So Thai

Recently, a number of people have quit my wife's company. What's notable about it is the way they do it, it’s so Thai.

In the U.S. of course, professional employees generally tend to give two weeks notice before leaving. Here, not only don't some people give advance notice of quitting, they don't even actually notify you that they are quitting at all, rather they just stop showing up for work.

After consulting my expert in all things Thai (i.e., my lovely and talented wife), I realized that there were two reasons for this. First, unlike in the U.S., prospective employers are often not going to call previous employees as a reference. So the "price" of leaving without notice is fairly small, at least for the one leaving.

The other reason boils down to the essence of being Thai; avoiding confrontation. In a much more class conscious society, telling the person who is your boss that you are quitting could be a bit daunting. After all, until you quit, this is a person to whom you show extreme deference. To possibly displease that person with news that you will no longer work for them is a type of confrontation that many Thais would prefer to avoid. So some just stop showing up to work. They will then refuse to pick up the phone to confirm that they have quit.

Of course from my falang perspective, I'd rather just get it over with and tell my boss that I am leaving. Not only am I willing to endure this confrontation, in some ways I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I don't sit and rub my hands together maniacally and laugh, but there is a certain satisfaction in telling your boss that you've effectively "fired" him or her. For a Thai though, its s situation often best avoided.