Reader question: How much money should you give at a Thai party?

Twen,
This strongly depends on the social setting, and what relationship you personally have with the bridal couple, the deceased, etc
In Bangkok I myself give 1000-3000 baht at a wedding. In the event of a death it is less than 1000, unless I am asked to sponsor one of the evenings in the temple. Then it costs a few thousand to a maximum of 1 thousand. The latter, of course, only if I know the deceased or close family very well.
If you just come along as a guest and you hardly know the people, then 100 baht is enough. Thais sometimes give considerable amounts of money and it often happens that the proceeds from donations exceed the costs of the party.

I'm amazed, I didn't know Dutch people are so generous, I give with my girlfriend
500 bath, I think that is a nice amount without being stingy. In our village, five people die every month. With the decrease and the benefits we receive from the euro,
I think the amounts that people give are exaggerated. When you have enough money, it is not
problem, we let the thai people work all day for 200 to 300 bath.

Greetings Leen.Egberts.

I think you can reduce it all to the financial possibilities of the giver and the relationship with the receiver, but it is certainly a practice.

The amounts I read here may be normal for the average farang, but most of the Thai will certainly not give this or there should be those who do not have to worry financially.

A Thai family with an income of roughly 10000 Bath a month, and there are plenty of them, will not give 1000 Bath because someone from the neighbors has died or because someone from their village is getting married.
I certainly didn't find many of those amounts when I got married, but I didn't expect that of course
Family is a different story, but you cannot expect the poorest to suffer financially. I have even given money back to people, albeit not in public and in a way that the giver did not have to feel offended. No one refused or felt insulted.

We have already had several articles on TB about finances in Thailand, and especially the Isaan residents are often on the tips of their toes when it comes to amounts.
Because a large part of the Isan is poor (which is undeniable) and they must, want or can live or survive on a few hundred baths a day.
Suddenly having to read that they would then put 1000 Bath (or more) in an envelope as a gift at some party would surprise me exceptionally.

My mother-in-law has a life insurance policy and my father-in-law had a life insurance policy that paid for his funeral.

I leave it to my wife. Sometimes I say it is too little and make sure it is the higher amount. I also don't want to give too much as a “rich” falang. When making a donation, please take into account whether I will be eating with you or not. Normal wedding unknown 500 bath, birthday 100 with string around the wrist of the birthday child.
My wife handles funerals. The contribution can be very different, sometimes money, sometimes a lot of money, sometimes food. Also help in the kitchen or a combination.
Once she gave 4 bags of charcoal and a few liters of gasoline for the crematorium. You better get it!

There are quite a few people who have insurance. The municipality sometimes also wants to contribute to the costs. Recently a man died (drink) without family and then the municipality gave 20.000 baht for all costs to someone who would take care of the funeral. It caused quite a fuss afterwards, because the body went to the crematorium after 1 day and the person who arranged the funeral ended up with too much money. After all, tobogganing is a Thai sport.

I got married in Thailand 8 months ago. What Tino wrote about 15 years ago is still valid today. At the end of the wedding day and the following day, all money is counted. In my case by my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Everything is written down in a notebook. Name and amount received. Generally they were 100 or 200 bath notes. And yes. Sometimes 20 bath. But that could be counted on one hand. From close friends and relatives, the amounts ranged from 500 to 2000 baths. In the meantime, we have received many invitations from guests or their son or daughters for a wedding. We look in the notebook to see what we had received and then give something more back. For example, if 6 baht was received 100 months ago, 110 baht will be returned.