Thai wedding : gift
If you are invited to a Thai wedding your first question will probably be what to wear to the wedding? But your next question will be what is a proper gift to a Traditional Thai wedding? In Western countries it is common to give actual gifts, but in Thailand it is more common to give the newlyweds money.
Because we don’t want to look foolish by giving too little or too much I’ve been doing some research on what the normal amount of money is to give as a wedding gift. This is the average of the answers I’ve got :
Somebody you only met a few times / a friend you rarely see : 500.00 B - 1000.00 B
A good friend : 1000.00 B - 1500.00 B
A family member : starting from 1500.00 B
Keep in mind that these are the average amounts around here, Uthai Thani. In Bangkok the avarages start from 800.00 B.
As opposed to what we are used to in Belgium, you don’t hand the gift to the bride and groom themselves and they do not open it while you are there. (Unless you are close family, than it is normal to hand your envelope during the traditional Thai Buddhist ceremony.)
Every envelope will be handed to somebody who is collecting them for the newlyweds and put in a basket, so make sure you write your name on the envelope or include a card which contains your names.