Crafting from the hills

tribal talent

A  visit to Thailand offers glimpses of the Thai people’s loyalty to their royal rulers, and in the few days that I am there, it is easy to understand why.

Though Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, its king enjoys more power than other monarchies, including the Queen of England. But this apart, it is the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his widow Queen Sirikit’s involvement in the lives of the Thai populace, and their efforts at ensuring a better standard of living for the less privileged, that has earned them this respect. 

The late King Bhumibol enjoyed substantial leeway in the allocation of funds towards pet developmental and rehabilitation projects, and Queen Sirikit has used this to set in place the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupation and Related Techniques (SUPPORT). Notable among its achievements is the rehabilitation of the Thai hill tribes through projects that give them an opportunity to display their skills and dexterity in their arts and crafts and provide them economic sustenance.

There has been a lot of effort on the part of the royal couple in persuading the hill tribes to make changes in their former way of living, which had led to deforestation, and to peacefully co-exist with the forests and their produce for a better standard of living. From the start of the sustainable hill tribes arts and crafts projects till the present, there are 22, 530 hill tribe artisans from 620 villages, who have been the beneficiaries. 

I have an opportunity to witness the artistic handicrafts in the various craft centres across the leading regions of Thailand as well as the exhibition titled Crafts from the Hands of the Hills… to the Hands of the Queen at the Queen’s Gallery in Bangkok. Since 1976, the support to ordinary artisans, poor farmers and other underprivileged groups, often at the mercy of moneylenders, has created an extraordinary group of craftspeople across the country. 

Skilled populace 

The seven hill tribes, which have been brought into the creative fold, are the Akha (E-Gor), Hmong, Karen, Lahu (Musur), Lawa, Lisu and Yao (Mien). Many of these tribes trace their origins from the Southern Sino-Tibetan geographical area and their lifestyles and creativity mirror the practices of their places of origin. Their semi-nomadic lifestyle was dictated by the ‘slash and burn’ technique that they adopted, resulting in the denudation of forests. Perhaps, this led them to seek out fresher pastures, resulting in their migration to Thailand.

Whilst the Akhas dress sombrely in blue-black, their clothes are brightened by embroidery, appliqué, silver ornaments, seeds, shells, coins, attractively dyed chicken feathers and bright green beetle wings.  The use of these iridescent beetle wings has become an integral part of Thai craft.  The men of this tribe are also renowned for making a variety of baskets, musical instruments and crossbows.

There are less than a lakh Hmong tribals living in Thailand. Their women are said to produce the most exquisite needlecraft artefacts anywhere in the world. Of all the tribals living in Thailand, the Hmong women are the only producers of batik on cloth. Their wax drawing and weaving on hemp fibres is indeed eye-catching. As with the Akhas, the Hmongs also richly decorate their clothing, in this case with detailed embroidery, appliqué, cutwork, batik cloth, silver jewellery and pom poms. The Hmong men are known to be skilled gunsmiths and blacksmiths.

The Karen happens to be the largest tribal group in Thailand, with two major sub-tribes, the Sgaw Karen and Pwo Karen. The women from this community are skilled in tie-and-dye (ikat) weaving, using cotton threads and natural colours. They weave on back-strap looms and produce their own style of dresses. They also opt to use a certain kind of bead in their embroidery. 

There are four sub-tribes of Lahus living in Thailand, who produce a diversity of designs. The Lahu women are also accomplished in working on backstrap looms, as well as on foot pedal ones. The speciality of Lahu weaving is that the pattern shows up on only one side of the cloth. The women of this tribe also specialise in producing attractive and delicate patchwork trimmings.

The Lawa are a small population living in the north of Thailand. They are famous for their tie and dye designs on black hand-woven cloth and intricate silver jewellery while the Yao or Mien women have gained fame for their colourful and beautiful cross-stitch embroidery, which enhances their attire.

An interesting aspect of the Lisus of Northern Thailand is that they make their clothing from colourful material, trimmed with row upon row of multi-coloured stripes of cloth, tassles, beaded work and appliquéd patchwork. The wealthier among them like to wear huge amounts of exquisite handcrafted silver ornaments for festive occasions. The Lisu men are well known for producing bird and animal traps, crossbows, bamboo flutes and musical pipes.  

At the Queen’s Gallery, there is an opportunity for visitors to try their hand at the embroidery, weaving or basketry, but I give it a miss not wanting to reveal my lack of talent in this department.

At the Ban Khao Tao Professional Handicraft Centre in Soi Hua Hin, there is another opportunity to see the women at work at the looms. What is interesting is that the ratio of women to men employed here is 10:1, which reveals that in addition to the rehabilitation of tribal art and culture, there are a significant number of women who are being benefited by these projects.

Impressed, I decide to invest in a delicately embroidered cotton sarong, which is put to good use at the Arts of the Kingdom Museum. This Bangkok museum, located within the Dusit Palace, provides a fitting finale to a showcasing of the mastery of arts and crafts by the rehabilitated members of agricultural families. These families honed their artistic skills at the Chitralada Arts and Crafts Centre under the patronage of Queen Sirikit. 

The exhibits on display here are mind-boggling and too many to describe, but of notable mention are an octagonal-shaped room completely decorated with bright green beetle wings (an integral part of Thai craft), an embroidered Himavan forest scene, a sivikakaran or coloured palanquin and the khram phra dharma chakra (wheel of law). 

A majority of Thailand’s population is Buddhist and one can say that the kindness and compassion of the Buddha’s concept of dharma is visible in the way  the country has embraced its tribal population. Many tribal groups here have gained new meaning in their lives through economic empowerment from the enhancement of their indigenous skills. Three cheers to the country and its royalty for their sensitive approach.