Cultural challenges and cultural adaptation between Thai and Indian employees in the hotel industry

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify the cultural challenges Thai employees encountered when working with Indians, as well as how they adapted to work together. 8 Thais and 2 Indians from the hotel are chosen to participate in a faceto-face interview using a probing technique to inquire about their experiences working in a cross-cultural community. The qualitative data were analyzed to answer our research question. The result of the study revealed that the difficulties Thai workers in the hotel faced while dealing with Indians can be divided into two categories: communication and working style. The accent and fluency in English of Indians is one of the communication challenges. Another barrier to communication is nonverbal language, which can lead to misunderstanding. In terms of working style, Thai employees discovered that the Indian culture's hierarchy affected Indians' working behaviors and the way Indians viewed people, causing Thai employees feel uncomfortable to work with in certain circumstances. However, as a result of the learning and adaptation process, both Thais and Indians can perform more efficiently.