DOI: 10.14457/tu.the.2016.1492
title: Intercultural analysis on the perceptions of krengjai among Thai and non-Thai employees in academic workplaces

description: The term krengjai (to be considerate) is frequently claimed to represent a Thai social value which is reflected in Thais' daily behaviors. Over the last decade, globalization and the integration of South-east Asian nations into ASEAN Community has accelerated international mobilization, cross-regional collaboration, as well as intercultural exchanges within various organizations especially educational institutions. Nowadays, several universities in Thailand increasingly offer international study and research programs to meet up this regional trend with international standard. Therefore, staff and faculties from diverse cultures are employed to fulfil such an international standard requirement. This diverse group of intercultural employees has to encounter daily interactions in their workplace inevitably involving how to behave krengjai manner with their colleagues. Interestingly, krengjai can affect the quality of communication and subsequently the professional relationship of the interlocutor. The purpose of the present study was to examine how krengjai –its English definitions and effects on communication and professional relationship is perceived in multicultural environment. To investigate the perceptions towards krengjai, a mixed methodology was implemented. A combination of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the preliminary sources of primary data for this combined method. The participants (subjects) were Thai and non-Thai employees (staff and faculty members) from an international study program of two Thai state (government) universities. The questionnaires were collected with 201 Thais 33 Westerners and 8 Easterners. Then, 2 participants, in total of 6, from each group were chosen to participate in an in-depth interview.The findings of this study revealed that Thai and non-Thai participants provided both similar and different English definitions of krengjai from which “consideration” or “being considerate” is mostly used to interpret the term. In addition, there was no explicitly direct relationship with nationality to definitional similarity or difference on krengjai. The investigation on perceptions of krengjai effects on communication and professional relationship showed that most Thai and non-Thai participants agreed with negative effects of krengjai on communication, whereas positive effects on professional relationship. However, the qualitative findings showed that the value of krengjai binary effects was based on context and therefore perceived otherwise. The analysis of relationship between nationality and perceptions towards krengjai revealed further that the Western participants had the highest percentage of negative perceptions towards krengjai, following with Eastern and Thai participants.  The study concludes that the interpretation of krengjai is based on personal experiences of participants, respectively influencing their different level of perceptions. In response, Thai and non-Thai employees should be aware of the subjective interpretation of krengjai. Moreover, any assumption of similarity/difference based on nationality can deteriorate the quality of communication and personal relationships when krengjai is displayed. To create multicultural understanding and thus a healthy and professional working environment, a workplace should initiate intercultural training session which entails a complete conceptual picture of krengjai. An open forum could also encourage discussion on specific issues relevant to the practice of krengjai at workplace.