What Is An Appropriate, Small, Gift To Buy A Thai Women?

[NamKangMan]

I'm not a newbie to Thailand, and come up with the same problem all the time and thought I would post on the forum. What is a small, cheap, gift you can buy, as a small symbol of your appreciation, to an older Thai women.

I am talking about the women you see every week who does your laundry. The women you see occassionally as your chemist. The women that always seems to serve you at the restaurant. The women who always hands you your key at reception.

I think a "tip" (meaning - money) is ok, and I have always tipped the waitress, but, would like to give some small token of "effort" that I have gone to in a sign of my appreciation.

I have looked all over 7/11 and Family Mart. The Thai's don't really eat chocolate. All the buscuits are farang. There's the dried squid strips etc, but, maybe they don't like that. It doesn't have to be a food, it could be a Thai girly magazine or something. In the past, I have bought a mobile phone reload/recharge card and that went down well.

I am not talking about running around shopping in the markets all day or Jungcelyon. Just something small that a middle aged Thai women would appreciate, not for it's value, but for the concideration behind it.

Thai men appreciate alcohol. What about the Thai women?

Any ideas?

[jcbangkok]

Money probably is the best bet ... even for a working Thai man such as a security guard. May feel funny coming from your culture but I believe it is what is most appreciated here unless you know something specific about the person. I've never really investigated this but I get the feeling gift cards for a particular store or mall or not very common here. If you wanted to get something for girls at the dentist office you could always get flowers or something to brighten up the office.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I remember when I had the same question. Now I am a bit more tight with my money. Oh, and the other good thing is food. May not be much but a bag of peanuts or fruit from a food vendor is something I sometimes give to the security guys at my building.

Remember, eating and sleeping are common questions for Thais to ask one another as ways of finding out how they are doing.

EDIT .. depending, you can also buy a lottery ticket but I've only done this when the lottery vendor was right there so the person could pick their own numbers.

Edited May 5, 2010 by jcbangkok

[barney42bb]

God fella ..you have set yourself up for some abuse with this request...however.All Thai's Rich Poor or inbetween Love worship and adore money above all else...500 Baht should do it..If she say "Keeniow"...then snatch it back.

[NamKangMan]

Money probably is the best bet ... even for a working Thai man such as a security guard. May feel funny coming from your culture but I believe it is what is most appreciated here unless you know something specific about the person. I've never really investigated this but I get the feeling gift cards for a particular store or mall or not very common here. If you wanted to get something for girls at the dentist office you could always get flowers or something to brighten up the office.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I remember when I had the same question. Now I am a bit more tight with my money. Oh, and the other good thing is food. May not be much but a bag of peanuts or fruit from a food vendor is something I sometimes give to the security guys at my building.

Remember, eating and sleeping are common questions for Thais to ask one another as ways of finding out how they are doing.

EDIT .. depending, you can also buy a lottery ticket but I've only done this when the lottery vendor was right there so the person could pick their own numbers.

Yes. It always seems to go back to giving money. The fresh fruit is a good idea. I have done the lottery thing in the past, just as you have mentioned, whilst they were present to pick their own number and rub it all over the picture of Buddha or the Monk. I have taken one girl lady from the shop for 5 minutes to the local street food vendors where she could pick from the various BBQ foods. She like that, but, this sort of thing isn't always available.

Girls like cosmetics. I thought about a bottle of the best shampoo or something similar. It's a hard question.

Money is easy to do, but, that defeats the purpose of the effort of appreciation I would like to show.

[NamKangMan]

God fella ..you have set yourself up for some abuse with this request...however.All Thai's Rich Poor or inbetween Love worship and adore money above all else...500 Baht should do it..If she say "Keeniow"...then snatch it back.

I've tipped these people, in the past, for their consistant good service to me. I don't think they would call me "Keeniow" for adding a small gift as well, which, would tend to show you are "Jaidee" rather than just another farang with money.

[sbk]

If you want to show you put some effort into it, a small basket of fruit with grapes, apples etc.

[Tanaka]

It always seems to go back to giving money. The fresh fruit is a good idea. I have done the lottery thing in the past, just as you have mentioned, whilst they were present to pick their own number and rub it all over the picture of Buddha or the Monk. I have taken one girl lady from the shop for 5 minutes to the local street food vendors where she could pick from the various BBQ foods. She like that, but, this sort of thing isn't always available.

Girls like cosmetics. I thought about a bottle of the best shampoo or something similar. It's a hard question.

Money is easy to do, but, that defeats the purpose of the effort of appreciation I would like to show.

Do NOT give shampoo, soap or similar! It is very possible that she will take that as you don't think she takes care of her hair or not clean it well.

[ozzieovaseas]

Giving gifts to show appreciation SHOULD be a good jesture and it SHOULD be appreciated by the recipient, but i have often found the opposite here...so i gave it up long ago and i reccomend you do the same

It seems better to buy NOTHING at all rather than buy something that could possibly be considered "cheap". Sadly the cost of things is often the ONLY issue to the good folk here, and whatever you get will probably only find its way to the trash can anyway...

Take into consideration this little gem From my own experience..

I once spent around 500 baht buying a new purse for an acqaintance. Her old one looked a bit tatty.

Her eyes lit up like diamonds when she saw it but staight away she opens it up..sees that there was no money inside of it and then smiles and mutters something in thai

didnt see her much after that

[Slaps]

A pair of Green Trainers

[NamKangMan]

Do NOT give shampoo, soap or similar! It is very possible that she will take that as you don't think she takes care of her hair or not clean it well.

Thanks for that info - never thought about it that way.

[dave2]

namkangman

my reaction to a similar thought of yours

ive seen the same quite attractive thai woman (30s ) with a young son of 8 / 10 ish twice a day almost every day for the last three and a half years!

she doesnt speak a word of english and i speak no thai but she smiles at me every day.

last year on new years day i gave her a card with happy new year writen in english and a 500 baht note

her son i bought a remote control car from tesco for 300 baht and gave it to him

they still smile every time i see them but its a warmer / thank you smile

who needs anything else ?

dave2

[NamKangMan]

namkangman

my reaction to a similar thought of yours

ive seen the same quite attractive thai woman (30s ) with a young son of 8 / 10 ish twice a day almost every day for the last three and a half years!

she doesnt speak a word of english and i speak no thai but she smiles at me every day.

last year on new years day i gave her a card with happy new year writen in english and a 500 baht note

her son i bought a remote control car from tesco for 300 baht and gave it to him

they still smile every time i see them but its a warmer / thank you smile

who needs anything else ?

dave2

Yes, sadly, it seems to be MONEY NUMBER ONE in Thailand and no nice gestures from a farang will equal him just giving cash.

[dave2]

namkangman.

re ..... MONEY NUMBER ONE in Thailand and no nice gestures from a farang will equal him just giving cash.

uhhh ?

your original op was ... What is a small, cheap, gift you can buy, as a small symbol of your appreciation, to an older Thai women.

re ... your appreciation, to an older Thai women.

the woman i told you about is 35 years younger than me who has a son of 10 ish ( im 62 ) and im not interested in her as a mate.

i gave them something coz i wanted to make them happy .... nothing more ... nothing less as 800 is nothing to me

if you dont understand my thoughts / motives ... thats sad !

dave2

[SiangDeeMahk]

My TGF considered all the stories posted so far, and suggested a gift of gold. But I told her that even a pair of simple hoop earrings would be way more than 500Bth.. and after a minute of thought, she instead suggested you buy a (well known) brand name shirt, like Levi's (so the recipient knows it has at least some kind of value), in a large size (for a slightly older woman).

I asked her how the recipient would know that it wasn't just a "suea paa blomb" (counterfeit shirt), and she quickly said "buy it at Robinson's and give the gift still in the Robinson's box/bag".

My own advice, is to add in a handwritten "I appreciate your hard work" note, in Thai. It's kind, thoughtful, quite demonstrative of your appreciation, and more importantly makes the gift's purpose quite clear.

If you don't speak and/or write Thai, you can just copy, print (or better yet); hand trace the Thai script I've written here:

ขอขอบคุณสำหรับการทำงานอย่างหนักเพื่อผม

The TGF also approves of that additional idea, and proof-read the Thai script above.

Good luck.

[billythehat]

Don't kid yourself. Appreciation is an alien concept in Lalaland, so don't waste your hard-earned. If you insist with this carry-on, then I suggest you try to find out if she has a favourite charity that you can donate to. This will ensure that any gift will be genuinely received and resolve any conflict of whether or not you did the right thing. That is my suggestion to your query.

[Thules]

As previously suggested a couple of times, - a lottery ticket. If the recipient is able to select the ticket, I've found that they will enjoy the process of selection (especially with other friends) and a week's worth of eager anticipation of actually winning !

[sarahsbloke]

Silver earrings 100-200bht

Ladies always like earrings.

[baabaabobo]

A living orchid

[ESB7]

I cant remember buying a present for a waitress or chemist back in the U.K. just because they did their job and dont think anyone else has so why do it here???dosnt make any sense really, or is there a bit of underlying romance there???

[Spoonman]

Ive always found a new Buffalo is a welcome gift.

[NADTATIDA1]

Don't kid yourself. Appreciation is an alien concept in Lalaland, so don't waste your hard-earned. If you insist with this carry-on, then I suggest you try to find out if she has a favourite charity that you can donate to. This will ensure that any gift will be genuinely received and resolve any conflict of whether or not you did the right thing. That is my suggestion to your query.

Charity!!!.....

You know the saying?

[LivinLOS]

For casual contact and appreciation then fruit is very well received.. Everyone from Land lady to cleaners (different social strata is what I am trying to say) have been pleased yet it comes without the 'heres some gold' connotations.

Good thing is you can scale it very easily.. A simple bag of lamyai shows you thought of something / didnt arrive empty handed but a good basket of carefully selected prefect fruits get more impressive. Also if you want adding in imported fruit, like peaches, plums, or whatevers seasonal adds to the 'farang' aspect.

Avoid perfume I am constantly told.. Yet I have never had a woman not seem happy with it, I am told its unlucky and they are supposed to buy it (I have been given a some coins as a token 'purchase' from a bar manageress who I was friends with)..

[toptuan]

. A simple bag of lamyai shows you thought of something / didnt arrive empty handed but a good basket of carefully selected prefect fruits get more impressive. Also if you want adding in imported fruit, like peaches, plums, or whatevers seasonal adds to the 'farang' aspect.

Skip the local fruit (seen as a cheap and easy gift), and focus on the imported fruit--really appreciated!

[LivinLOS]

Skip the local fruit (seen as a cheap and easy gift), and focus on the imported fruit--really appreciated!

I agree that local fruit is less impressive, but mean its a scalable gift.. I wasnt going to go giving my cleaner a imported fruit basket each time I saw her, but some lam yai, mangosteen, or rambutan were simple thank you's that were appreciated.

[jc14all]

A nice pleasant and genuine kindness. To a farang a tangible gift seem appropriate but to a Thai a gift may have different meaning unless it is a special holiday. However, if you really want to do something as a kind gesture observe what she uses everyday that looks like it may need replacement.

[NamKangMan]

namkangman.

re ..... MONEY NUMBER ONE in Thailand and no nice gestures from a farang will equal him just giving cash.

uhhh ?

your original op was ... What is a small, cheap, gift you can buy, as a small symbol of your appreciation, to an older Thai women.

re ... your appreciation, to an older Thai women.

the woman i told you about is 35 years younger than me who has a son of 10 ish ( im 62 ) and im not interested in her as a mate.

i gave them something coz i wanted to make them happy .... nothing more ... nothing less as 800 is nothing to me

if you dont understand my thoughts / motives ... thats sad !

dave2

No Dave, I think YOU miss my point.

The kid appreciated the remote control car - WHY is there not something that SHE would have appreciated, in the same way, rather than cash????

As you know, in the west, we don't give cash for birthday and Christmas presents. We go to some trouble to buy some sort of item for our friends and family. Anyone, especially farang, can pull cash out - further entrenching in the Thai's mind that we are just walking ATM's and cash is nothing to us.

Why did you buy the remote control car for the kid???? Is it because you thought he would like it???? What is something that the women would have liked, in the same way? That's the point of my original post. If you don't understand it, try reading it again.

[NamKangMan]

My TGF considered all the stories posted so far, and suggested a gift of gold. But I told her that even a pair of simple hoop earrings would be way more than 500Bth.. and after a minute of thought, she instead suggested you buy a (well known) brand name shirt, like Levi's (so the recipient knows it has at least some kind of value), in a large size (for a slightly older woman).

I asked her how the recipient would know that it wasn't just a "suea paa blomb" (counterfeit shirt), and she quickly said "buy it at Robinson's and give the gift still in the Robinson's box/bag".

My own advice, is to add in a handwritten "I appreciate your hard work" note, in Thai. It's kind, thoughtful, quite demonstrative of your appreciation, and more importantly makes the gift's purpose quite clear.

If you don't speak and/or write Thai, you can just copy, print (or better yet); hand trace the Thai script I've written here:

ขอขอบคุณสำหรับการทำงานอย่างหนักเพื่อผม

The TGF also approves of that additional idea, and proof-read the Thai script above.

Good luck.

That's a good idea mate. Thanks.

[NamKangMan]

A living orchid

A top idea. A pot plant with a flower. This way, you can always enquire about how it's going, and maybe, they even keep it in the shop, so, when you visit, you can always see it and it's a talking point. I like this one.

[NamKangMan]

I cant remember buying a present for a waitress or chemist back in the U.K. just because they did their job and dont think anyone else has so why do it here???dosnt make any sense really, or is there a bit of underlying romance there???

Definately no romance. The laundry lady, for example, will sometimes put my washing in the front of the que, because I have been late dropping it off. Of course, I tip that, but, would like to give a small gift, hence, my post.

Let's be honest, in the UK, and my country, if you dropped your laundry in late - they wouldn't give a sh*t.

I think the "tip" is business - a small gift would would make the appreciation a little more personal.

[NamKangMan]

Ive always found a new Buffalo is a welcome gift.

A good idea. All the Thai's seem to have "sick buffalos." :D

I have two in my room. I suppose I could spare one.