An enduring tradition
When a young Phu Thai woman comes of age, she is taught the intricate phraewa silk weaving technique by her mother
Khamson Srathong, 78, sits comfortably in front of a weaving loom under her raised-floor house in Ban Phon village in Kalasin’s Kham Muang district.
Despite her old age, her hands move synchronously while weaving a silk cloth. The cloth has its uniqueness — a weaving pattern that looks like embroidering. One piece of cloth can have dozens of patterns. It is the character of phraewa textile — also known as the queen of silk.
“Phraewa silk cloth was originated in my village,” said Khamson, the national artist in traditional weaving in 2016.
“Our silk cloth has been known nationwide because of the support of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit more than 30 years ago,” she said.
Ban Phon is home to the Phu Thai ethnic group who migrated from the other side of the Mekong River to Thailand during the period of King Rama III. They settled in many parts of the Northeast including Kalasin. They are farmers who also have skill in cloth weaving.
“We believe that every daughter must learn to weave cloth. When a daughter turns 12, it’s the duty of mother who must teach her child to weave cloth,” said Somsri Srathong, 49, head of the Phraewa Silk Cloth Weaving Group of Ban Phon.
In the past Phu Thai wove cloth for their own use. If a young woman didn’t have the skill for cloth weaving, she would not be allowed to marry. Tradition says she will not be a good wife or mother as she can’t produce clothes for her husband and children, Somsri said.
“We do believe in our tradition. My mother taught me how to weave cloth when I was young and I also do the same with my daughter. Today, our schools have classes for phraewa silk weaving. About 95% of daughters in Ban Phon can weave cloth nowadays,” she said.
They start with an easy task by learning to weave plain black cloth. They dye the cotton yarns with fruits of the Ebony tree (called makluea in Thai language). The textile is used for making button-fronted, long-sleeved blouses for women and short or long-sleeved shirts for men.
The next step is to learn phraewa patterns. The phraewa cloth is used for sabai (rectangular shawl worn over the left shoulder).
Every family inherits traditional patterns. In total, there are about 60 traditional patterns such as naga and flowers.
“Weaving phraewa textile needs a lot of effort and patience. It may take about a year to finish one piece [about 2m long and 30cm wide] because the process is complicated,” she said.
The popularity of phraewa cloth started when the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit visited people in Kham Muan district on Nov 29, 1977. It was an exciting moment for villagers of Ban Phon to see the royal couple.
Khamson Srathong recalled the time when Queen Sirikit stopped walking and sat in front of her. She was asked where her cloth was made. Khamson and her neighbours wore their traditional Phu Thai dress; black long-sleeved blouse, tie-dyed woven sarong and red phraewa sabai.
After she gave the Queen an answer, “the Queen told me that our cloth was beautiful and asked if we could weave phraewa silk cloth for her. We all happily said yes”.
The Queen later gave them t hin silk yarns. Expert teams were sent to t he village t o give dying and weaving lessons to enhance the textile’s quality.
In 1978, the group of villagers including Khamson went to Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin to offer their phraewa cloth to the Queen.
“We were overwhelmed with happiness that the Queen appreciated our traditional cloth. During that visit, we were asked to keep our heritage alive and to pass the knowledge on to younger generations,” she said.
In 1982, the weaving group in Ban Phon was renamed Phraewa Silk Cloth Weaving Group of Ban Phon. The group also was listed as a member of the Foundation of the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand.
With the support of the foundation, their
phraewa silk textiles have more colours to attract more customers. The patterns have been added from the original 60 patterns to 100 designs including animals and other objects that the villagers see in their daily life.
The width of a piece of phraewa silk cloth has also increased from 27cm to 75cm, which is wide enough to be a scarf. They can also produce large pieces of
phraewa cloth, or up to 2.2m in width and 5m in length, for customers to make a dress.
The members of the Phraewa Silk Cloth Weaving Group of Ban Phon has gradually expanded from 17 members at the start to 350 members today.
Phraewa silk clothes are exported and registered as five-star One Tambon One Product of Kalasin. It also earned Geographical Indication status of Kalasin in 2007.
Khamson is known as a master along with other pioneer members of the weaving group. They have taught people to weave
phraewa silk cloth in Kalasin and other parts of the country.
“Our living conditions have been much improved after our group was supported by the Queen’s project. Today one piece of
phraewa cloth can be priced from 10,000 baht to 100,000 baht depending on patterns and quality of silk,” said Somsri, head of the Phraewa Silk Cloth Weaving Group of Ban Phon.
The earning from selling phraewa textiles is more than the money they get from growing rice, but they still see themselves as farmers. They grow chemical-free rice for their own consumption and fruits such as
phutsa nom sod (large green jujube fruit) to sell.
Ban Phon offers homestay service for visitors who want to learn how to weave
phraewa silk fabrics.
“Phraewa silk cloth is our pride. We are willing to share and teach our visitors. We want our knowledge to live on,” said Somsri.