Hi Merlin.
My take on the girl thing is this. The ultimate would be a western man that she physically liked and actually cared about. Someone that could solve all her problems and that she would be proud to be seen with.
They have brought an amount of shame on themselves (here goes with the 'face' concept) by going to work in Phuket or Pattaya. Catching a big fish, a bloke wealthy enough to build them a house and look after their mum for instance, will go a long way to restoring their reputation.
Of course, young women the world over dream of big weddings with flowers and huge parties; they like the idea of a Mills & Boon romance. They want the happy ending I think, which pretty much makes them the same as me, I like a happy ending too...
I think that they talk about going abroad, but don't really understand that it entails living in a country where everything is different. It seems to come as a real rude awakening when it happens and then they really want to go home to their mum. The family tie should not be underestimated.
To summarise: I believe that to make a Thai girl (any girl?) happy you should be; young, good looking (or at least not circus ugly), wealthy and single, happy to live in the boonies near her mum and willing to pick up every bill that comes onto her radar. Sounds great eh?
Only my opinion though, I could be a million miles wide of the mark. Maybe all you need is love
