Thai greeting Thai greeting The Thai greeting referred to as the "wai" (, ) consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It has its origin in the Indian "Añjali Mudrā", like the Indian "namaste" and Burmese "Mingalar Par". The higher the hands are held in relation to the face and the lower the bow, the more respect or reverence the giver of the "wai" is showing. The "wai" is traditionally observed upon formally entering a house. After the visit is over, the visitor asks for permission to leave and repeats the salutation made upon entering.
Salutation such as "Prof." or "Acad." are best avoided. An exception is "Dr." for "Doctor", which is still acceptable in the salutation. If the recipient has multiple titles, generally only the most important one is used. For women, it is current practice to use the masculine form of the title, preferring, for instance, "Doamnă Director" instead of "Doamnă Directoare". Note that some titles may lose their intended meaning when used in their feminine form. For instance, "Profesor"/"Profesoară" are titles which may be associated with a male/female school teacher. When used to mean a university professor ("profesor universitar"), however, only the masculine