Thai Engagement Ceremony
January 3, 2008
Question: Exactly how and when to get engaged is not clear to me. Is this simply between the man and woman, or is it customary for the bride’s parents to be involved?
Answer: It is definitely customary for the bride’s parents to be involved in the engagement, however a Thai engagement is much different from what we are used to in the west. Thai’s have a ceremony for the engagement which is called thong mun in Thai. This literally means “gold giving” and that is exactly what the ceremony is, the prospective groom gives gold to his fiancee.
Thai’s do not typically give diamond rings as a promise of engagement, but have historically given gold instead. Of course, almost every foreigner that I know how is engaged or married to a Thai girl has given her girl a diamond ring and the ladies really seem to like it. So, you may want to go with both.
The engagement ceremony is normally attended by friends and family and can be done in advance of the wedding ceremony or can even be done right before the marriage ceremony. When giving the gold it must be an even number of baht (a baht is the unit of measure for Thai gold. One baht = 1/2 troy ounce). The gold is usually in the form of necklace or bracelet.
I hope this was helpful and wish you all the best with your Thai girlfriend or fiancee.
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Thai New Year Songkran Festival or Water Festival
January 2, 2008
With the new year upon us here in the west it puts me in mind of the Thai New Year which is known as the Songkran Festival or Water Festival. Thailand has a different calendar than the Gregorian calendar we use in the West and the traditional Thai New Year and Songkran festival falls on April 13th to the 15th.
Historically Songkran was a time to visit and pay respect to elders. A symbolic small amount of scented water would be poured on the elders hands or shoulders as a cleaning practice. In recent times all but the most traditional of people have forgone this practice.
Among Thai’s Songkran is still a time to visit family and friends and many Thai’s will return to their hometown for this festival. In addition, it is considered to be a time for cleansing. The cleansing is thought to bring prosperity and good luck for the new year. People do this by throwing water on Buddha images and also on each other! As I’m sure you can imagine this is the best and most fun aspect of Songkran!

If you have the good fortune to be in Thailand during Songkran you’ll see that everyone gets into the action. Buckets, water bottles and squirt guns of all sizes are used to douse as many people as possible with water. Of course it is all in fun and if you gently tell someone “mai na khrap” they will generally leave you alone.
During the day you will see trucks roaming the streets full of people and water barrels literally drenching people as they drive by. I have been splashed by groups of children as I ride by on my motorbike, by men in suits, by old ladies and even by the girl behind the counter at the 7-11. You’re not safe anywhere, but it all in good fun and everyone laughs and has a great time!

Bangkok is typically quite deserted during Songkran as everyone has left to visit their homes. The biggest (and longest) celebration of Songkran is in the north in Chiang Mai where they have beautiful parades, a Miss Songkran pagent and Songkran has been known to go on for weeks if not the entire month of April. Celebrations in the northeast or Issan region or Thailand are also very lively as many of Bangkok’s citizens come from Issan originally.

While Songkran is observed in other parts of SE Asia such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, nowhere has it gained the reputation and size like it has in Thailand. If you’re planning a trip to Thailand around March/April I highly recommend that you stay for Songkran Festival, I know you won’t regret it!
Has anyone else experienced Songkran Festival outside of Bangkok? I haven’t yet and I would love to hear from you what it was like so please leave a comment.
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How Well Can Thai’s Speak English?
December 31, 2007
I hope that English is not unusually difficult for a Thai person to learn, especially when motivated. Are there special courses available for this here in the
Answer: Have you tried to learn any Thai yet? If you have you will know how difficult it is. English is just as hard for a Thai person to learn in my experience. The languages are so completely different that it is impossible to form a common frame of reference. Grammar, sentence structure and etymology for the languages are so far apart that there is no common reference like there would be for you and I learning a Romance language or for a Thai person learning an Asian language. It may be getting better for younger Thai’s as English is now taught from a young age at many of the Thai schools.
I am not aware of any special classes available here specifically for Thai’s, however you can find ESL classes at your local universities usually and there are other non-profit’s that do ESL tutoring. Check with your local
The best way is to have your girlfriend start taking classes now in
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Income for Women in Thailand
December 29, 2007
This is the first in a series of posts answering questions that were posed to me by an American man who met a Thai girl on a Thai internet dating site. Hopefully these will be of help to others in the same or a similar situation.
Question: I asked about my Thai girlfriend’s work and learned that she works a 40 hour week. But I think she said her income was 10,000 Baht per month. That seems impossibly low to me. Can this be true?
Answer: Yes 10,000 Bt a month is a typical salary for many jobs in
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Speaking of Thai Food
November 3, 2007
As I said in a previous post you’ll want to learn at least a small amount of Thai words for food unless you plan on eating Pad Thai and fried rice for your entire stay in Thailand. I like pad thai and fried rice as much as the next person, but not everyday for weeks.
Thai food words:
Rice = Kao
Shrimp = goong
Pork = moo
Chicken = gai
Beef = neua
Duck = bped
Watermelon = tangmo
Pineapple = subparod
Coconut = ma-prao
Orange = som
Lime = ma-now
Banana = gluoy
Speaking Thai in the restaurant:
Thai Spicy Grilled Beef = Neua Naam Tok
Chicken with rice = khao mun khai
Omelette = kai jee-o
Fried Vegetables = pad pak
Tomato Chili with Pork = Naam Prik Oog
Chicken cook in Spicy Basil = Khapraew Gai
Papaya Spicy Salad = som tum
Fried Chicken Wings = Peek Gai tod
Chicken Fried with Cashew Nuts = kai phat met mamuang himmaphan
Spicy Lemongrass Soup with Shrimp = tom yum goong
Coconut Soup with Soybeans = Lon Dtao Jieow
Red Pork with rice = khao moo dang
Eat here = gin tee nee
Take away = glub baan
Clear the table please = geb jaan khrap/ka
Hopefully this selection of Thai words will make your stay in the Kingdom of Thailand a little more palatable. There are so many delicious foods to be eaten that you definitely want to experience as much as possible and by learning a little bit of the language you’ll be able to get away from the same same dishes that all the tourists to Thailand are eating.
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