Abstract:
The objectives of this study were to study Thai characteristics appeared as stickers in the communication application called LINE and the relationship between non-verbal and verbal communication. Data were selected from the LINE stickers in August 2018. It was found that Thai characteristics in non-verbal communication can be categorized into nine categories as follows: (1) Belief: belief in religious, belief in God and belief in ghosts; (2) Tradition: national level and community level; (3) Courtesy: doing praying-hand and doing prostration; (4) Dancing Art: classical dance and regional dance; (5) Music: Thai classical music and Thai regional music; (6) Tool: general tools and local tools; (7) Dressing: informal dressing and formal dressing; (8) Food: famous domestic food and famous international food; (9) Sport and Game: folk games and national sports. Regarding Thai characteristics in verbal communication, it can be categorized as the following four categories: (1) Thai local languages: Northern Thai, Central Thai, Northeastern Thai and Southern Thai; (2) Old Thai language; (3) Spoonerism; (4) Thai idioms: old idioms and modern idioms. In addition, the relationship between non-verbal and verbal communication can be divided into four aspects as follows; (1) non-verbal communication having the same meaning as verbal communication; (2) non-verbal communication clarified by verbal communication; (3) non-verbal communication having opposite meaning with verbal communication; (4) only non-verbal communication appearing in the context. These results may imply that strategies of Thai characteristics presentation have become more international in terms of communication channels. LINE stickers are likely to be simulation and resemblance of face-to-face conversation. This is a new communication method that should be more widely-used in the future.