RAGS TO RICHES
Na Pho’s ‘village of beggars’ turned expert silk weavers spins local knowledge into export gold.
Na Pho village in Buri Ram is widely known for its “mudmee” silk, or tie-dye silk, which incorporates intricate traditional geometric and zoomorphic motifs in the fabric. The village also has its own traditional handicraft centre that has attracted 1,000 members who earn additional income of 3,000-5,000 baht each month.
But few know that Na Pho was one of the poorest villages in the country from 1957 to 1963, when locals travelled to other villages to beg for food to survive because of prolonged drought and endemic poverty.
Without water to grow rice or any other crops, the locals, sarcastically dubbed by others as “the village of beggars”, were forced to learn another trade to make ends meet.
“It was a very difficult period, as people couldn’t grow rice and many people had to rely on handicrafts to exchange for grains from other villages,” recalls Prakong Phasathit, 75, the chief of Ban Na Pho traditional handicraft centre.
Mrs Prakong, who has run the centre for over 30 years, says villagers saw some hope when Her Majesty Queen Sirikit in 1973 extended support to develop skills, standardise production and retain traditional patterns and colours, which raised locals’ income to 300-600 baht per handicraft piece.
The group now receives support from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn t o promote work in remote villages.
With better living conditions, the village established Ban Na Pho traditional handicraft centre in 1999, bringing together local silk weavers. Many of the centre’s members have won silk competitions both at the regional and national level.
The unique characteristics of the fabric lies in the delicate silk threads, which produce a dense yet soft and porous woven texture.
The products have local traditional patterns such as the Naga (serpent deity) and the Ladder to Heaven woven within.
The centre has also been supported by educational institutes, which have studied how to use new dyeing technologies, making its products unique.
Mrs Prakong says that with the proliferation of online shopping, the centre is also employing e-commerce, helping generate more revenue for people in the community.
She is hopeful that online shopping for the centre’s products will be made available this year.
“Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is providing training to our staff on how to trade online,” she says. “We expect the new channel will help generate more income for the community and help attract a new generation to carry on our traditional handicrafts.”
The centre’s existing members are aged 30-70 years, but the majority of them are elderly.
The centre’s products are now available at Thailandmall. net, most of them scarves.
Initiated by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and other related ministries, Thailandmall.net is the gateway website helping villagers and operators sell their products online.
At the recent One Tambon One Product (Otop) Committee meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said related agencies had been tasked with growing online trade for Otop, as the government aims to raise sales revenue to 184 billion baht this year, up 20% from 2017.
Mr Somkid also tasked related agencies with contacting airlines to sell Otop products on flights.
The Otop catalogue is currently only available on Thai Airways flights.
Mr Somkid, who chaired the Otop committee meeting, also told related agencies to step up promotion of Otop Villages to generate income for communities.
Kulanee Issadisai, director-general of the Business Development Department, said her department is developing e-marketplace.com to function as a new channel to promote Otop products being sold online.
E-marketplace.com, which will provide an Otop product directory for each province, is scheduled to be launched this month.
Responsible authorities expect at least one Otop product from each province to be made available online in the first stage. Later, they plan to add more than 100,000 Otop products to the directory.
E-marketplace.com will later be linked up with the Commerce Ministry’s business-to-business e-marketplace, Thaitrade.com.
Thaitrade.com was set up seven years ago. The site now features more than 200,000 products, having attracted 2.15 million foreign visitors.
In 2016, the ministry launched Thaitrade.com Sook (small order OK), a business-to-consumer extension of Thaitrade.com.
Some 23,000 entrepreneurs now use Thaitrade.com. The ministry has set its sights on persuading 100,000 entrepreneurs to use the national e-commerce platform to increase their exports.
Otop is a local entrepreneurship scheme aimed at supporting unique, locally made products from tambons all over Thailand.
Inspired by Japan’s One Village One Product scheme, one high-quality product from each tambon is selected
to receive formal branding as a “starred Otop product”. Otop provides a local and international platform to promote these goods.
Various product groups have been classified for promotion: food items and drinks, textiles and clothing, woven handicrafts, artistry items, gifts, household and decorative items, and non-edible herbal products.
Village-made Otop products are selected for promotion based on their quality and export potential. Many silks and Benjarong ceramics, for instance, are works of art.
The project has strong government support on many levels, such as identifying potential Otop products and providing advice on production, quality control, packaging and design to make products more attractive for domestic and export markets.
The entire Otop product cycle comes under the supervision of the National Otop Committee, with regional and provincial committees helping to identify, develop and
grade Otop products.
The Otop Village scheme, meanwhile, is an effort to convert Otop production into a tourist attraction.
There are 111 Otop Village Champions, each chosen from among their communities.
The government last year budgeted 1.35 billion baht to upgrade the quality of the products, entrepreneurship and market access for the Otop scheme, resulting in a 22% increase in Otop sales to 153 billion baht in 2017.
This year, the government has set aside 1.23 billion baht for the scheme under which the Interior Ministry estimates that the sales volume of Otop will reach 184 billion baht by year-end, thanks to the state’s continued support for various projects to develop quality, strengthen entrepreneurs’ capabilities, expand market access and help promote online sales.
The committee at last month’s meeting approved 901 million baht for fiscal 2019 to support the Otop scheme.
‘‘ It was a very difficult period, as people couldn’t grow rice and many people had to rely on handicrafts to exchange for grains from other villages.
PRAKONG PHASATHIT
Chief, Ban Na Pho handicraft centre