What Time Is It?

When westerners hear time given on a 24-hour clock, a.k.a. military time, we automatically do a conversion to a 12-hour clock in our minds. So when we hear 17:00, we automatically convert to 5:00 p.m.

Thai people operate on a 6-hour clock, so when they hear time given in 12-hour increments, they convert it to a 6-hour basis. So therefore, it could be 3:00 in the night, 3:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the afternoon, or 3:00 in the evening.

That's why Thai people get so confused when somebody talks in English about late-night hours as 2:00 in the morning. To a Thai person, their 2:00 in the morning is our 8:00 a.m.