TRAVEL SCRAPBOOK

Napa Suyayai, 68, sits comfortably on the bench of her wooden loom in the outdoor workroom of her house. It is the weaving centre of Tai Lue of Ban Thi community in Lamphun. She slides a shuttle over small swathes of white cotton fabric from right to left and pulls the beater to tighten the yarn. Then she steps on treadles and repeats the same process of weaving. Her loom makes a continuously slithering sound. It looks simple, but it is hard to find a new generation to work at the centre. “We have 10 members and all of us are in our 60s,” said Napa, the chief of Tai Lue Weaving Group. She is eager to teach visitors if they are interested in weaving cloth in the Tai Lue style because she wants to keep the tradition alive. The group was founded in 2015 with support from the Provincial Administration Organisation of Lamphun. It wants to preserve and promote the culture of ethnic groups. Tai Lue immigrated from Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China, during the early Rattanakosin period. They settled in many northern provinces including Lamphun, Chiang Mai and Nan. Like other ethnic groups, Tai Lue women know how to weave. In the past, the women wove cloth for their own use and passed on the skills to their daughters. Their heritage can be seen through their unique patterns. Napa learned her weaving skills at a young age so she was chosen to be the chief of Tai Lue Weaving Group in Ban Thi. Her family also has old Tai Lue clothes with their traditional patterns that she wants to preserve. “We use chok [meaning pull] technique for making a pattern while weaving cloth,” she said. The method makes the design look like embroidering. One of the popular traditional designs that she teaches to members of her group is “kunchae long tu”, which looks like a cabinet lock. (See small photo.) She showed me her long- sleeve, side fastening traditional blouse. The blouse shows the kunchae long tu pattern in red on plackets. She asked me to wait for her to get dressed. She came out of her room with the white blouse and phasin (long tube skirt). She demonstrated how to tie a headwrap in the Tai Lue style. “I don the white blouse for making merit in the temple,” she said. Tai Lue will wear their traditional dress during important