Pitfalls When Doing Business Abroad

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Eckmar Eckel Group moderator
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Pitfalls in Thailand
Hi @All,

When I moved my engineering office from Munich/Germany to Koh Samui/Thailand in the year 2004, I was able to take my existing customer base with me to Thailand.

So what should go wrong?

Here comes the pitfall:

"Loosing his/her face" is the worst thing for a Thai which could happen to him/her.
I did not know that before!

So I "lost" my first 5 (!!!) employees, because they can not deal with criticism.
Even you tell them behind the door under 4 eyes it does not help.
As soon as you tell them that they have done something wrong, they will not show up anymore the next day...
(Because they have lost his/her face in front of you, so they can not work for you any longer!)
Even they still get some salary from you, they do not come again nor they will answer a phone call from you!

So what is the solution?
The only solution is, that you show them how they can do something better next time than they did it this time.

With this approach you have a chance that they will come again.

So keep in mind the different culture and that keeping his face is the protection shield for Thais.

This is just my personal experience...

Cu,
Eckmar
- 21 Aug 2008, 08:31 am
Eckmar Eckel wrote: > Hi @All, > > When I moved my engineering office from Munich/Germany to Koh > Samui/Thailand in the year 2004, I was able to take my existing > customer base with me to Thailand. > > So what should go wrong? > > Here comes the pitfall: > > "Loosing his/her face" is the worst thing for a Thai which could > happen to him/her. > I did not know that before! > > So I "lost" my first 5 (!!!) employees, because they can not deal > with criticism. > Even you tell them behind the door under 4 eyes it does not help. > As soon as you tell them that they have done something wrong, they > will not show up anymore the next day... > (Because they have lost his/her face in front of you, so they can not > work for you any longer!) > Even they still get some salary from you, they do not come again nor > they will answer a phone call from you! > > So what is the solution? > The only solution is, that you show them how they can do something > better next time than they did it this time. > > With this approach you have a chance that they will come again. > > So keep in mind the different culture and that keeping his face is > the protection shield for Thais. > > This is just my personal experience... > > Cu, > Eckmar
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Pitfalls When Doing Business Abroad

Pitfalls in Thailand