Murray Darling, managing director of Starbucks Coffee (Thailand) offers his advice to expatriates running their businesses in Thailand on how to get past the language barrier to communicate effectively and to make sure their plans are rightly executed.Darling: "First of all, language is a small piece of understanding things. Visual, body language tells you more than language.
"Starbucks is all about human connections and human connections [are] way beyond words. I actually find it almost easier to understand our partners [Starbucks staff] here [than] were I to do in other countries where I do speak [their] languages. Because you can tell from the moment you come to the store and see staff smile or you can also tell when things are not right by the body language.
"In two months, I have been to two-thirds of our stores already. So, spending time with the people in the frontlines and just asking questions.
"As a farang, we like to move fast and come to decisions quickly. I would say: take more time and listen to everybody's advice.
"Don't just listen to people who speak good English. Don't be afraid to let the team talk in Thai and discuss in Thai.
"Use an interpreter when needed. And start to learn some Thai and culture even if that's hard."
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