Talk:Thai greeting

Origin

In the current version of the origin, it states the purpose of the wai was to show that one was unarmed. Might the wai come from the Indian namaste? The gesture is similar, and I know Indian culture greatly influenced Thailand in many other ways. Showeropera (talk) 18:31, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Added a template indicating that the Origin section needs a rewrite. It reads as independent research. There are multiple statements that need a proper source, and the one source provided at the end is no longer available. The wayback machine does have the original intended content available, but even then it doesn't provide a clear way to support the statements in the Origin section. As such, a rewrite is needed with proper sources provided. Antiaverage (talk) 16:48, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

There is supporting evidence on http://www.thailandsworld.com/en/thai-people/thai-wai-greeting/index.cfm for Showeropera's above comment. To quote the evidence:

The Wai is common in Southeast Asia in the Buddhist countries of Cambodia and Laos. It is not a religious practice but can be part of rituals in religious observance. Southeast Asia was subjected to a process of Indianisation and so probably the Wai has its origins in the Indian practice of "Namaste." This is a similar gesture common in Nepal and India and apart from being a social gesture is also a symbol of respect and even foreigners can automatically see that it is a gesture of respect. . Here also it is not only a religious gesture, but a social one also. However it also reflects religious or spiritual meaning.

It would be nice to find a primary source for this information. Antiaverage (talk) 16:57, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Script

Can we include how this word is written in Thai? Widsith 08:51, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

-Included that Sawasdee is actually pronounced "Sawatdee". 151.199.43.2 (talk) 03:04, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

• "สวัสดี" spelling "sawasdee", but pronounced "sawaddee" (สะ-หวัด-ดี). --Love Krittaya (talk) 02:34, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Sawasdee is the name of the on-board magazine of Thai Airways. It is a wrong transcription of สวัสดี! The "ส" at the beginning of a syllable is pronounced as "s", but at the end of a syllable as "t". This is common with many letters of the Thai alphabet. If this aspect of the Thai Alphabet is not used for transcribing, then the spelling should be "swasdee", because no "a" is written between the "s" and the "w" at the beginning of the word. So I think that RTGS should be used (see: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Thailand-related articles), and sawatdi be made the spelling of the word in the article. Also should be mentioned that sawatdi is almost always followed by "kha" if spoken by a female and by "khrap" if spoken by a male. --FredTC (talk) 09:17, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

Requested move 8 December 2015

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

No consensus to move. bd2412 T 16:54, 27 December 2015 (UTC)

Thai greeting → Wai (gesture) – A new article was recently created at Wai (gesture) and redirected here according to the outcome of this AfD. However, it led me to think that Wai (gesture) would appear to be the better title for this article, as it is more specific. The word สวัสดี, I think, is quite distinct from the gesture, and deserves its own treatment; it can be split into a new article. Paul_012 (talk) 07:22, 8 December 2015 (UTC) --Relisted. BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 02:32, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

• Oppose; While I agree with the awkwardness of the current title there are several problems with this move request.

Per WP:UE; on english wikipedia the convention is to prefer english titles for articles.

Per WP:COMMONNAME; trends search data indicates that 'Thai wai' is only marginally more common than 'Thai greeting' and that 'Wai greeting' and 'Wai gesture' don't even register on search queries.

Per WP:PARENDIS: Parenthetical disambiguation should only be used when none of the other solutions lead to an optimal article title, to make the title less ambiguous. This new title you are proposing is, if anything, more ambiguous that the current one.

Per WP:OTHERNAMES; I'm going to say that the optimal article title is probably "Thai greeting (wai)" or Wai (Thai greeting)", and that parenthetical disambiguation is necessary to make the article tile less ambiguous, but not in the way that this move request suggests. I'd support a move to "Thai greeting (wai)" or Wai (Thai greeting).  InsertCleverPhraseHere ^{InsertTalkHere}  03:59, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Split suggestion

The gesture is used for much more than just a greeting. It is used to worship, pay respects, offer prayers, etc. The word "sawatdee" (this appears to be the most common spelling in general English sources) itself has a distinct history of its own, and warrants separate discussion. This article should be split into Wai (gesture) (I still think this is the best title, despite the above poorly attended move request), covering the gesture and its uses in Thai culture, and Sawatdee, covering the word, its history, uses, etc. The other cultures section should be moved into a worldwide overview article, probably Anjali mudra, which could also be split from the Namaste article (though let's save this for a later discussion). --Paul_012 (talk) 07:31, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

I spent a year living in a town in northeast Thailand, and used the wai everyday. This article is excellent as is and splitting it would only confuse. I believe everyone here should get used the gesture instead of the new ridiculous bumping, grinding, dancing routines. It looks like something out of "Saturday Night Live." I am using the gesture and receive smiles of acknowledgment and a smile. I see it on occasion of government officials in newscasts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Irishpappy (talk • contribs) 13:28, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

I don't quite follow why "splitting it would only confuse." Care to elaborate? --Paul_012 (talk) 18:39, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Create Sawatdee in draft space (I understand the historical significance) and see if it stands alone. If not, split can't be justified.Johncdraper (talk) 11:05, 28 August 2020 (UTC)