Fabric of Life
H.E. Paskorn Siriyaphan, Ambassador of Thailand to Indonesia, tells us the story of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and her contributions to the world-renowned Thai textile industry. Kevin Sjahrial writes
he year 2016 marks the year of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand’s 84th birthday. Grand festivities were in order as Her Majesty celebrated the very auspicious seventh 12year cycle of her birthday on August 12. HE Paskorn Siriyaphan, Ambassador of Thailand to Indonesia, and Ms Nitivadee Manitkul, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Royal Thai Embassy, were the ones spearheading the preparations for the night of celebration.
HE Siriyaphan also tells Indonesia Tatler about Her Majesty’s journey and contributions to the Thai textile industry: Queen Sirikit has been by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s side since his coronation in 1946. She accompanied the king on all his trips to visit the rural areas of Thailand, especially the poverty-stricken Northern, Northeastern and Southern regions. His Majesty and Queen Sirikit spent a considerable amount of time in each region to learn first-hand about the people and their troubles.
It was during a visit to Khao Tao, a village in Western Thailand, that Her Majesty saw a great opportunity to help improve the livelihood of the people in the village. The men of these regions made their living as fishermen. During the monsoon season, they are unable to go out to sea, so Her Majesty encouraged the women of the region to take up cotton weaving as a complementary way of supporting their families. An initial group of 30 housewives was taught to weave simple patterned textiles. The proceeds from selling these textiles now enable them to fill the gap left by the monsoon season.
She also encouraged master weavers to pass on their skills to younger generations in order to preserve a practice that had already become a national heritage while also earning additional income from their works. While the number of weavers may have changed through time, the Khao Tao weaving project which started years ago is still thriving.
Her Majesty’s work in Khao Tao was a precursor to a much larger effort that stemmed from her desire to better the living standards of the Thai people. In 1976, she established the SUPPORT foundation. The SUPPORT Foundation acts as a centre for the preservation of local arts, cultural heritage and craftsmanship. The foundation promotes the production of textiles like mat mii or mud mee, from the Northeastern part of Thailand. In addition, the SUPPORT Foundation also provides training by master weavers, one of whom was selected by Her Majesty to join her in her promotion textiles in the United States. By 2010, more than 150,000 Thais have been involved in the making of textiles for the SUPPORT Foundation.
For some 40 years, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit has supported the industry. She created jobs for hundreds of thousands of citizens, trained weavers at the Royal Palace to better teach the younger generations, and even built a museum to educate the public and showcase the works of the women from all over Thailand. Her Majesty also actively promoted these textiles.
The night of celebration was held at the Kempinski Grand Ballroom in Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, in the heart of the capital. Distinguished guests and dignitaries were treated to a special exhibition from Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s SUPPORT Foundation. The exhibition showcased exquisite works of weavers from Thailand and also chronicled their journey from silk to completed pieces.
The highlights of the night were the two fashion shows highlighting different takes on contemporary Thai dresses. The first featured dresses from the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles flown in especially for the celebration. The second featured dresses designed by Thai designer, SIRINI. The dresses were made from silk from Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s SUPPORT foundation.
Three beautiful dresses were custom made for three VIPS at the event. Minister Manitkul flew to Bangkok and brought these dresses in personally.