Thais And Engagement/Wedding Rings

[Torneyboy]

Do most Thais follow the tradition of rings for engagements and weddings?

 

My wife tells me many thais do, however many do not bother for their own reasons.

 

We were married in a rush just over a year ago...no time to get an engagement ring (we both have gold wedding bands) i am not a jewelry person at all, and only wear mine when she sees i don''t have it on ::

 

Over last month or so she has asked me what i am doing about our engagement ring?

 

Ok ..we met February 16 lets do it then (party etc) ok all is fine.

 

Last Saturday we go (as usual) to chinatown to pick up stock for her restaurant ...she asks me to come to this shop (jewlery) in we go and ""she had picked out a ring some weeks ago""

 

""We get for December Ok...like i can say no..heap of staff all around me ..big smiles for the happy couple

 

She had put down the deposit chose the setting etc etc..all is left for me to do is pay for it.

 

Have not been able to get a reason for the bringing forward the purchase of this ring...only 3 months difference just smile at me ::

 

Do some Thais want the ring for show?

We had it all planned as i said.

 

Maybe when we go out and i am ring less she wants a ring so others can see we are a couple/married?

 

This relationship has and will be for some time a huge learning curve....for me anyway.

Why not wait and do it together....just a smile again.

 

You guys any experience with rings?

 

 

 

did a search on this ..nothing came of it.

[Guest]

Wow.....good question. First time I've seen this asked!

 

 

HT

[limbo]

Hi BB,

 

My wife was very happy with our wedding ring.

 

No engagement ring or anything like that though.

[Zaad]

I hate wearing jewelry. Never wore anything except for a watch.

But she insisted on an engagement ring and I told her I'd give it a try. Was OK, after 1 year we switched over to wedding rings

Think I'm getting used to it now after 3 years.

[sayjann]

maybe off topic a little,but i can tell of Filipinos.

the women normally wear wedding rings but it is their choice which hand to wear it.

many times i have seen one of them ringless on the left hand and discovered they are married and wearing the ring on their right hand.

[Guest]

That is unusual. the wearing of a wedding ring on the right hand usually denotes divorced or widowed.

[BelgianBoy]

LHL,

 

Nope, it is all customs.... here in Belgium, France and certainly Italy, all wear their wedding rings - men and women - on the right hand.

 

For myself, I was very pleased to have offered an engagement ring to my GF, that was highly appreciated, she showed the whole world

 

Cheers !

[Central Scrutinizer]

Torney,

 

Most Thais in Isaan don't give or wear rings with the marriage. I think it isn't really a custom here, but has become more prevelent over the years due to the Western culture exchange. More so in BKK I think than upcountry still.

 

I bought my wife an engagement ring/diamond and gave it to her when I formally proposed to her. Telling her we'd get married a year from the date I proposed and gave her the ring. I bought it in the states and brought it over for that purpose. We bought our wedding bands in our favorite (well HER favorite anyways) gold shop in Pattaya a few months before the wedding. They were both inscribed inside in Thai with our names and the wedding date (Thai dates/year).

 

But as I said, I see very few of the married couples up in Surin and the village (especially the village) wearing gold wedding bands, and even less with a diamond engagement ring.It never was a Thai custom. Most give gold necklaces and braclets with the sin sot ceremony which basically I believe took the place of the traditional wedding band/diamond engagement ring I think. Plus what Thai guy in his right mind wants a gold wedding band showing all he is married, to the puying he is trying to butterfly with? :-)

 

Cent

 

p.s. The wife loved the diamond by the way. What woman wouldn't? :-) Very big face for her it was, especially in the village. And showed I was serious. Actually I gave her a gold Irish Claddah ring a year earlier, and explained how to wear it and what it meant. Told her if we were still together in one year (we'd already been together for about 3 years then)I'd buy her the engagement ring. So I effectively bought myself about an extra two years window before getting married. :-) In case I chickened out, or the relationship went to shit later on. Also showed I was committed (or should be anyway) and gave her something to look ahead to with the promises made her from me. Nothing like a LONG courtship to see exactly where a Thai woman is coming from, and see if this is really going to work out. It has. Together now for 7 years, and still going strong. No regrets whatever.

[rovineye]

My GF and I had a discussion about an engagement rings earlier this year.

 

She didn't bring it up. I did. She would like a ring, and I want her to have one. It is not customary in the Lisu society, but she is a city girl now. Has worn a gaudy fake ring on her wedding finger for 2 years now. She says it is because we are same as married.

 

SO I asked her on the phone what she wanted. I am not a diamond fan, and told her about blood diamonds etc. She has seen that on TV and wanted something with a tie to Thailand.

 

So in March we took one of those free city tours and ended up at a HUGE jewlery store, as planned. We both loved the blue/purple/and red stones. Stunning.GF said when we marry she wants a 4 pc set (ear rings, necklace, ring). I told her we can certainly do that. Or she could get a much better ring and the other pieces would follow in the coming years. She is still pondering that.

 

I was really prepared to buy a ring there, but the lady was pressuring GF too much. Telling her to buy expensive ones since her farang BF was paying anyway. Well that really pissed her off and she even made me put back some cheap junk I was buying.

 

I asked her again last night, and she said she wants a purple stone (garnet?). But there is no way I am picking out the style on my own. If it was gold alone, no worry as that is easily interchangable. But not this. No way.

 

SO here is my problem: This trip we meet in Phuket, and I ain't shopping for jewelry there. After that we go to Pattaya. Same-same. After that, Chiang Mai. We will be in Phuket for Christmas, and she may be expecting a ring then. If not then, on her birthday (Jan 1). We will never pass thru Bangkok, except the ride from the airport to Pattaya with 6 members of the family, so can't go pick one out together. I guess she will just be disappointed. Probably not tho, as I never really have her figured out.

[Guest]

OK, Purple stone...amethyst amethyst

 

Best jeweller in LOS IMO .... Gems Gallery in ChiangMai on the Chiangmai-Sankampaeng Rd.. He says its the largest Gem showroom in Thailand and I well believe him. The couple dozen HUGE Salt Water aquariums are worth the visit alone. Complimentary VERY nice 5* bar, In fact one the best showrooms of any kind I've seen.

 

Anyway, remind me at the Tequilla fest before we indulge too much and I'll give you a couple of names and numbers in CM. You and she, will be very happy.