Running head: GLOBAL CULTURE IN THAILAND 1

Characteristics of Thailand's Culture

Name

Institutional Affiliation
THAILANDS CULTURE 2

Introduction

The Thai community has cultural beliefs that are internet based. Their cultural characters

were virtual by using the assessed six dimensions proposed culture by Hofstede. A sample from

432 members of the Thai community from 18 years of age and above discovered that there was a

three dimension of culture (Masculinity, Indulgence, and Masculinity). The significance in the

context of the viral community made no difference with the other three dimensions (Long-term

Orientation, Power distance, and Uncertainty Avoidance). A virtual community is known for its

social network services and a web-based interface that makes it possible for people to connect

through the internet in activities that involve politics, economics, and designs (Hofstede, 2011).

Internet growth has made the Thai community to believe that they are the same, but

instead, the internet has created global phenomena known as the world culture (Hongladarom,

1999a). Technology, designs, adoption and use of the information technologies have minimized

the cultural differences between countries leading to misinterpretations and understandings. A

culture having a powerful influence has controlled behaviors from local levels to international

levels (Hall, 1983). Hofstede theorized the culture dimension to produce an overview

understanding of society cultures. The aspect involves what people should expect regarding

culture and how they behave towards different cultures from other countries. The Culture was

concerned with the level of the society characterized by the internet in the form where the Thai

people are active. The dimension of culture was critical in assessing the characteristics of the

degree of culture or society. If another organization opens an organization, a few challenges are

likely to be felt. The cultural dimensions determined the following fact;

THAILANDS CULTURE 3

Power distance

Thailand has a norm that concerns the relationship between the lower _ downs

(subordinates) and the higher up (The boss). The relationship based on wealth and power involve

the degree of autocracy and authority. An average organization put a level of respects that creates

a line between the subordinates, and the bosses Thailand is seen different because the emotional

distance between the subordinates and the bosses if of a significant range thus making their

bosses not approachable. The difference also creates a father figure that only gives power to the

top authority to make decisions. The society sees this as controlling rather than a college

referring it as a superior-inferior concept that is considered dominant in the Thai society.

Collectivism vs. individualism

The dimension of individualism and collectivism may not apply in other organizations in

Thailand as these firms seem to have a monopoly type of management. Thailands dimension

describes the relationship between individuals to the groups in the society (Hofstede, 1991). The

relationship is evidence and seen as long-term responsibilities to all family members of their

material belongings. The Thai people are very loyal to each other as they promote healthy

relationships within the organizations. Loyalty constructs a social interest rather than individual

interest, and this helps to support the structures of where people were born and live as families

Masculinity versus Femininity

On the extent of this similarity, mens roles exhibited competition, hardness, and

assertiveness while womens roles were bases towards people, children, and compassion.

Feminist aimed to maintain the cultures of healthy relationships with subordinates, supervisors,
THAILANDS CULTURE 4

and colleagues. The cultures worked against the differences between the genders and beyond

(Marcus and Gould, 2001). Thailand was considered to have the lowest masculinity ranking

among the cities around Asia making it be less competitive and also having differences between

the genders.

Compare and Contrast between Thailand and U.S.A

Thai culture relatively to other worlds culture explores through the lens of the 6-D

Model. Different factors are used to demonstrate the cultural differences between U.S and

Thailand.

Power Dimension

The power distance is the extent where countries with less influential members in an

organization accept the power that is distributed equally by the high-powered organizations. The

power dimension deals with the attitude of all individuals towards the inequalities amongst

everybody. Thailand, in this case, has a higher power dimension with 64 on the PDI Index while

United States has little size power of 40 on the PD Index. Thailand then distributes power to the U.S.

Individualism

Individualism is the fundamental dimension of addressing issues to the society and still

maintaining the degree of independence among the members. It deals with people's image having

the definition of I or We. Individuals in the society were supposed to take care of their direct

families and themselves only. Thailand is a highly collectivist country that has a score of 20 in the PD

Index making it manifest a long-term commitment to either extended families or extended

THAILANDS CULTURE 5

relationships. Thailand societies foster for stronger relationships than in the United States. The

personal relationship in U.S is relatively bad due to its high PD index of 91. The united states tend to

do things on a personal level thus not having the ability to maintain healthy relationships.

Conclusion

The Internet brings homogenization to the local cultures of the world. An investigation

through Thailands culture has interpreted that the language used is medium. Thais Government

and political leaders have created local cultural boundaries like the monolithic culture

(S.Hongladarom, 2006). The Internet has created an umbrella of culture which necessitates

communication among people among different and disparate countries.

THAILANDS CULTURE 6

References

Charnsripinyo, H., & Roongroj, P. (2008). Measuring the Internet Growth in Thailand. 2008

International Symposium on Communications and Information Technologies.

doi:10.1109/iscit.2008.4700212

Hofstede, G., & Fink, G. (2007). Culture: organisations, personalities and nations. Gerhard Fink

interviews Geert Hofstede. European J. of International Management, 1(1/2), 14.

doi:10.1504/ejim.2007.012914

Hongladarom, S. (1999). Global culture, local cultures and the internet: The Thai example. AI

& Society, 13(4), 389-401. doi:10.1007/bf01205985

Marcus, A., & Gould, E. W. (2000). Crosscurrents: cultural dimensions and global Web user-

interface design. Interactions, 7(4), 32-46. doi:10.1145/345190.345238