Thailand study abroad student adjusts to a slower pace of life
By Ricardo Estrada Davila ’23, USAC Chiang Mai, Thailand
There is a thing in Thailand called Thai Time. It’s a very big part of Thai culture and it’s something I didn’t fully understand at first. But during the USAC Orientation, we were warned about it.
In this part of the world, schedules are sort of a suggestion. When your teacher says, “It’s time for a ten-minute break,” they can return anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour later. When you agree to meet a friend at noon, they may show up sometime around noon. It’s rarely at the exact time you set up with them.
It’s not disrespectful or unkind — it’s just a different way of living. Flexible timelines and changing plans are received with a smile. People are very understanding of delays, but there are always exceptions of course. If class is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the United States, the instructor begins talking whether you’re there or not. In Thailand, scheduled times have more of a grace period around them.
Initially, I was a bit stressed by Thai Time. I’d schedule meetups with friends and would wonder where they were, if something happened, or that I had the wrong time or location. In reality, it was just the Thai Time difference. I always had the right time and place, but to them, it was just supposed to be more of a time range rather than an exact meeting time.
This loose approach to time management is not something I can really do here in the United States, where being on time is a part of how we show respect. However, this cultural nuance taught me a lot. I’m a lot more relaxed and understanding about scheduling now. If someone is late or something is delayed, it’s just something that happens. People don’t do usually do it on purpose or to be disrespectful, and my experience in Chiang Mai taught me to be more forgiving and flexible in that regard.
Now, as I learned in Thailand, I just respond to delays with a smile and we go about doing whatever it was we were going to do without any hurt feelings.
