Japanese corporate culture and its dynamics in Thailand : a case study of Thaniya area

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the dynamics of Japanese corporate culture in Thailand through the case study of the Thaniya entertainment area in Bangkok. This thesis discusses how Japanese corporate culture with emphasis on settai, or corporate entertainment, merges with the Thai sex industry and played the most decisive role in the development of the Thaniya entertainment area. Based on documentary studies on Japanese corporate culture and the Thai sex industry, this thesis conducts an empirical study of the Thaniya entertainment area, and attempts to explore the actual conditions and the problems reflecting each of the two conditions and unique features as a result of a particular pattern of continued interaction. As for the empirical study, three groups of persons were investigated: 1) a total of 230 Japanese customers whom a Japanese resident officer escorted to Thaniya karaoke houses were observed; 2) 40 Thai hostesses were informally interviewed; furthermore, 3) key informants of the area, a Japanese manager of a karaoke house and a Japanese tour operator both working for several years in Bangkok . The findings of the study have revealed that particular aspects of Japanese corporate culture are evidently reflected in the area. It is also clear that although Thaniya was established not directly to respond to the demands for Japanese corporate culture in Bangkok, the area has gained momentum to be developed as a convenient district for settai during the growth of Japanese business there, and merged with the favoring conditions from the Thai sex industry. These conditions have evidently contributed to the growth and special characteristics of the area, including the peculiar business styles of some establishments there. However, the long recession of Japanese economy has triggered great changes in Japanese corporate culture based on lifetime employment and radical reduction of settai expenses. These effects have already produced visible changes in Thaniya business.