Textiles

Thai fabrics have a great number of design, usually distinguished by region. Northern women have been considered very skillful weavers, especially of cotton fabrics. They started by weaving for domestic use and then produced for export as well. It is said that during the twentieth and twenty-first century BE the northern part of Thailand which was known as the Laan Na Kingdom produced many good fabrics for sale in neighbouring states, som of which were Pha Si Chan Khao, Pha Si Chan Daeng, Pha Si Dok Champa etc…

Fabrics produced locally are grouped into three categories according to their weaving methods :

Plain Cloths The weaving pattern for this type of fabric is the simplest, with one over and one under technique. Both weft and warp are of the same colour.

Chintz The Technique used for this type of fabric is employs various coloured threads for both the warp and weft and the finished products are stripy or tartan depending on the combination and dissemination of colours in the weft and warp threads.

Brocade or commonly called yok dok. This employs a design with extra decorative wefts.

Besides the three main types above, there are a few other popular designs using supplementary yarns with the warp or weft threads ; each different treatment has a special name. All of these will be examinated in detail in the ensuring pages.

Cotton All parts of this plant are useful : apart from the fibre which is made into fabrics, carpets, and synthetic materials including Xray film, the hulls can be used as a component for livestock feed, fertilizer, plastic, or synthetic rubber. Its seeds are express for oil which is used for cooking, making margarine, medicine and pesticides. In addition, the plant stems and the remainder of the crushed seed are good for making construction materials.

Silk Sericulture is said to have originated in China some 5,000 years ago ; its popularity has spread the world over and has not ceased to this day. The silkworm is a caterpillar which feeds on the foliage of trees and shrubs. Its favourite is mulberry, so it is quite common for mulberry plantation to go side by side with silkworm cultivation.

1. Local species
This kind of silkworm makes a rather small cocoon with pointed tips like a shuttle, yielding short but strong thread, generally of yellowish or off-white colour. Rural people prefer it for their home weaving.

2. Thai hybrid
This is a cross between the local and foreign species giving a large cocoon of yellow thread which is Commercially speaking better than the local species.

3. Foreign hybrid
A cross between the Japanese and Chinese species, this type of silkworm produces very large oval shaped cocoon yielding long white silk. It is the favourite among reeling factories and naturally the best commerically