Crafts

Distinctively Thai crafts originated in the Sukhothai era, flowered in the Ayutthaya period, and then were revived during the present Rattanakosin era.

Before the beginning of the Sukhothai era, the cultural influence of the Lanna kingdom was pervasive. Lanna was a semi-autonomous realm in northern Thailand which was conquered and controlled by the Burmese before being absorbed by the Ayutthaya empire in 1775. Its influence can still be discerned in the artistry of craftsmen in the North. The influence of the Mon, who controlled much of the territory of Thailand in the 6th to 9th century, and the Khmer, who succeeded them in the 11th and 12th centuries, is still seen in the crafts of both the Northeast and Central regions. Both the Mon and the Khmer were themselves influenced by the Dvaravati empire which had earlier ruled much of southern Thailand and Malaysia. The Dvaravati empire, in turn, incorporated many ideas and myths from Indian culture. This accounts for the inclusion of Hindu deities and myths in many Thai craft forms. To further complicate matters Muslim influence persists in the crafts of the South.

Throughout all these periods, the importance of Chinese styles and methods should not be underestimated. It is likely that the Thai brought with them many crafts, including sericulture and silk weaving, during the periodic migrations. These waves of migration brought crafts from the southern Chinese provinces of Wangtung, Kwansi and Yunnan, first to northern Thailand and later to the fertile central plains. These migrations probably began in the 1st century, and continued intermittently for more than a thousand years. Traditional crafts such as pottery and textiles were part of the cultural heritage of the migrants. A Chinese diplomat, Chou Ta-Kuan, wrote an account of a visit to the Khmer empire in 1296 in which he noted that the Khmer imported silk and silk weavers from Siam, as Thailand was then known.

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