Dear Hillary,
I have been married to my Thai wife for 10 years. We get by on a pension from the UK, which buys less and less every year. She runs a little Mom and Pop convenience store downstairs, but that isn’t doing too well recently, lucky to cover the rent. Her two younger brothers have moved to Pattaya from Udon and they are staying with us as well and neither one has a job, but all they do all day is lie about the place watching telly. I really don’t like this situation and I told my wife that as things are tough, they should pay rent. She came back saying “I am not a foreigner. They are my blood.” I know the Thai’s keep the family as number one, but surely these two lumps should be looking for a job, instead of eating us out of house and home. How do I handle this, Hillary?
Ron
Dear Ron,
You really do have a problem here, my Petal. The “family” does come first – they learn this from an early age, and the girls are taught that they are there to look after the brothers. You are not going to re-educate your wife, so unhappily, I think you are stuck with this situation. You are married to a Thai woman with a Thai family and living in Thailand. You can try discussing this with her, but you are outnumbered. Learn to live with it, Ron.
