were female and there were several times when the producer or the cameraman had to move the clip microphone to the correct place on the shirt. The microphone usually clips in the shirt near the breast, which is considered a sensitive area for Thai women. Thai women feel embarrassed if a male touches their shirt close to "that area". But without any intention, my foreign colleagues did just that. Most of our female managers and staff tried not to show their embarrassment in order to "Hai Kiat" or save the face of our guests. But do be careful - if you do this with other Thai females who know you only as a stranger, they may react angrily. Initially, we wanted to film locations that represented Thailand and gave a "feel" of the culture and environment. Wat Aroon (Temple of Aroon) was selected. On searching for a shooting angle we found a perfect spot at the Royal Navy Club behind the Grand Palace near Pra Arthid pier. However, we needed to get permission from the navy since it was a military area and it would take at least a week to get the paper work done. So, we decided to shoot from Sanam Luang, using the Grand Palace in the distance as an impressive background. Like may activities in Thailand, official approval is required for almost any thing! When filming in Thailand it is always best to check in advance first whether you require any permission papers. Last year, the 20th Century Fox group gave up on filming the controversial film "The King and I", after many months of script revisions and checking and seeking approval for shooting locations - due to the speed and complexities of all the approvals needed. In the end the film was shot on a golf course in neighbouring Malaysia where approval was rushed though. The importance of working with local Thais when doing business in Thailand cannot be overstated. And even then, you may not be able to acheive what you want in given time scales. But at least you will be able to get a good estimate of the time, cost and other constraints of the obstacles than will no less crop at the expected (but mostly unexpected!) times. We do try our best to make people feel welcome, and the Thai smile, (apart from politician's posed smiles maybe), in almost always genuine. Learn to smile like us when things are going wrong. An exasperated, angry, and critical nature will get you nowhere. Generally Thais become very uncomfortable when confronted and rather than doing what you want they will withdraw into their shells and just try to forget you. A smile may not be the way you react to obstacles elsewhere, but in Thailand, it may just get you elected! (Eds Note: Samak Sundaravej, won the Bangkok governor election in a landslide in last weekend's election.)
Kriengsak Niratpattanasai
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| ...from Kriengsak Niratappanasai's Thailand Tales |
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| Kriengsak Niratpattanasai Thai Danu Bank Bangkok Thailand |
| Kriengsak was one of the Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine's earliest columnists and continues to provide some of the most savvy advice on the Net on working in Thailand. His down to earth advice from years of working with falang and locals mixed with local folkstories continues to delight and inform. Click on Kriengsak's picture to learn more about our great friend and colleague. |
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