When the commodity economy has not developed yet, brocades are made to meet the needs of people within families; they also serve as the marriage portion for the daughters when they get married or simply as an exchange for other goods. Throughout the course of time, brocade has gradually become indispensable in Thai people’s material and spiritual lives.
In order to create a nice brocade, Thai women have to go through many steps, starting from planting cotton plants, spinning cotton, weaving, dyeing and decorating. After harvesting from the crop, the cottons have to go through several steps of treating, such as flattening, carding cotton, rolling up and sizing the threads. After that, the threads will be put on the weaving loom and ready to be woven.
Brocades are made entirely by hands; therefore, based on their desires and skills, the artisans can decide how tight, loose, soft or firm they want the finished products to be. Brocades can come in different shapes and sizes as they can be used for clothing or simply just as decorations for other items in their own homes.
The weaving loom of Thai people bears a lot of similarities compared to other tribal groups. The special feature here lies in the weaving process and the patterns that they create. The brocades of the Thai group are generally colorful but still harmonious with patterns symbolized the sun, animals and plants. In order to create these patterns, Thai women have to weave thread by thread, creating the pattern directly on the loom. Other than that, to create a colorful brocade as you can see, it also takes a lot of patience as the artisan needs to collect 7 kinds of plants and fruits in order to dye the threads into 7 different colors, just like the colors of the rainbow. The finished brocade does not only serve daily purposes of the Thai people, it also presents the creativity and skillfulness of Thai women.
Thai people often use brocades on clothes or household items such as blankets, pillows, scarves and so on. They believe that brocades can help them avoid ghosts and evil spirits. Maintaining the traditional craft of Thai people is synonymous with maintaining their culture. Brocade is known as the symbol of the Thai, throughout the years, it has proven to be indispensable in Thai people’s daily lives.