The colourful world of the
Thai Silk industry
Silk looms at a factory in Chiang Mai
In the booming Thai silk industry of north-east Thailand, you will most certainly be able to observe and study all there is to know about silk worms, silk weaving and how silk handicrafts are generated. Producing raw silk from silkworms for the production of silk fabrics that you see in the shops around Thailand, has for many years been one of only a few industries cultivated in this area. The delicate art of Thai silk weaving on simple hand-operated bamboo looms has been a tradition handed down from one generation to another and still very much alive today.
Silk Worms Cocoons
Silkworms are cultivated mainly on the Khorat Plateau in north-east Thailand after which they are then sent to places like Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand for production. Should you be wanting to purchase genuine silk from Thailand and you are going up to the north and not the north-east, then I would suggest that you go to the Sankhampaeng factory district in Chiang Mai. Here you will have the opportunity to view the whole process from the cocoon growing stage to that of the finished products.
Close up of Silk Worm Cocoons
Once the spinning cycle of the cocoons are completed, they are placed into vats of boiling water which separates the silk threads. The silk threads of one cocoon can be up to 500 meters in length and are a natural golden colour which is unique only to Thailand. Because a single thread of silk is so very thin, many threads are combined together until there is enough durable fiber to begin weaving. Once the weaving process is finished, the silk fabric is then soaked in hot water, thereafter it is bleached before being dyed into various colours. And wallah! you now have your finished product... Well not quite. The next step is to convert the fabric into the workable silk items you find all over Thailand.
The Finished Product
In order to understand the genuine article from the fake, the Thai government has implemented a system to authenticate pure Thai silk. This can be seen in the form of a Peacock emblem used on all genuine garments which also serves as it's guarantee of authenticity and quality. These emblems have four different colours indicating their various grades. They are gold, silver, blue and red with gold being the more superior. This should greatly help you with your selection but more than anything, just go out there and have some fun while you shop. Before I forget, you must take a tour of a house in Bangkok which was built by Thailand's most famous American foreigner who was also responsible for reigniting the silk trade in Thailand. His name was
Jim Thompson
who had come to Thailand after the second world war in 1947 because he, like myself, had fallen in love with this beautiful country and it's lively people. A tour of Jim's house museum, should be high on your priority as a visit here will not be disappointing.
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