Thread: Thai Dowries Change With The Times

BANGKOK – One evening I asked my mother how much she would ask for a dowry if I were to get married. (A friend of mine is going to tie the knot this year and it made me curious about what my "bride price" would be.)

"Maybe a million Baht," she said after a pause. A million Baht, or roughly $32,000, should cover a down payment for a 500-square foot condominium in Bangkok or buy me a brand new Toyota Camry.

Unlike India, where the bride’s family pays a dowry to the groom to recognize that he will provide for his wife, in Thailand it’s the other way round. The Thai groom pays "Sin Sod" (or dowry) to prove to the bride’s family that he will be a good provider.

A Thai woman looks at bride dresses during a Wedding Fair in Bangkok.

The dowry usually comprises cash, jewelry, gold or property. The rate varies according to the social status of the two families. For lower-to-middle-class families the dowry can range from $2,000-$50,000, but in a marriage between two more affluent families, the dowry may reach as high as $100,000-$500,000.
When a famous Thai pop singer got engaged to a son of a millionaire late last year, her dowry – cash, diamond rings, and a posh Audi sport car – was worth $3 million.

In Thailand, a dowry is sometimes called a "breastfeeding fee" – a symbolic payment for raising a good daughter who hopefully will also become a good wife.

Thai dowries change with the times - World Blog - msnbc.com

Pay in instalments and use prostitutes.

I have a BIL who payed a deposit and when the child was born renaged on the payments

you can get a hell of a lot of prostitutes for a million Baht

yes 500+
to 2000 depending on avarice

Originally Posted by hillbilly

The dowry usually comprises cash, jewelry, gold or property. The rate varies according to the social status of the two families.

And their greediness, which usually has not much to do with the social status...

Originally Posted by good2bhappy

yes 500+
to 2000 depending on avarice

The budget for the giant room would be a few bob though...

My sinsod was handed back to me immediately after the ceremony as agreed. The money I paid for the party was compensated by the envelopes of cash deposited in to a white box as people entred the party. I paid for a wedding ring for my wife and her dad paid for mine. Apart from the wedding ring and a few incidental costs my wedding wasn't expensive for me despite a party in the Imperial Mae Ping and a large dowry.

Whether I agree with the idea of a sin sod or not is irrelevant. I married a Thai woman in Thailand and it's part of the tradition here. Not everyone follows the tradition, but potential loss of face, an unhappy family relationship and lots of upset people if a farang immigrant decides he wants to throw Thai tradition back into the faces of his future in-laws and wife.

A few years back in the UK I was planning to get married. I was going to foot the bill for everything as her dad couldn't afford a nice wedding reception. I was going to have to sell my house to pay for things. I changed my mind and eventually arrived in Thailand. Smartest move I ever made.

It's up to the groom and his family to negotiate the terms of the marriage and ceremony and if he doesn't like or accept then he can refuse. Plenty of flowers in the garden.

Originally Posted by DaveRobin

My sinsod was handed back to me immediately after the ceremony as agreed.

That's the way it's usually supposed to happen mate, congratulations everything worked out normally for you.

Originally Posted by Texpat

Illusions.

the epitomy of Face

Originally Posted by Texpat

Illusions.

The whole country is built on smoke and mirrors.

Some people live here for years and never see through them.

I told my wife that this Sinsod malarky is a load of bollox and in fact they inherited from the Chinese and now are exploiting it; whether that's true or not she believed me.

I didn't pay a sinsod, in the off chance I loan my money to her family I expect it back.

Never paid it and was never asked for it, if i had been a polite fcuk off would have been my response and i guess they knew that hence never asked.

Originally Posted by gjbkk

you can get a hell of a lot of prostitutes for a million Baht

Sure can, and pay for the cure of 20 cases of whatever infects you with the change. Newver would I hand over my dosh to some Thai family.

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

Newver would I hand over my dosh to some Thai family.

But you do every day you stay in Thailand, and even if you are not in Thailand, with every Thai product you buy.

You should boycott Thai products like the Brits did in the 90's. My Dad still won't buy Israeli oranges.

^Yeah, big hairy Italian legs! No analogy to sweet Thai limbs mate. That's the diff bro.

Originally Posted by EmperorTud

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

Newver would I hand over my dosh to some Thai family.

But you do every day you stay in Thailand, and even if you are not in Thailand, with every Thai product you buy.

You should boycott Thai products like the Brits did in the 90's. My Dad still won't buy Israeli oranges.

If your father boycotts Thai products why does he not buy oranges from Israel?

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Again, just showing off

I can't understand the need to show off. Basically one is lying in making out that they have something the really don't have. The word will get out that the gold/sin sot will be returned after the ceremony so what's the point. I think it's in a Thai nature to not be honest with the truth so perhaps this is why.

Originally Posted by EmperorTud

Originally Posted by DrB0b

My sister got married last year. They held the cermony in a church in Italy. It cost them 15,000 pounds. They'll be in debt for a long while to pay this off, she's a chef, he's a brickie. This kind of expense is not particularly unusual for a full-on xtian wedding. What's the difference? Showing off is human nature.

But they can afford to pay it off and will pay it off.

That it is also done because it is a special day and not specifically to show status is another difference.

I could go on, but the point of my earlier post goes far further than the petty matter of a couple in matrimony, and is obvious as soon as you arrive in Thailand with the magnificent new airport with the leaky roof and the cracked runways that cost the taxpayer an arm and a leg, yet doesn't come close to fulfilling the purpose it is meant to have been for. No matter, it looks rather nice.

Smoke and mirrors. Lies and deceit. The country is built on it.

Errm no, I know them, it was status pure and simple, seen it many times back home. Doesn't take away from the overall rightness of what you say though, can't help but agree that appearance always takes precedence over substance here. Just trying to point out that lies and deceit happen everywhere, maybe it's just more noticeable to us here because we're better at it than them (as in so many other things) and to western eyes asians are grossly unsubtle (they probably think the same about us).

Originally Posted by panama hat

If your father boycotts Thai products why does he not buy oranges from Israel?

'Cos he hates Jews and Thais.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Just trying to point out that lies and deceit happen everywhere, maybe it's just more noticeable to us here because we're better at it than them

That's a boring and facile argument.

Thailand is a country that functions differently than Western countries in that higher levels of deceit and dishonesty are acceptable.

As is a level of self-enforcement when it comes to morals that is not acceptable in the West.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Some things, land-deeds and gold, were just for show and went back to their owners afterwards.

This seems to be the preferred way in the
area surrounding CMai