love and marriage

I was talking tonight with a mom I tutor for and weddings came up. She said Thais invite everyone they know to their weddings, including coworkers. The average guest list is around 1,000 people.

I can't imagine trying to pay for a soiree like that. But she told me receptions here are more like cocktail parties, since you'd have to sell a kidney to fund a sit-down meal for 1,000 guests.

This mom also said a law was recently passed here saying that women are no longer required to take their husband's last name. She told me more women are opting to keep their last names since the divorce rate is so high (around 50%, like the U.S.). Women don't want to go through the hassle of changing their names, just in case it doesn't work out.

Seems to me you're doomed from the start if you take that attitude.

costs

I'd like to give everyone an idea of what life here costs. Firstly, the Thai currency is called the baht. The going rate is about 35 baht to one dollar.

35฿ will buy you a fresh fruit smoothie.
40฿ will buy a 1.5 gallon bottle of water.
44฿ ($1.25) will buy a dinner of rice and chicken with garlic sauce, plus a glass bottle of water, in the restaurant in my apartment building.
50฿ will get you into the apartment pool, after you've used up your four free visits each month.
60฿, on days when I'm too exhausted to walk for 40 minutes, will buy a ride home from work in a taxi. A good option for splitting between three people.
100฿ gets you into the movies. I haven't done this yet, but I've heard a lot of hearsay and conjecture about the luxuriousness of their theaters compared with ours.
180฿ will buy you a ONE HOUR Thai massage in the massage parlor in my apartment building. Five dollars an hour. Yeah - I know!
900฿ will buy you a nice used cell phone.

Dehydration, sweating, and sunburns, however, are free for the taking.