Expect delays. Be happy.

The State Railways of Thailand are reminiscent of the state of the nation in a few ways. Both are a little decrepit and could do with a bit of an overhaul, but generally still work reasonably well. The Railways are one of the more obvious manifestations of heavy state involvement in the economy.

And the ubiquitious delays provide a glimpse of local attitudes to time and life. The trains here set off on time, but generally arrive late. The Express train from Bangkok to Nong Khai arrived an hour late. The train back arrived an hour-and-a-half late. The Rapid train due to arrive after that from Denchai was three hours late. But nobody ever really complains. Nobody, except noisy, short-tempered farangs (and Chinese.) Why bother getting worked up? It's only a train. It's not worth losing your temper for.

Applied in moderate doses, that makes a lot of sense. Don't you think?