Day 3 - Wed, Nov 5 - The Ban Baht Monk's Bowl Village (Bangkok)

From a few different museum exhibits we've been to, we've noticed that there isa movement to save traditional Thai Arts and crafts from extinction. The Thai Queen especially has played a large part in reviving and spreading certains arts and crafs by comissioning large works, creating a kind of workforce adjustment program that turns farmers into craftsmen through training programs. The Thai's get a chance to learn and carry on their culture and tourists end up with lots of interesting and well made crafts to buy.


Pierre noticed a mention in our guide book about a group of craftspeople who make monk's bowls by hand. The bowls that are used by monks nowadays to collect food offerings are mass made (in China, of course) but traditionally they were made by fusing several pieces of steel, copper and/or brass together, banging it into shape and then covering it in a dark lacquer.


Pierre was interested in getting one of these bowls so we headed over to check it out. It was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. A handful of artisans live in two short, narrow, parallel alleys called Ban Baht. The alley was pretty easy to find thanks to signs like this:

The area is pretty poor, though safe and clean. This type of craftwork doesn't yet seem to be a part of the Queen's traditional crafts movement so income comes from tourist dollars and the occasional high ranking monk/priest who splurges on a handmade bowl.

We preferred the unlacquered bowls and ended up buying from the first woman we'd met on our tour of the alleyways. Her prices were the best and we like the style of her bowl, with the hammer marks still visible on the finished product.

She gave us a demonstration of the technique for hammering the semi-finished bowl into proper shape using a hammer with the bowl hung over a rounded anvil:

She was a highlight of the day - great smile, and she kept chucking us under the chin like we were babies.

photo credits: DG, PG, PG, DG, DG