Dear Hillary,
I have come to the conclusion that for a Thai woman, a watch is merely a fashion statement, and nothing to do with telling the time, which it seems they are genetically unable to do. Hillary, is it that they don’t know how to read the time from a watch, or what is it? My Thai wife is perfect in almost every way, other than being able to be on time. My foreigner friends all tell me they have the same problem with their women. There must be some answer. What is it? I get tired of hanging around, waiting for my “timeless” wife.
Punctual Pete
Dear Punctual Pete,
There are many aspects of life in Thailand that are perplexing for the farang mind, and many of these you might just have to accept as the price of living in this country and having a Thai wife who is “almost perfect in almost every way” (quoting your email to me). The western man is raised in a culture which places great stock on being “on time”, but does it really matter? Will the world stop still if you are late? Of course not. The Thai culture accepts that “time” is merely an indication, not some part of an exact scientific measurement. You will not change your wife I’m afraid, but you can tell her to ring you and give you an estimate on when she will arrive, as a compromise.
