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 Indic

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

 Añjali Mudrā

Añjali Mudrā

Añjali Mudrā or Pranamasana is a hand gesture which is practiced throughout Asia. It is used as a sign of respect and a greeting in India and amongst yoga practitioners and adherents of similar traditions...

, like the Indian namasté

Namaste

Namaste is a common spoken valediction or salutation originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is a customary greeting when individuals meet, and a valediction upon their parting. A non-contact form of salutation is traditionally preferred in India and Namaste is the most common form of such a...

and the Cambodian

Culture of Cambodia

The culture of Cambodia has had a rich and varied history dating back many centuries, and has been heavily influenced by India. Throughout Cambodia's long history, a major source of inspiration was from religion...

 sampeah

Sampeah

The Sampeah is a Cambodian greeting or a way of showing respect. It is very similar to the Thai wai and the Indian Añjali Mudrā/namasté. While performing the sampeah, the person places his palms together in a prayer-like fashion while bowing slightly...

. 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 entering formally a house. After the visit is over, the visitor asks for permission to leave and repeats the salutation made upon entering. The wai is also common as a way to express gratitude or to apologise.

The word often spoken with the wai as a greeting or farewell is sawasdee . This word was coined in the mid-1930s by Phraya Upakit Silapasan of Chulalongkorn University

Chulalongkorn University

Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...

. This word, derived from the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 svasti (meaning "well-being"), had previously been used in Thai only as a formulaic opening to inscriptions. The strongly nationalist government of Plaek Pibulsonggram

Plaek Pibulsonggram

Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...

 in the early 1940s promoted the use of the word sawasdee amongst the government bureaucracy as well as the wider populace as part of a wider set of cultural edicts

Thai cultural mandates

The Cultural Mandates or State Decrees were a series of 12 edicts issued between 1939 and 1942 by the government of Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram during his first period as Prime Minister and military dictator of Thailand. The mandates aimed to create a uniform and "civilized" Thai culture...

 to modernise Thailand.

Origin

The wai originated from an ancient greeting that was done to show neither individual had any weapon

Weapon

A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

s. There exist multiple versions of the greeting based on social class

Social class

Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

, gender

Gender

Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

, and age.

The gesture may come from Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, which sometimes involves prostration

Prostration (Buddhism)

A prostration is a gesture used in Buddhist practice to show reverence to the Triple Gem and other objects of veneration.Among Buddhists prostration is believed to be beneficial for practitioners for several reasons, including:*an experience...

, or clasping the hands together and bowing to the ground.

Similar gestures in other countries

In Indonesia, wai like gestures are in use in various parts of the country, including Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 (called susunan

Sunan (Indonesian title)

Sunan is the shorter version of "Susuhunan", both used as an honorific in Java Indonesia.According to Hamka in his book Dari Perbendaharaan Lama the word derived from a Javanese word for position of hands in reverential salutation, done with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers...

), Lombok

Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...

 and Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, where Hinduism and Buddhism is or has been widely practiced.

In Malaysia and Brunei

Brunei

Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, it was historically used to convey thanks or salutations to a patron or higher personage, with the hands raised to a level in accordance with the rank or caste of the individual to whom it was directed. It is still used in the presence of Malaysian or Bruneian royalty.

Although not used as a greeting gesture, similar gestures (the clasping of hands at the stomach, chest or chin) are known in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 to convey heartfelt gratitude to a helper or benefactor, especially if that benefactor's social status is above that of the one who is assisted. This has its origins in the pre-Hispanic and pre-Islamic Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

-Buddhist beliefs and customs of the area. It is still used as a salutation before and after the pangalay

Pangalay

Pangalay in is the traditional “fingernail” dance of the Tausūg people of the Sulu Archipelago and Sabah....

 dance of the Tausug and Bajau

Bajau

The Bajau or Bajaw , also spelled Bajao, Badjau, Badjaw, or Badjao, are an indigenous ethnic group of Maritime Southeast Asia...

peoples of the Sulu Archipelago.