Chonabot

Introducing Chonabot

This small town located 55km southwest of Khon Kaen is one of Thailand’s most successful silk villages. The easiest place to see the fabrics is at Sala Mai Thai (Thai Silk Pavilion; no roman-script sign; 0 4328 6160; donations appreciated; 8am-5pm), a resource centre for the local silk industry on the campus of Khon Kaen Industrial & Community Education College. There are a couple of traditional northeastern wooden houses with looms and other artefacts (ask the staff to unlock them), plus an exhibition hall cataloguing traditional mát-mìi patterns. The campus is 1km west of Chonabot on Rte 229.

The pavilion sells silk, too, but most people buy from the shops on Th Sribunreung (aka Silk Road), though textiles can be purchased directly from silk-weaving houses in Chonabot – look for the tell-tale looms beneath the wooden homes. Even if you’re not interested in buying, it’s worth wandering around to look at the amazing variety of simple wooden contraptions devised to spin, tie, weave and dry silk.

Some well-known weaving households include those belonging to Khun Suwan, Khun Songkhram, Khun Chin and Khun Thongsuk. Very little English is spoken in Chonabot, so it helps considerably if you bring someone along who knows Thai.

Last updated: Jun 3, 2009