The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

westozguy

So... I just got back to Oz after my first trip to Thailand...

My trip confirmed I'd like to spend a lot more time there in the future to explore the country...

Which of course had me thinking even before I went there, how to make a living and the best way to create business interests there without becoming entangled in a messy legal system clearly structured against Westerners...
I'm just not fool enough to be willing to invest money there unless I could develop an investment vehicle I could control.

Well I bought some Thai silk back as gifts and one thing has led to another which has me holding orders for 20 x the amount of linen that I brought back... And that's from only one customer.
So I figure that's maybe just the tip of the iceberg.

So while I was there in Khon Kaen my Isaan girly host (who's mom used to make silk fabrics for a living when she was still alive), tells me there's a silk cloth manufacturer in that city... But I don't really want to go back to Khon Kaen nor involve her in the business, certain events transpired that tell me not to trust her with either affairs de' amour nor in business matters either.

My question is: Can anyone shed any light on the likelihood/fact there is a silk manufacturer in Udon Thani or perhaps somewhere else in that poorer north/north-eastern region...

...Where I figure are the more likely/profitable source of such fabric that I could focus my attention on for my next trip in about three and a half weeks.

SandMike

There's a village called Ban Khwao (sp??) about 15km outside Chaiyaphum city on the 225 road going west.

The village has many cottage industry type silk producers/shops.

The problem with these is colour consistency, I wanted to order in bulk, and one shop refused, citing issues with colour, because of the hand dyeing batch process.. I didn't pursue it further. The best the shop could do was 20 metre long by 1-1,2m wide rolls.

There are much larger silk manufacturers who can produce consistent colours, but i have no info.

Not much, but i hope it helps

westozguy

^^ yes it does help thanks, every little piece of the jig-saw is part of the overall picture I'm trying to see...

LukDod

If you're looking for top quality silk, in Issan, then you must go to the Thasawang silk village which is about 10-12km NW of Surin. The village also make some silk for the Jim Thompson shops.