Silk weaving in Surin is an art craft with a unique style and long history. Its design
and colour differ from other provinces’ due to the Cambodian-influenced.
In the past silk was made for using within the household and on special
occasions or Bhuddist ceremonies. The silk weaving was done after the
harvest season. The silk has a unique dim colour such as brown, red,
green, black, and yellow. The silk design is carefully elaborated with
tales or auspicious meanings like Pha Am Prom, Pha An Lui Seam, and Pha
Hole which are the queen of Surin silk.
Almost every
village in Surin produces silk. The famouse one during this time is from
BanThasawang, Thasawang Sub-district, Muang District, Surin Province.
Pha Yok Thong Boran, ancient design and weaving with gold thread, always
amazes people who have seen it. This marvelous piece of work was
invented by Arjarn Weeratham Trakulngernthai. To produce each Pha Yok
Thong Boran is time consuming in making design, drawing patterns, and
collecting Ta Kor, the selection of silk yarn, which takes 2-3 months.
It takes 1-3 months to finish and at least 4 people in each loom. Each
loom produces only 5-7 cm length daily. The silk yarns are dyed from
natural ingredients to perform the design followed by gold thread
weaving method from India. The silk is not sold in the market. In the
occasion that Thailand hosted the APEC meeting in October 2003, Arjarn
Weeratham was chosen to design and produce silk for all the country
leaders.
