🛍️ Brunei: souvenirs
Brunei's craft tradition is quietly regal - songket brocade, silverwork and brassware made for the sultanate's ceremonies. Here is what travellers bring home from Brunei, where the good versions live, and the export questions worth a look - alongside our 31 written places.
🛒 The classic buys
Songket (jong sarat)
Gold-thread brocade woven for royal occasions - the Arts and Handicrafts Centre in Bandar sells weavers' work and shows the looms.
Silver and brassware
Kampong Ayer's old crafts - engraved boxes, cannons in miniature and gongs; the handicrafts centre is the reliable source.
Kain tenunan fabrics
Handwoven cloth beyond songket - sold by length for tailoring.
Ambuyat starter kits and local sweets
Sago starch and the bamboo chopsticks to eat it, plus kuih sweets - the food markets sell the culture cheaply.
⚠️ Check before you buy
- Brunei is dry - there is no alcohol to buy, and non-Muslim visitors may bring in only a small personal allowance, declared on arrival.
- Check CITES rules before buying anything with hardwood, coral or animal material.
✗ Better left behind
- Antique keris and old weapons - export paperwork is unlikely to be available.
- Coral and turtle items - protected.
Markets shift, workshops close and open, and the best souvenir is still the one with a story you were there for. Buy from makers where you can, keep receipts for anything substantial, and when a deal feels too good, it usually is.