Shopping / Handicrafts

Bencharong is a kind of porcelain, distinguished by enamel decorations in many colors. The particular technics of porcelain manufacture came to Thailand from China. A Bencharong collection can be seen at Jim Thompson’s House, Soi Kasemsan, Rama I Road. Art shops that specialize in Bencharong are:

Prassart Collection

Peninsula Plaza, Rajadamri Road

Tel 253-9772; old and new Bencharong

Unique Arts & Crafts Ltd

70 Soi 1, Sukhumvit Rd, Tel 251-8297

good selection of ceramics, Bencharong

Celadon

Celadon is a kind of porcelain which is baked at especially high temperatures. Like in the case of Bencharong porcelain, the technics for making Celadon originates from China and was brought to Thailand in the 12th and 13th century when Thais in large numbers migrated from South China to Southeast Asia. Though originally Chinese, the manufacture of Celadon has since developed into unique Thai forms. The colors and patterns of celadon porcelain are not just painted on the items afterwards but sort of burned in when the ceramic item is baked. Most often the minerals used for the glaze produce various intensities of green. A number of shops in Bangkok specialize in Celadon. Among them is Celadon House, Soi 21 (Asoke), Sukhumvit Road, Tel 258-3920, Mon-Sat, 9:00-17:00.

Lacquerware

The manufacture of lacquerware is a complicated process which, like so many arts technics, has been introduced to Thailand from China. Today, most of the Thai lacquerware is made around Chiang Mai.

The manufacture of lacquerware starts with raw wooden forms. In Thailand, small elephant images are very popular, aside from show plates and little boxes. The wooden piece is polished and then painted with black lacquer again and again.

While a design can just be painted on top of the lacquer item, the much more intricate technics is to create in-laid designs. For these, extremely thin gold leaves are most commonly used. Other in-laid materials are egg shell and mother-of-pearl.

There are a large number of lacquerware factories in Chiang Mai on the Road to San Kamphaeng, just a few kilometers out of the city. Visits to these factories are common itineraries of sightseeing tours in Chiang Mai. The visitor should be aware (and beware) that the factories visited mostly have been specially designed as tour destinations. They all have parking lots big enough to accommodate several tour buses at one time, and at many of these so-called factories, the sales staff seems to be more numerous than the "factory" workers, and usually, the showrooms are much bigger than the manufacturing halls.

It can be doubted that a number of these "factories" actually engage in large scale manufacturing of lacquerware items themselves. Many seem to have just an alibi factory attached to the showroom in order to pass off themselves as factories and to attract visitors who can be shown the way lacquerware is made and who often believe that because a particular establishment dubs itself "factory", prices must be low. This is seldom the case.

The emphasis of most of these factories certainly is on retail sale, not on manufacturing, and prices are retail prices, too. Furthermore, marked prices at these "factories" are usually quite high, even for retail standards. Participants of arranged sightseeing tours can typically bargain for a 10 % discounts. Those who buy independently may be able to get discounts of around 50 %.

Going to some of the factories independently means: going there by public transport or with a private vehicle. The suspicion is justified that when arriving in a taxi cab, the driver will demand from the "factory" his commission on all sales; if he shouldn’t get a commission, he would probably tell his passenger: "Let’s visit another factory. Cheaper prices there." And off the client goes. What the taxi driver probably really meant was: not enough commission here for me.

It is unclear to what extent the lacquerware offered in the so-called factories of Chiang Mai is actually factory-made. Most of the handicraft products in north and northeast Thailand are not produced factory-style but rather in home industry. A trader supplies materials, and often a whole family participates in the production of certain items. Many Thai families in the provinces prefer the system over going out on a regular employment, and the trader saves the cost for a true factory site.

Furthermore it seems to be the case that quite a lot of Burmese lacquerware is sold along with Thai products and passed off as made in Thailand. Smuggled from Burma into Thailand are considerable quantities especially of gold inlaid lacquer pieces depicting not just any easy-to-do ornament but intricate designs of human or mythological figures. These figures are scratched into inlaid gold leave layers with needle-like tools.

Prices for these Burmese, or at least Burmese style, lacquer pieces, most typically show plates, small show boards, jewelry boxes or vases are often not higher than for rather cheaply produced other lacquer items just featuring painted ornaments. The lowest prices for this exquisite kind of lacquerware this author has found at Mae Sai right at the border to Burma. Many shops selling Burmese lacquerware as well as other Burmese handicrafts are right at the bridge that crosses the Sai river into Burma. The lowest prices this author were repeatedly offered at Village Produce on Phahonyothin Road, considerably closer to the bus stop of the buses to and from Chiang Mai than to the border bridge.

In Bangkok lacquerware from Chiang Mai and Burma is available from many street hawkers in the tourist districts, at handicraft stores and at Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Only seldom available in Bangkok is Vietnamese lacquerware. It is easily distinguished, first because it normally uses red-brown instead of black lacquer, second because most pieces are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and third because pieces of Vietnamese origin are usually much larger than those of Thai or Burmese origin. Vietnamese lacquerware is smuggled through Laos and Cambodia into Thailand by numerous small time traders who cross the borders with just a few pieces and then sell the items in Thai border towns such as Mukdahan and Aranyapathet.

Vietnamese lacquerware actually is among the best buys Thailand can offer. If compared to Thai and Burmese lacquerware, the pieces generally appear more artistic. And still, when taken the price per square inch, they tend to be cheaper than either Burmese or Thai lacquerware. Very large Vietnamese mother-of-pearl lacquerware is not uncommon. Aside from show boards, there are available room dividers, boxes and whole living room furniture sets.

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