Precious Thai heritage dying out

Baan Baht, an old neighbourhood in Bangkok’s Koh Rattanakosin area, is famous as the first and only community to craft handmade “Baht” alms bowls, used by monks on their morning rounds.
Your video shows the step-by-step process used to craft the bowls by hand and reveals the serious commitment, effort and folk wisdom that have been passed from generation to generation for more than a century. The craftsmen put their heart and soul into the bowls, each of which takes nearly a week to complete.
However, the handcrafted bowls are quickly being replaced by factory-made versions, which are lower in price. They are also inferior in quality. You can tell a Baan Baht bowl by the clear loud ring it gives when struck, while the factory-made replicas are dull by comparison. 
There are now only a few families left in Rattanakosin making the traditional bowls. But the threat to this tradition is not from a lack of orders – people still want handmade alms bowls.
The fact is that even though the community is eager to pass on knowledge of this craft, few people show serious interest in learning it and taking it up as a profession. So the biggest threat to this cultural heritage is the absence of people in Baan Baht willing to carry it on into the next generation. The community needs support from the rest of society if we want this precious Thai tradition to survive into future generations.
Sutipunt Bongsununt