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THAILAND
Text and Photographs
by Don Linder and
Banokok
"-"""1-
Buriram \

Wannida(Lida) firatha
- a

l , - . . - - -

1a4'ml#il*i;i*iil: seasons.In February 2009, while I

was in the United States,Lida visited
Khun Pui, whose namecardwe'd
products enterprise in Baan Na taken at an OTOP (One Tambon,
Pho village in Buriram Province, One Product) fair in 2008.This gov-
Saengduean'C^hannuan(Khun Pui) ernment program promotes locally
demurs. She doesn't consider Pha made products in each district of
T o o m T h o n g h e r s u c c e s sd, e s p i t e the country. After her visit, Lida e-
annual exports of about 35 million mailed me storiesand photos of what
baht (US$1.17million). Her success, she called a "wonderful place."
sheinsists,is how much shehasbeen The Pha Toom Thong weavers'
able to changeand improve the lives collective isn't all that easyto find.
of so many women and children who Locatedin the Northeast in the vil-
live in Baan Na Pho. lageof Na Pho, its small nondescript
It's a long and wonderful story. entranceis easyto miss. But, once spinning wheelsand chatter.Beauti-
My wife, Lida, and I started ex- you turn into the gate,you've entered fully landscapedgardens,waterways
porting Thai silk scarvesa year ago a wonderland. You pass by baskets and paths surround a number of
after a long searchfor manufacturers full of cocoons,their larvae clicking, small stoneand glassbuildings. For
whose reliability and quality control and large massesof newly spun silk, practical reasons,some might call
we could trust, and whose treatment hung to dry, until you are facing this a silk "factory," but the over-
of their workers was fair. Most silk a statue and mini-shrine to Khun whelming feeling is of community
products in Thailand are produced Pui's grandfather, the collective's and family.
by cottage industry, often by farm- namesake.To the side, several airy, Baan Na Pho is a typical rural vil-
ers betweenplanting and harvesting coveredwork areashum with looms, lage.Most villagers are rice farmers,

36 $tw,<onrlst Quarter20ll
 Weaverswork on hand looms as well as pedal looms
in the large, open-air workshop.

BeautifuIlylandscaped gardens,waterwaysand paths

add a feel of natureto the collective's
stoneand glass
structures.

In addition to exquisite textures and designs, ment, who started the first weaving
the color palette of Pha Toom Thong silks is a school in what was then Siam. He
visual treat. also started a silk-weaving business
but was not successfulbecauseat
and few venture outside its tranquil- the intention of becoming a teacher, that time the market.wasnot strong
ity. Khun Pui did. Shestudied in the but in those days, one had to pay nor, as Khun Pui admits, was he a
seasideprovince of Chonburi to be a big bribes to become a teacher,and good marketer.
teacher,then for two years worked in Khun Pui did not feel that was in the As fate would have it, in 1973, a
Chonburi and Bangkok as a designer. service of her community, where she delegationfrom Her Majesty Queen
In her words, "Every day was morn- had deep roots. Sirikit came to neighboring Put-
ing go for work, evening go back Her grandfather,Pha Toom Thong, tathaisong district to make merit.
home. I felt bored and wondered h a d b e e n t h e v i l l a g e h e a d m a n , a A terrible draught was threatening
why I wasn't doing something more weaving teacher and a progressive survival, and conditions prompted
meaningfull' Shereturned home with thinker dedicatedto social develop- another delegationto visit in 1975

$wenorlst Quarter20ll 37
 Pha Toom Thong collectionof
100o/osilk scarvesdisplays a wide
range of designs,textures, sizes
and colors.

Women who are physically

unabl e to mani pul atefoot
pedal looms may do hand
weaving,spinning or dyeing.

Khun Pui and Lida examine a scarf.

t o a s s e s sh o w t o h e l p t h e p e o p l e .
Pha Toom Thong took his daugh-
t e r , K h u n P r a j u a b ,a w e l l - t r u s t e d
leaderamong the village women, to
speakwith the group. Thus begana
long-standingrelationshipwith the
Q u e e n ' sp r o j e c t s ,w h i c h i n c l u d e d
Khun PrajuabaccompanyingQueen
S i r i k i t t o W a s h i n g t o n ,D . C . f o r a
specialexhibition promoting Thai
silk in 1991.
Drawing on her family values,
Khun Pui closelystudied her com-
munity to determinehow shecould
serveit best. She found there were
many different levels of ability
among the villagersand that most
lived by agricultural cycleswith very exhibitions.Although things were eachmember'sindividual strengths
few non-agriculturalopportunities g o i n g w e l l , s h e s o o n r e a l i z e dt h a t and weaknesses,recognizing that
t o s u p p o r t t h e m s e l v e sI.n s e c u r i t y this strategywas advantageousonly eachperson had a unique potential
washigh. Fortunately,shediscovered for those with the best handcraft- and ability to createan outstanding
that their casualsideline;silk weav- ing skills. The imbalancebetween product in her own way. She knew
ing, was becomingvery popular and t h e k e y p r o d u c e r sa n d t h e o t h e r s that encouragingpeople to create
potentially very profitable for their could not support the long-term good products would lead to pride
community and for the nation. She sustainabledevelopmentneededto and enthusiasmin their work and to
realtzedthat this "sideline" could be strengthenthe entire community. more skills development.By creating
a source of stability for individuals Basedon her working experience this positive and supportive cycle,
and the community as a whole. outsideBaanNa Pho,Khun Pui made she was able to ensurecontinuous
In 1996,Khun Pui beganby form- a plan to apply professional-style and systematicdistribution in the
ing a small group of t6 weaversand managementin ways that would not m a r k e t p l a c ew
, hich led to consis-
took their products to sell at mar- abuseculture or tradition or favor tent income for all members of the
kets and government-sponsored one group over another.Sheanalyzed collective.

38 $twennelst Quarter20tI
 One of severalstone and glass bungalowsbuilt by Khun
S ombotfor out-of-tow n cust om er s.
K hu n So mb ot ,a deaf m an w h o h a s
been the groundskriprr, caretakerand
builder for many years. To further enhancethe good of
the whole community, Khun Pui set
the specific criterion for recruiting
members that they be "underprivi-
legedor unprofitablefor urban labor
markets."Members may be handi-
c a p p e d ,e l d e r l y , p o o r , o r p h a n e d ,
abused,ex-convictsor ill, some even
H I V p o s i t i v e .T h i s n o t o n l y g i v e s
meaning and hope to those whose
lives might otherwisebe poor and
depressedbut also contributessub-
stantialincome to the local com-
munity and to the country.
Today Baan Na Pho, the Weavers'
Collective,consistsof 783 members,
including the 112women and 8 men
who haveworked there regularly,on
averagefor more than ten years.One
of the men, Khun Sombot, is deaf,
and for many years has served as
Pha Toom Thong's groundskeeper
a n d c a r e t a k e r .H e i s a l s o t h e o n e
K h u n P u i e n t r u s t e dt o c o n s t r u c t
the severalbuildings which dot the
Weavers,and sometimesdesigners,work side-by-sidein
comfortablesurroundingsat the pha Toom Thong workshop.
property.
In addition to the weaving areas,
there are four delightfully deco-
rated stone bungalowswhere visit-

$wznnt-lst Quarter20tt 39
T he ma rk et in B aan Na Pho bustlesdaily with a wide
variety offresh and preparedfoods and some local
products.
As you enter the compound,huge batchesof
raw spun and dyed silk catch the eye.
ing customerscan stay,an office, a
showroom and the family residence.
There are plans for more bungalows
a n d a l a r g e r s t r u c t u r et o a c c o m -
modate the groups of studentswho
regularly visit for lecturesfrom Khun
Pui followed by firsthand observa-
tion of the many processesthat take
place there.
And many processesthere are-
from raising the silk worms to spin-
ning and drying the silk to dyeing
the silk and, finally, to weaving the
finished products,which include
a wide array of scarves,tableware,
40 $t uz oot - ls t Q u a rte 2
r 01I
handbags,clothesand fabric bolts-
a l l i n e l e g a n ta n d u n i q u e d e s i g n s .
Khun Pui is the primary designer,
and all collectivemembersare en-
couragedto come up with their own
d e s i g n s ,m a n y o f w h i c h a r e i n t e -
grated into the main collections.
Khun Pui'seleven-year-olddaughter,
Mudmee,is learningdesign,and her
nine-year-oldson, Fume,is not yet
involved.
As Lida and I watched the weav-
Weaverat the loom manipulates
the traditional foot pedals.
Skeinsof spun raw silk await dyeing
and weaving.
i n g , s p o k e w i t h s e v e r a ls h i f t s o f
workers and walked around the
town's daily market, we were struck
by what a wonderful world Khun
Pui has createdin BaanNa Pho. We
saw women arrive for work looking
genuinelyhappy and invigorated
to be there. We watched as their
children playedand did homework.
What we couldn't see in our brief
visit is what Khun Pui can observe
day after day, month after month,
ThePha ToomThong
showroomdisplaysa
dazzlingarray of silk
productsincluding
sczrves,tableware,
bolts of silk, clothing,
handbags and more.

year after year-the fact that rising

from poverty and depression,these
women, her community, can now
support themselvesand make bright
futures ftir their children, some of
whom have already become doctors,
teachersand civil servants.Khun Pui
is undoubtedly an astute business-
woman and international promoter
of Thai silk, but she continues to
define her real successas enabling
the women of Baan Na Pho to create
Trays of cocoonswith live larvae click and lives of fulfillment. {.
hum on the grounds of the workshop.
Not to be missed are the ex-
quisite products from Pha Toom
Thong, which will soon have a
website.In the meantime, you can
see and buy their products at such
placesas Paragonand Emporium in
Bangkok or at OTOP exhibitions.
You can also visit Baan Na Pho, by
calling 044-686-044,or e-mailing
phatoomthong@gmail.com. ,

Don Linder is a writer, editor,

photographerand educatorfrom New
York City. He came to Thailand in
A statue and shrine 2 0 0 1 a s A c a d e m i c ' D i r e c t o ro f t h e
for the weavers' American UniversityAlumni (AUA)
collective'snamesake LanguageCenter.He can be contacted
and Khun Pui's
at donlinder@gmail. com.
grandfather, Pha
Toom Thong, is the Wannida (Lida) liratha isfrom NAn,
centerpieceof the in northern Thailand. Their company,
grounds. Talat Thai, www.TalatThai.com,ex-
ports Thai silk products worldwide.

2011
$wannt-lst Quarter 4l