What is the Wai?

Greeting someone in Thailand is a bit different from America, as one travel website explains:

"Every culture has its form of greeting, a way to introduce oneself or to pay formal respects to an elder. In most cases in the western world, the greeting is a handshake.

In Thailand, the ceremony is far more complex because the traditional form of greeting is both formal and polite.  Known as the "Wai" (pronounced "why"), the greeting is actually both warm and charming. In general, the Wai is performed by joining the hands at the palms and raising them to a position somewhere between the chest and forehead. One should be aware of the status of the person being 'wai-ed' for the exact position of holding the palms.

  School is much like home, a place of learning and discipline, consequently children will wai their teachers as they wai their parents and the same goes for employees when meeting their employer and the Thai of all ages and rank respectfully wai to monks. In all cases (the teacher, the employer and the monk) the wai will never be returned. 

In informal gatherings of equals, the wai will also be performed, everyone wai-ing each other but in a relatively casual way, the palms being positioned somewhere in the chest area."

Adults in Thailand "wai" each other.

Children in Thailand also "wai."

Statues, ancient and modern, are also shown "wai-ing."

In Thailand, even Ronald McDonald knows how to "wai!"