CarrieMpls said:

TY

Beautiful!!! You ladies did a wonderful job! I hope you feel gorgeous in it, Jess!

applekisses said:

she said i could take pix tomorrow of her in it

TY

Beautiful! Kinda reminds me of the things the tribes in Northern Thailand make.

Fauxie said:

WOW tirbes ? what are they called ?

do they sell them ?




thanx

Mach said:

Yep, there are lots of hill tribes in the north east of Thailand near the Laos border, all with different languages - there's Lahu, Akha, Lisu, Mong, Mien and several other smaller tribes. They total roughly 800,000 people in Thailand, but the same tribes with the same languages can also be found in parts of Myanmar, Laos, northern Vietnam and southwestern China. There are in fact 15 million people worldwide who speak at least one of the five languages of these main hill tribes found in Thailand.

I recently bought a bag from a lady from the north east when I was in Khao San Road. I don't honestly know how authentic these items or indeed the people selling them are though. They wear the traditional clothes and sell all manner of interesting (but sometimes slightly tacky looking) bits and bobs, but it all seems very touristy. I imagine it may not be quite as authentic as actually visiting the tribes and buying their handmade goods.

Karen silver is another product northern Thailand is famous for. It's usually .950 or higher, very soft, and often quite expensive if bought outside of Thailand.


[Edited 8/2/06 20:58pm]