Local Thai Handicrafts

Ban Khiriwong Village
Nakhon Sri Thammarat

We start off by visiting the former royal city province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat in Southern Thailand. Steeped in History, local culture and housing one of the largest temples in the country outside of the capital, Bangkok, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, was once its own kingdom, before being brought into the Kingdom of Thailand.

Nowadays, Nakhon as the locals refer to her is a bustling Southern city offering plenty for the tourist. The coastline has wonderful beaches in the areas of Khanom and Sichon, inland the attractions are the mountains and waterfalls, fantastic for camping, trekking, kayaking and bird watching, and of course the city itself, with its main Buddhist Temple Wat Maharatat, the local history museum, traditional Thai style markets and handicraft stalls offering the tourist, a real insight into local culture and life.

Handicrafts are a very important part of Thai culture. Thais are taught the basic skills at schools and by their own families, who have handed them down over generations. Skills such as basket making, brass shaping, cloth dyeing for fabric products , traditional cloth weaving techniques and making wonderful products from coconut shells are very common in this area of Thailand

Many such products are produced locally in villages, and are sold to make a living and help provide an income for the local people and the country as a whole. The quality of these products is very high indeed, and their costs relatively low in comparison to what you would pay at home.

Xplore Asia Thailand takes you to one such village, located amongst the beautiful scenery of Khao Luang National Park, Ban Khiriwong Village is an Eco Tourism sufficiency village, where the locals have set up a handicrafts program to produce products for sale to provide the local economy and themselves with an income.

With Khao Luang mountain as a backdrop to the village, Khiriwong has plenty to offer the tourist, looking for adventure or relaxation, with home-stay programs, bird watching, camping and trekking all available here, in a wonderful setting.

For more information on Xplore-Asia's 3 night 4 day itinerary to Nakhon Sri Thammarat, including Khirwong village, contact us and visit our facebook site.

Next week, we take you to Koh Phayam, an unseen, little known and visited island just off of the coast of Ranong. See you soon.