The orient has always been famous for its textiles, and Thailand, in particular, has a rich tradition of producing fine hand-woven fabrics. The Thai silk enjoys worldwide recognition and is perhaps the most popular of all Thailand's shopping treasures. Cotton and batik are also available.

Thai Silk

Thai silk is perhaps the country's best known quality product, available at an enormous range of colors, design, and widths. Not only does this fabulous material lend itself to haute couture, it is also ideal for curtains, wall coverings and other interior design uses. Silk can be bought by the length, as tailor made outfits, or in a huge variety of accessories and decorative items.

Mat Mee silk, a unique style of Thai silk, is traditional to the northeast. Produced from tie-dyed silk threads, the fabric is hand-woven in a variety of beautiful designs, typically distinguished by intricate patterns and subtle colors. Once a neglected craft, Mat Mee silk has been revitalized and now enjoys an unprecedented vogue as a fashion material by the Royal Thai family.

Cotton & Batik

Thai cotton has gained an enormous reputation over recent years and is today as famous and as popular as silk. A fabric of fine texture and durable quality, Thai cotton is produced in a broad range of colors, prints and embroidered designs, and is found in a wide variety of goods from clothing to bedspreads, table linen, cushion covers, rugs, bags and more.

Notable among specialty cottons are hill-tribe handicrafts and batik designs. Woven in traditional patterns by the tribal people of the north and typically displaying bold designs and often lavish embroidery, hill-tribe cottons make an especially attractive buy. Different in style but equally distinctive are original batiks crafted at several studios in Bangkok.