Silk weaving community that once supplied Jim Thompson now a dying breed

When one thinks of Jim Thompson, people typically picture an American businessman who played a key role in reviving the Thai silk industry in the 1950s-1960s. What people don’t know is that the Baan Krua community was like the weaving factory of the Jim Thompson brand.

The Nation chatted with Niphon Manuthas, the 75-year-old owner of the only weaving business in operation at the Baan Krua community. This place previously made Thai silk for Jim Thompson himself.

Niphon claims to be the third generation in the family business and has woven Thai silk for HM Queen Sirikit during the reign of King Rama IX and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

“I was raised in the Baan Krua community from birth. My mother wove silk for Jim Thompson. I developed an intense attachment to textiles and every piece of cloth.”

Origin of Baan Krua

Spread across approximately 14 rai (2.24 hectares) on both sides of the San Saeb canal — from Hua Chang Bridge to Wat Phraya Yang Temple — is the area that people call Baan Krua.

Currently, the community is divided into three parts due to the city development. They are: North Baan Krua, South Baan Krua in Ratchathewi district, and West Baan Krua in Pathumwan district of Bangkok.

According to Niphon, people in the Baan Krua area are the Chams — or Champa people — from Cambodia who lived around the mouth of the Mekong River opposite Danang City, Vietnam.

The Ayutthaya annals from King Narai the Great’s reign mention the Champa people in Siam at that time and how they had incredible skills in spinning and weaving.

Niphon said that during the reign of King Rama I (1782), when he first built the Rattanakosin Kingdom, Siam still faced battles with neighbours. The Champa people assisted the King in winning the battles. The King rewarded the Chams with some land in Bangkok, which later became known as Baan Krua. They first settled here in 1787.

The Baan Krua area serves as the vanguard when the country is at war. Male Chams mostly served in the military. The women were housewives. In addition to taking care of the house chores, they also engaged in weaving.

In 1837, King Rama III widened the San Saeb Canal to 53.56 kilometres to make fast travel possible between Bangkok and Chachoengsao. This resulted in a dynamic and active atmosphere on both sides of the canal including the Baan Krua community.

The greatest migration of Chams took place in the reign of King Rama V (1863-1910) when the French occupied Cambodia in 1863. They banned the practice of Islam. The Champa people, therefore, came to rely on His Majesty the King and because of their ancestors' excellent deeds in the past, King Rama V granted the Champa people of Baan Krua land title deeds.

The Chams who migrated from Cambodia were mostly Muslims. They not only brought the Islamic religion but also the unique weaving civilization.

The Chams left Cambodia and reached the San Saeb Canal in one to two months. They brought with them their weaving looms and raw materials used for weaving.

"When the Chams first came to Baan Krua, there were about 100 households, and they were weaving sarong in the Chams style for sales,” said Niphon.

During World War II, from 1939-1945, weaving activity was temporarily paused because the Baan Krua area was bombarded. Most of its residents sailed to the Nong Chok area to seek shelter and returned only after the war ended.

The weaving skills of Baan Krua were well-known and even famous in Sa Pathum Palace, a residence of the Thai Royal Family and the official residence of Princess Sirindhorn. The palace invited some weavers from Baan Krua to the palace and asked them to weave for King Rama V’s queen, Savang Vadhana in 1927.

The silk weaving knowledge of the Champa people from Baan Krua was developed in the palace by King Rama V’s daughter and subsequently became the Queen Sirikit Department of Sericulture in the reign of King Rama IX.

The Baan Krua-Jim Thompson connection

It was around 1949-1950 when an American businessman, James Harrison Wilson Thompson founded the Baan Krua community. He started his silk business and named it “Jim Thompson” in 1951.

“The sound of the loom was loud throughout the San Saeb canal, that is how Thompson discovered our community. He was a one-man show, he knew what he wanted and what kind of fabric was popular in the market. He designed the cloth pattern and gave the orders for production to every household. However, there were five main households, including my own, that produced the silk for Jim Thompson,” said Niphon.

According to Niphon, the silk production capacity of Baan Krua at that time was approximately 500 yards per day using 100 looms. Thompson distributed the company’s equity to each and every one of his Baan Krua business partners, depending on their contributions.

“The status of Baan Krua weavers improved because of the massive orders from Jim Thompson, and some even became millionaires. They even had all electricity facilities in their houses and that also lifted the whole Thai silk businesses in other areas as well,” Niphon added.

After the disappearance of Thompson in 1967 in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, the silk company had its first set of executive committees to effectively manage the business.

The silk orders steadily declined in Jim Thompson’s absence, as a result many small Baan Krua weavers gradually closed down their businesses, while only the big ones survived.

“After the loss of Thompson, I continued to produce silk for his company for 10 years. Imagine how many orders he had placed. I was the one who delivered the last order to Jim Thompson,” said Niphon.

In 1988, Jim Thompson moved its production base from Baan Krua to a silk factory in Pak Thong Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima province, which later became Jim Thompson Farm.

“I remember the company also bought some old looms from the closed businesses of Baan Krua and took them to the Pak Thong Chai factory,” said Niphon.

“Now I am running the last weaving business in Baan Krua. We sell silk domestically and internationally, and the countries we mostly export silk to are the United States and Australia."

Weaving it together

Niphon graduated from Germany. He studied textile and adapted his knowledge to create soft yellow silk which has natural colours from silkworms and a special touch. This type of silk was later given the name “Sirindhorn Yellow” by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

With great pride, he declared that this was his contribution to the Thai silk industry and that the government should take Sirindhorn Yellow silk to new heights. "Perhaps we could have a national costume or uniform using Sirindhorn Yellow silk and wear them in Parliament, school or anywhere," he suggested.

Niphon revealed that the low pay and the specialised nature of the work were the reasons behind the steady decline in the number of qualified weavers. There are just four expert weavers for Niphon’s business, and two of them are on personal leave.

Jeab, one of the skilled weavers at Niphon's, began weaving in her hometown in Surin province, northeastern Thailand, when she was 15 years old. She sits all day, weaving from 8am to 5pm. She is capable of producing eight yards of silk a day.

“The pressure and the tempo of the hands and feet when controlling the loom must be consistent, otherwise it would show in the fabric that the weaving is uneven,” said Jeab.

According to Jeab, the two colours of silk used in the warp and weft during the weaving process are what give the silk its lustrous, iridescent character.

When using a loom to weave, the primary colour of the silk will be stretched on the loom, and the secondary colour will be on the weaving shuttle, which carries the weft yarn thread and creates an iridescent texture when the light hits the silk.

At 54, she plans to continue with this job. “My children feel that becoming weavers is a labour-intensive job and that they would be better off pursuing something more office-related," she said.

Niphon's daughter graduated from the United Kingdom and she is now continuing the family silk business by selling them via e-commerce websites.

“I’m not worried about my business because my daughter is eager to take care of it,” said Niphon.

Niphon admires the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's project to make this region a local destination.

“We intend to paint more murals here and turn this location along the San Saeb Canal into a tourist destination. I hope that more people will return to weaving because it's what makes our neighbourhood so charming,” said Niphon. He added that he was willing to turn the upstairs of his house into a community museum to serve as a learning resource on silk weaving.

It is a cause for concern that this village won't retain its inherent sense of community if it quits weaving. And someday, the area may become home to tall, modern structures, blending with the others in its neighbourhood.