Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [637]
Lacquerware
Northern Thailand has long produced regionally distinctive lacquerware thanks to the influence of ancient artisans originally from Burma. Chiang Mai is known for gold-on-black lacquerware. Lacquerware furniture and decorative items were traditionally made from bamboo and teak but these days mango wood might be used as the base. Resin from the Melanorrhea usitata (Burmese lacquer) tree is mixed with paddy-husk ash to form a light, flexible, waterproof coating. If the item is top quality, only the frame is bamboo and horse or donkey hairs will be wound round it. With lower-quality lacquerware, the whole object is made from bamboo. The lacquer is then coated over the framework and allowed to dry. After several days it is sanded down with ash from rice husks, and another coating of lacquer is applied. A high-quality item may have seven layers of lacquer. The piece is then engraved and painted and polished to remove the paint from everywhere except in the engravings. Multicoloured lacquerware is produced by repeated applications.
From start to finish it can take five or six months to produce a high-quality piece of lacquerware, which may have as many as five colours. Flexibility is one characteristic of good lacquerware: a well-made bowl can have its rim squeezed together until the sides meet without suffering damage. The quality and precision of the engraving is another thing to look for.
Textiles
Each region in Thailand has its own distinctive silk-weaving tradition and colour palette that can often be divided even further into village characteristics. In ancient times woven textiles might have functioned much like business cards do today – demarcating tribal identity and sometimes even married status. Today village weaving traditions continue but have become less geographically specific. Silk shops throughout the country sell a variety of styles, from the iridescent, single-colour smooth silk to the naturally dyed raw silk with its knubby texture. Woven silk pieces still retain their regional characteristics.
The northeast is famous for mát·mèe cloth – a thick cotton or silk fabric woven from tie-dyed threads, similar to Indonesia’s ikat fabrics. Surin Province is renowned for its mát·mèe silk often showcasing colours and geometric patterns inherited from Khmer traditions.
In the north, silks reflect the influence of the Lanna weaving traditions, brought to Chiang Mai and the surrounding mountains by the various Tai tribes.
Fairly nice ah é (batik) is available in the south in patterns that are more similar to the batik found in Malaysia than in Indonesia.
Each hill tribe has a tradition of embroidery that has been translated into the modern marketplace as bags and jewellery. Much of what you’ll find in the marketplaces have been machine made but there are many NGO cooperatives that help villagers get their handmade goods to the consumers. Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are filled with handicraft outlets.
TELEPHONE
The telephone system in Thailand has been deregulated and the once state-owned entities have been privatised. The telecommunications sector is dominated by the now private TOT Public Company Limited (formerly Telephone Organisation of Thailand or TOT) and CAT Telecom Public Company Limited (formerly Communications Authority of Thailand or CAT). For domestic service, TOT and its subsidiary TT&T are the primary service providers, while CAT and TOT compete for international service.
The telephone country code for Thailand is 66 and is used when calling the country from abroad. You must also dial an international exchange prefix (for Australia it is 0011, for the UK 00 and for the US 001) before the country code.
Thailand no longer uses separate area codes for the provinces, so all phone numbers in the country use eight digits (preceded by a ‘0’ if you’re dialling domestically). To accommodate the growth in mobile (cell) phone usage, Thailand has introduced an ‘8’ prefix to all mobile numbers; ie 01 234 5678 is now 081 234 5678. If you