Recruitment and “Physiognomy”: Why Thailand Must Move Beyond Face-Based Hiring in 2025
Hiring the right people has always been a mix of science, intuition, and culture.
But in Thailand, there’s an extra layer that still appears in many recruitment conversations, even in 2025: โหงวเฮ้ง, or the belief that someone’s physical appearance can predict their personality, luck, career success, or leadership capability.
This practice has deep roots in Chinese tradition. In fact:
- Wu Xing (五行) refers to the Five Elements system (earth, water, wood, fire, metal).
- Mian Xiang (面相) is the traditional face-reading practice used in Chinese communities for centuries.
- Together, these concepts shaped how many older generations in Thailand think about leadership presence and personal “luck.”
Source references:
- Singapore Asia Research Institute – Overview of Mian Xiang
- Britannica – Five Elements Theory (Wu Xing)
But how does this influence recruitment?
As someone who has worked in the executive search industry for almost 18 years, I’ve seen the cultural influence up close.
The Early Years: When Face Reading Showed Up in the Hiring Process
When I began my recruitment career long ago, I was trained on the standard process:
job brief → sourcing → screening → interviewing → assessment → offer.
Straightforward.
But in some organisations, there was a “silent step” no one wrote down:
A final approval based on the candidate’s appearance or “โหงวเฮ้ง.”
The first time I encountered it, I was asked to shortlist only candidates with “leadership eyebrows,” a “strong jawline,” or a “money-attracting nose shape.”
I remember looking at the CVs of outstanding candidates — people with clear achievements, solid experience, and high potential — and thinking:
If this is how the process works, we’re not evaluating talent. We’re evaluating bone structure.
So I made a professional decision early in my career:
If a client required face-reading as part of the recruitment process, I would not take the assignment.
Not because I don’t respect cultural beliefs — culture is part of who we are.
But because a biased method should not override capability, behaviour, and proven results.
Why This Still Matters in 2025
Even today, many companies in Thailand — from SMEs to family businesses — still use physiognomy or “leadership appearance” as a deciding factor.
Sometimes it’s explicit.
More often, it’s hidden under the phrase:
“The candidate doesn’t look strong enough.”
“I don’t feel leadership energy.”
“Something about the face doesn’t match our culture.”
But the impact is real:
- High-potential candidates get overlooked.
- Women and younger professionals are disproportionately affected.
- Introverts or people with softer demeanours get dismissed before proving themselves.
- Companies lose diversity of thought — and innovation drops as a result.
Research worldwide shows the same pattern:
Teams with diverse backgrounds outperform teams selected by similarity or appearance criteria.
Pros and Cons: A Fair Look at the Practice
To be objective, let’s acknowledge both sides.
Pros (Why it historically existed):
- In low-information environments, people relied on intuition and visual cues.
- Leadership perception often comes from presence and confidence (which can be misinterpreted as appearance).
- In relationship-driven markets like Thailand, first impressions do matter.
Cons (The modern reality):
- It creates systematic hiring bias.
- It blocks high-performing talent from entering the organisation.
- It reinforces outdated beliefs and slows down leadership progression.
- It increases employer branding risk among younger generations.
- It ignores evidence-based assessment tools that are far more accurate.
Most importantly:
There is no link between facial features and actual performance, behaviour, integrity, or leadership.
What Thailand’s Future Workforce Really Needs
If Thailand wants to stay competitive — especially in an AI-driven, globalised talent market — our hiring leaders must shift from belief-based selection to:
- Behavioural interviews
- Competency frameworks
- Psychometric assessments
- Skills-based evaluation
- Structured decision-making
- Unbiased selection criteria
When hiring becomes clear, fair, and evidence-driven, everything improves:
- employee retention
- team performance
- innovation
- leadership pipelines
- organisational reputation
And organisations finally stop losing great people for the wrong reasons.
Conclusion: Respect Culture, But Hire With Clarity
Culture matters.
But capability matters more.
Hiring should never be a fortune-telling activity.
It should be a professional discipline grounded in behaviour, performance, and potential — not the shape of someone’s nose or eyebrows.
After nearly two decades in recruitment, one lesson stands out:
You build strong organisations by choosing strong talent — not strong face features.
At APlus Career, we believe in fair, modern, competency-driven recruitment that gives every candidate the chance to be evaluated on what truly matters.
And to the companies still relying on physiognomy today:
The market is changing fast.
The talent you overlook today may be the leader your competitors hire tomorrow.
About Nina Phinnipha Suriyong
With over 15 years in executive search, Nina has placed top talent across industries like manufacturing, automotive, electronics, chemical, retail, and life sciences. She founded APlus Career Recruitment Co., Ltd. in 2022, a boutique agency specializing in recruitment and HR solutions.
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