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Thasawang Silk Village lies 10 kilometers out of the city of Surin. It was originally a small sleepy village where the women made silk when not planting and picking rice, like many other small villages throughout this area of Thailand. The goverment was approached by a Thai teacher with a plan, Arjarn Weeratham Trakulngernthai, to bring all the women making silk into one village to learn the different techniques for weaving traditional style silk fabric and designs. This teacher, Ajarn Weeratham convinced the government to spend the money to build large buildings of open air design specifically for the weaving of silk. There are many people working there now doing all aspects of silk making. There is also a building where they can teach different techniques and processes using ancient silk technology to make the old-style silk that this area is famous for. Fine silk fabric has been being produced in this part of Thailand for over two thousand years. They also have many shops to sell the finished silk and silk products. This is a very interesting place to visit and the area is quite beautiful.

A small open-air silk weaving shop.

Besides the large buildings constructed for the co-op of silk weavers there are still small places along the road leading into Thasawang Silk Village. Above is a picture of one such place. You can see silk looms sitting in the front or side yards of many homes in the Isaan area of Thailand. Most are covered with thatch roofs supported on bamboo or wood poles.

 

Here is a two woman loom. Some of the looms require up to eight women to make the silk. It can take eight women four months to complete one of the more intricate and difficult designs. Some of these looms are two stories tall. The most expensive silk is woven with gold thread (an Indian process) and silk and is extremely breath-taking to see once complete. The silk cloth produced at Thasawang Silk Village is considered some of the best in Thailand. Recently in 2003 the village co-op was commissioned to make all the silk jackets for the APEC meeting attendees. They also supply much of the silk used for the royal family and King and Queen of Thailand. 

The women and men who work in Thasawang Silk Village can come and go as they please. There is no work schedule or work days they have to be there. If they come to work they get 200 baht a day (5 dollars) for nine hours of work, with an hour off for lunch. If they don't come they just don't get paid for that day. Most of the women and men here also farm rice during the planting, growing, and harvesting seasons. Once the rice is in or harvested they then go back to making silk.

 

Some wooden carved silk weaving spindles.

 

This is one of the two story looms. There are miles of silk thread being used on these looms. Keeping it all straight and untangled must be very difficult.There are also looms that are placed over a concrete pit in the ground. There a worker will stand and help guide the spindle through the silk, helping two or three other workers above.

 

Here is a display at the arjarn's (teacher's) place in the village. These are the materials used to make the different color dyes used to color the silk. I want that hand-carved teak elephant! 

These are antique hand-carved wooden silk spools on display at the teacher's, (Arjarn) Weeratham Trakulngernthai, workshop.

 

Dye pots for the silk to be colored in.

 

Air drying the colored silk in the sun.

  

There are many of these 'clotheslines' in this section of the village.

The finished products for sale in one of the shops.

 

One of the many beautiful designs.

 

This design just above is unique to Surin. Surin is the elephant city of Thailand. Notice the design with the elephants and the dancing ladies. You can also see soldiers on horseback fighting a battle. Surin is a very famous city and one of the oldest capitals in Thailand. Many battles were fought in ancient times on elephant-back. The Surin Elephant round-up every November has re-enactments of the early battles fought to keep the land these the ancient peoples from China had settled in. I have two pieces of this silk style in my home matted and framed as wall decorations.

  

This is a copy of a piece of silk that was made for the queen of Thailand for her birthday. It is an exact duplicate on display. This piece of silk incorporates gold thread in its design. It took sixteen silk weaving artisans four months to make the silk shown here and its duplicate that was given to the queen. The picture does not do it justice, as it is behind glass in a wooden case outside Arjarn Weeratham's  building and it was hard to get a shot that didn't have a flash reflection or that had enough light to show the designs. You have to see this silk in person to really appreciate the fine craftsmanship and work involved in making this design. It is an incredible work of fine art and probably the finest piece of fabric I have ever seen.   

The silk wares on display for sale to the tourists.

  

One of the many beautiful pieces of silk clothing on display for sale.

Thai-style mens shirts are also for sale. You can buy silk cloth here and take it to a tailor in Surin and have anything made that you want as well. A friend of mine bought a few bolts of silk (you can order it by the meter) cut of various colors and styles and had a half a dozen shirts made at my tailor's shop in Surin. It was not that expensive considering the quality of the material.

More silk wares for sale. My wife wants this red outfit. Maybe for Xmas if she's good!

Guys, if you bring your wife here, bring your wallet. There's no way you'll get your wife away from this place without buying a bunch of things. They have many many things for sale here made of silk, and also they sell a lot of handmade jewelry here as well. There are scarves, pocketbooks, change purses, blouses, pants, dresses, suits, shirts, and all other sorts of neat and pretty silk products. And all are very reasonably priced and you can bargain hard for a good deal. Thais expect you to bargain. If you don't they see you as a bit of a fool really. No one pays the asking price here, and the asking price is never what they will settle for. It's a game really that you need to play; a part of the culture itself here.

I hope you all enjoyed this article and liked the pictures and tour of the Thasawang Silk Village.

 

 

Mike

All rights reserved by the author. 

 

 

*All pictures by the author and Bob the Old Hippy. 

 

Facts on Thasawang Silk Village for the reader:

• Silk Produced in these villages have unique Cambodian-influenced patterns. The silk threads used here are highly delicate, soft, lustrous, and of the highest quality.
• The silk threads are dyed with colors from natural ingredients. For instance, red color comes from lac, and yellow color from turmeric. These threads are woven tightly and elaborately to yield diverse patterns.
• Surin’s most acclaimed silk is 'Pha hole', which differs from other matmi, or tied-and-dyed silk. With regards to the selection of silk threads, the tie-and-dye technique, and the weaving style.
• 'Pha hole', normally of gray, red, white, green, and yellow colors, is woven so tightly that it can hold water on its surface.
• Surin people always give 'Pha hole' to their favorite heir, as it is very difficult and time-con-suming to make.
• Villagers always use 'Pha hole' only during special occasions such as wedding, and merit making ceremony.

• Surin is famous for its elaborate hand woven silk. The ancient silk patterns for example pattern 'Whole' and pattern 'Amporom' are different from others with colors, thread, dyeing techniques, and weaving styles. Major weaving villages are Sawai village, Tenmee village, Chanrom village in Muang District; Khwao Sinarin village, Napho village in Khwao Sinarin Minor District, Au lok village in Lamduan District.

• Surin Province was selected to make 'an ancient brocade silk' to present it to APEC leaders as a gift from Thailand in October 2003. This special pattern of silk is woven in Thasawang village, Muang District; 10 kms. from downtown Surin. Tourists can visit there everyday.

• Chan Rom village at Km. 9 on the Surin-Sangkha Highway cultivates Indian mulberry for silkworms that are then used to produce ancient-style silk designs and colors.

• Surin is famous for Cambodian style silk weaving. The mechanics of silk weaving are very similar in Thailand and Laos, but the designs, motifs, and detail one can find vary greatly according to the locale. Surin silk is arguably the best in Thailand; certainly it is the best of its type. You can purchase silk directly from the weavers themselves; great deals can be had for textile lovers.

• Silk weaving in Surin is an art craft with a unique style and long history. Its design and color differ from other provinces due to the Cambodian influences. In the past silk was made for using within the household and on special occasions or Buddhist ceremonies.

• The silk weaving is done after the rice harvest season.

• The Surin style silk has a unique dim color such as brown, red, green, black, and yellow. The silk design is carefully elaborated with tales or auspicious meanings like 'Pha Am Prom', 'Pha An Lui Seam', and 'Pha Hole' which is the 'queen' of Surin silk.

• Almost every village in Surin produces silk.

• The famous one during this time is from Ban Thasawang, Muang District, Surin Province. ‘Pha Yok Thong Boran’, an ancient design and weaving with gold thread, always amazes people who have seen it. This marvelous piece of work was invented by Arjarn Weeratham Trakulngernthai.

• To produce each 'Pha Yok Thong Boran' is time consuming in making the design, drawing patterns, and collecting 'Ta Kor', the selection of silk yarn, which takes 2-3 months. It takes 1-3 months to finish and at least 4 people in each loom. Each loom produces only 5-7 cm length daily. The silk yarns are dyed from natural ingredients to perform the design followed by a gold thread weaving method from India. This silk is not sold in the market.

• On the occasion that Thailand hosted the APEC meeting in October 2003, Arjarn Weeratham was chosen to design and produce silk for all the country leaders.

• The women of northeast Thailand have spun and woven their own silk and cotton for centuries. Recent archeological discoveries, particularly at Ban Chiang in the northeast, have shown that the techniques of silk cultivation were known to the Thais from their earliest origins when they migrated southward from China some three thousand years ago.

• Today, as in earlier times, women and girls in the northeast use their free time after the rice has been harvested, to weave cloth for household use or for presenting to monks at Buddhist temple ceremonies. Over the centuries these hardworking women have also learned how to make the best possible use of the local natural products, to create vivid colors for dyeing their home-produced silk yarns and fabrics.

• The designs, are based on patterns found in nature; elephants, watermelons, scorpions, birds, flowers, snakes and insects.

• The exquisite design and workmanship take shape in such everyday household articles as traditional men's and women's garments; sarongs, pusins or ankle-length skirts, Jakaonuis, or men's loincloths, as well as in the rather hard, square north-eastern pillows, mosquito nets and blankets (it's cold at night in the northeast in wintertime).

• Some certain designs are specially reserved for the use of household guests; others for presenting to one's elders as a sign of respect; yet others for decorating a future son-in-law's room, or for ordination ceremonies.

• Surin is famous for the high quality and beautiful design of its silk. In Surin Province every village has at least one loom, and in some villages every family has one. In these villages the air resounds with the loud, rhythmic thump-thump of the wooden battens beating the cross-threads or weft to make the finished cloth firm and even.

• The tinkle of little bells attached to moving parts of the loom may also be heard; a relic of earlier days when the bells were a way of signaling to the bachelor men folk that a modest, hard-working, diligent girl was at work in the house, who would make someone a good wife.

• Silkworm breeding in the northeast begin in May or June.

• After the rice harvest in January, a traditional ceremony called "long kuang" is held to mark the start of the weaving season. Like so many other ceremonies in Thailand, this mostly takes place on a night of the full moon.

• The cultivation of silk is far more difficult and cumbersome than that of cotton. Rearing the silkworms on the leaves of the mulberry trees which thrive in the northeast demands the greatest care in protecting the tiny creatures from heat and sunlight.

• The silk cocoons are boiled in earthenware pots, from which the filaments are reeled and re-reeled until they are of uniform thickness. The silk yarn must then be put through a long, time-consuming treatment before it is ready for dyeing.

• The dyes are made from roots, berries, insects and the soil. The lac insect gives a red dye, the indigo plant blue; black comes from the 'krajai' berry, and yellow from a root. The preparation of dyes from these and other raw materials also involves many processes; drying in the sun, pounding, soaking, settling and so on.

• Thailand's most famous type of silk is ‘mut-mee’ or tie-dyed silk. ('MuC' means to tie, while 'rrwe' are very thin noodles). The lengthwise or warp threads are wound tightly onto a wooden frame of the correct size for the sarong, or other article being made. Short strings made from banana fiber are tied to the silk threads in the pattern of the weaver's choice. The whole frame is then dipped into dye of the background color, rinsed and dried, after which the pieces of banana fiber are cut away, leaving undyed areas, which are dabbed with other colors; and so the brilliant multicolored pattern takes shape, to be woven into cloth on the loom.