Expat Wives in Thailand

Expat Wives in Thailand

We all know that the male Expats settle down well here in Thailand, but what of the wives and partners? I for one have only recently found the PILC, but prior to this, I found Thailand to be a pretty lonely place for the Ferang female.

On our arrival, it was great, the best thing we ever did, but after the first six months, once the novelty had worn off and I’d shopped myself silly, I began to wonder what else was in it for me. My husband loved it then and still does today, but then he always did liked sitting with a beer in his hand doing nothing all day and night.

If we are not spending time together relaxing at home, we go to a bar where we have made friends, but all these friends are male, with Thai woman, mostly from the bars. A percentage of people we have met are married to Thai women so the majority of them can speak a bit of English although some are still hard to understand.

These days, I do not follow my husband to the bars, as I find it totally boring sitting there amid cigarette smoke which makes me physically ill being an asthmatic and listening to the guys bullshit each other, talk incessantly of football, books, films and their conquests since being here, some I might add, in graphic detail.

I have sat there in the beginning, people watching and believe me there are some strange people, but mostly, I watch the Thai girlfriends who do not speak much English if any, sitting there all night, sometimes four to six hours with no one to talk too, bar the staff, who if busy do not have time to stop and chat and if there are available men in the bar, they don’t want to spend their time making idle chit chat with other females be it Thai or otherwise. Also, I am not a great drinker so again, sitting sober whilst everyone around you are drunk and loud is not my idea of fun.

So, unless a female joins these clubs and activities, which I might add is not cheap, what else is there? Not a lot unless one wants to sit in the cinema, go bowling or shopping, sun bathe till the cancer cells mount up. Joining these clubs is not really my idea of fun, but at least one gets to practice your own language instead of talking in pigeon English, which I find myself doing to any one that happens to speak to me.

Am I the only one here that feels this way or are there other females out there. Perhaps I am just strange, I feel like I’m stagnating.

Patty Brown