Tim Cook Visits Bangkok, Thailand to Meet With Photographers, Students and WWDC Scholarship Winners

[Glockworkorange]

In this context, that’s how you greet and respect people politely in Thailand.

He does it when he opens WWDC. He does it ALL THE TIME. Prayer sign and half bow.

 

[Rene Bos]

I can’t stand that praying hand gesture that he always does. I guess it’s supposed to mean thank you or show gratitude and appreciation but it’s annoying.

...and that is why Mr. Cook is CEO of Apple and you are not. You have clearly never been to Thailand (probably never further East than Atlantic City) , nor do you seem interested in what constitutes a commonly expected respectful greeting there. And what makes you think anyone cares what you think of how Mr. Cook greets his hosts in a foreign country?
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He does it when he opens WWDC. He does it ALL THE TIME. Prayer sign and half bow.

It shows him greeting and respecting the audience in a modest and civilised manner. Anything wrong with it? Get a life!

 

[danny842003]

I can’t stand that praying hand gesture that he always does. I guess it’s supposed to mean thank you or show gratitude and appreciation but it’s annoying.

He’s in Thailand it’s a local custom, think of it as shaking hands.

 

[iRutherford]

First off, the article has a typo. it’s WAT Arun, not WAY Arun. Wat == temple.

As for the gesture Tim makes, it’s a wai, and while it does make sense in this setting, it’s really not typical or expected of foreigners who don’t know its significance and look stupid and awkward doing it 99.9999% of the time.

The degree to which it is executed and when and to whom is a measure of respect and authority, particularly how high the hands are raised and how low the head bowed.

Sounds way too demanding. I'll just stand up with my hands in my pocket.

 

[itsamacthing]

My dinner here in Bangkok last night. Had a Singha with 2 Michelin stars 🙂

You don’t greet everyone here with a Wai (putting your hands together with a slight bow) - that’s reserved for showing respect like seeing wife’s parents, meeting the new boss for the first time, something to do to your special customers, meeting someone in the royal family. And there are many variances of how to Wai, how deep you bow, how and where you position your hands in relation to your face, etc.

Tim might keep his hands together to manage nervous hands? I always find it annoying when i’m in the states and people “wai”

It’s late, but nice to see Apple paying attention to SE Asia, i ordered my fully loaded Macbook Pro on Apple.com, delivering on Monday to my home in Bangkok, so awesome not to have to deal with some ****** reseller

 

[tommysiamese]

Nothing is wrong with him doing "wai". In an interview with a local Vlogger, he did mention;

"Yeah, there is the kindness here that everyone shows everyone else. There is a dignity and respect that has become so rare around the world and I feel that and I just wanna stay here for a very long time."

 

[faust]

Bad hand man make me bad, smash! smash! awwarghhhhhhhhh

 

[citysnaps]

I can’t stand that praying hand gesture that he always does. I guess it’s supposed to mean thank you or show gratitude and appreciation but it’s annoying.

Why sweat over the little stuff that causes you unhappiness from what another person does?

You're giving Mr. Cook too much power over your life.
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And I share the point of a poster above about the gesture could be the way the culture there respect each other. I mean are people here so dense in their hatred towards Tim Cook to the point that they are dismissing a respected culture as “annoying”? I’m just baffled.

see above

 

[Glockworkorange]

Why sweat over the little stuff that causes you unhappiness from what another person does?

You're giving Mr. Cook too much power over your life.
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see above

It’s possible to find someone’s actions to be grating without giving them “power over your life.” It’s an observation.

 

[dogslobber]

Tim loves a good photo op.