From our Vice-President:

Dear Ladies,

There are people you meet in life that you will automatically take a liking to.  Perhaps it is their smile, their warm handshake, the way they greet you with a kind word.  Whatever it is, you instantly feel welcomed into their world.  In my life, one such person is Peggy Wragge.

I remember when I first met Peggy and thinking “here is someone I could really, really like”.  Sure enough, I was right.  The following should explain to you the reasons why:

Connie:   Where do you come from in the U.S.?  What brought you to Pattaya; give us your first impression of Pattaya.

Peggy:   I was born in the U.S., in Michigan, just north of Detroit.  I was raised on an island at the mouth of Lake Erie.  I’m always quick to tell people, though, that Texas is my home, and has been since 1980.  I love everything about Texas.  But, when Ralph came home one day and asked how I felt about moving overseas on business, the wanderer in me, that is always just below the surface, kicked in and we found ourselves living in Israel about 6 months later.  3 1/2 years after that, we had a choice of going on assignment in either Saudi Arabia or Thailand.  Duh — and here we are, 14 years later.

It was so exciting when we first got here.  Everything was so inexpensive, the people were so nice, everywhere was so green (all of this in comparison to Israel).  Then the financial crash hit one year later.  Prices jumped up alarmingly.  I discovered that the smiles on the local faces were hiding a lot of different feelings, not all of them good.  And the green–well the constant heat and humidity has a lot to do with that.

Connie:   Tell us about Ralph and your “family”.

Peggy:   Ralph is a really good man with a strong sense of fairness.  He is kind and sensitive.  Unfortunately, not many people get to see that side of him, as he suffers, like many expat men it seems, with an overwhelming and unrelenting addiction to work.  He is the Technical Manager at Guardian Industries, a world-wide flat glass manufacturer.  Based out of Rayong, his job is to aid company facilities all over the world, so most of the time he spends traveling.

Almost 3 years ago, the world as we knew it changed when we acquired 2 Shih-Tzu puppies, Maggie and Sophie.  They are the happiest dogs and they’re our children, and woe to anyone who tries to tell us different.

Connie:   Tell us about your PILC activities and involvement.

Peggy:   A good friend of mine, Sharon Tibbitts, was PILC president around the time that Ralph and I were moving from Burapha Golf into Pattaya.  I’d avoided the PILC up until then, thinking that I had no place in a “ladies club”.  I was not a “lady who lunched”.  Well, it turns out, I am!!  Sharon persuaded me to join, and before I knew it, they needed someone to oversee the Used Books sales.  I did.  After that I just kind of fell into things.  I did newsletter distribution, helped with Raffle Ticket sales at the Bazaar, chaired the Trips and Activities, helped with the Garage Sale, joined others in getting the Library up and running, joined the book club, the bowling team, visited the orphanage, and made lots of friends along the way.  Currently I’m keeping the PILC website updated, making the Book~Keepers to sell at our functions in order to help support Dek Dee Nursery, and chairing the Trips and Activities again.

Connie:   Favourite hobbies/interests/sports?

Peggy:   Besides making the Book~Keepers, I also like to cross stitch, although I haven’t had time for that since I’ve had the dogs.  I’ve always had a keen interest in race cars, and am a die-hard Formula 1 fan.  I love reading, especially murder mysteries, and am a huge fan of Patricia Cornwell.  There are a lot of sports that I’m crazy about, but don’t really excel in any one thing.  My age is starting to limit my activities, as does this climate, but I still love to camp, fish, travel, kayak, anything on the water really, bowl and golf, darts and pool (both billiards and swimming), and my one claim to fame is being the first woman in Thailand to obtain an Ultralight Pilot’s license.

Connie:   How did you and Gillian Thom meet and click?

Peggy:   I was helping to host the PILC Newcomer’s Meeting at Casa Pascal when Gillian attended as a newcomer to Pattaya.  In talking we found that we lived in the same community, right around the corner from each other.  And the rest is history, we were NBFs.  We’re an unlikely pair in that we’re so different from one another.  But, with as much tact as either of us can muster, and a lot of patience on both sides, it works.  She’s like a sister to me.

Connie:   Tell us about your world travel experiences.

Peggy:   This is really a tough question because I do have so many wonderful memories that are dear to me.  But I’d have to say that everyone should try to visit Petra in Jordan.  This is also the mental snapshot that is always not far from the surface of my memory:

We were on horseback, riding just outside the entrance to the huge crevasse, or siq, that leads to the beautiful city of Petra.  From behind us we could hear thundering hoofs, and I didn’t want to look back in case my horse was about to be spooked.  As they passed, I saw that it was two Arab youths racing their horses at a flat out gallop.  The boy closest to me had on cotton pants and shirt, his elbows flapping high at his sides to urge his horse on.  A dark cotton jacket was unzipped and billowing in the wind of the race, as was the keffiyeh he wore on his head.  It was so thrilling, and so in the place and time — I remember the colors, the sounds, the smells, like it was just a moment ago.  (And anyone who knows my memory at all, knows how astounding that is!).

Connie:   If there is one thing you would like us to know about Peggy, what would it be?

Peggy:   That I am not cool, aloof, or stuck-up, as are common misconceptions about me.  The fact is that I am shy, and now that my memory is getting worse, it makes it all the harder to try to be less so.

Connie:   Peggy, just for the heck of it, what is your favorite cocktail?

Peggy:   In my lifetime, I’ve gone through a lot of different favorite drinks, but most consistently I fall back on a Rootbeer Float.  It’s made with milk (or cream), Galliano, and coke.  I’ve never really liked the taste of alcohol, and this drink really does taste just like a rootbeer float!

I would like to say “Thank You Peggy” for taking the time to allow us to know you just a little bit better.  It’s been a pleasure interviewing you.  You are such a delight.

Connie Kwok