Friction is Common in Thai Marriages
Sunantaa is a good cook and enjoys working in her kitchen preparing meals for her husband, Surachai, and their three teenage boys. He has bought her many labour-saving gadgets over the years.
They live on the same compound as Surachai’s unmarried twin sisters. Sunantaa gets on well with them but does not want to go to their home every morning to collect purified water. She wants her own water softening machine. With a family of five, she uses a lot of water.
This is an image of how disputes in a marriage develop. But you’d never see that in Thailand.
A True Story.
Surachai refuses to buy her the filter machine. It’s not that they are expensive. Just a few thousand baht. No, his reasoning is that collecting water, each day from his two sisters, gives her an opportunity to keep in touch with family.
She would keep friends with them in any case, I am sure. That is the Thai way.
But her husband is adamant. She is not getting a water softener. Sunantaa tells her friends about it. She won’t argue the point with her husband. Sunantaa avoided the issue when her father came to visit and asked why his daughter had to collect water every day. She simply changed the subject.
Thai Marriages.
I will post more images of the dowry, sinsot, the monks’ blessing, the reception, and other traditions on my website. https://www.MattOwensRees.com
In Thai marriages, a dowry is given to the bride’s parents. Traditionally, it is a payment to recompense the parents for the costs of bringing-up their daughter. It is sometimes referred to as “mother’s milk”, paying for the nourishment the mother gave her daughter when a baby.
The dowry, called “sinsot”, is given publicly in front of all the guests at the wedding. While it’s a show of wealth, it also symbolises the ability of the groom to look after the bride and her family for the rest of their marriage.
Life in Thailand is usually about showing one’s wealth and status. In some cases, the sinsot is discreetly returned to the husband, in others the bride’s family retain it. The amount of sinsot is determined by the status and wealth of the bride’s family, and her perceived beauty and position in society. It averages 100,000 baht but can be much higher. Sometimes, depending on the girl, in the millions.
It is technically not due if the girl is not a virgin or has been divorced or has children.
