Six years ago, a village home to the Khmu hill tribe was devastated by heavy flooding and mudflow in tambon Muaeng Kai of Chiang Mai's Mae Taeng district.
In Kai Noi village, ten residents were killed and 15 houses were swept away. The villagers relocated to a National Reserve area under the Mon Ngor Royal Project Development Centre, which repopulated 60 households with 144 members.
As part of the resettlement process, farming systems were set up with new crops. Still, villagers faced a precarious period of income shortage while as they awaited harvest.
Meanwhile, many young and middle-aged villagers left the community to seek work elsewhere. The elderly, aged 60 or above, who make up 40% of the village population, were left to eke out an income on traditional practices like selling hand-woven products.
Despite the initial setbacks, the new settlement is now home to a special vegetation landscape. Eighty percent of the new village area has been populated with a type of palm tree called livistona speciosa or khor as it is known locally. The tree's leaves are frequently used as roofing materials in the vernacular architecture of the region.
all grown up: A special kind of palm tree called 'khor' used for basket weaving.
The supplementary income earned from selling khor leaves for this purpose amounts to anywhere between 800,000 to 1 million baht per year for the entire village, or around 20,000 baht per household.
With guidance from local agencies, a weaving craft group was formed to produce sticky rice boxes and trays made of khor bark. Initially, the venture offered little revenue -- a fact blamed on a lack of marketing expertise.
In 2015, a research team from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) Collaborative Centre for the Royal Project Foundation and Academic Activities was asked to visit Kai Noi to offer assistance to the basket weaving group.
In the first meeting with villagers, KMUTT researcher Wanthida Wongruen says the team noted the top quality of the khor and unique weaving skills of the villagers. The team said the village should adapt to modern consumers, but it would need to develop new designs.
The research team started to work with the villagers, offering them tips on how to increase the value of the products and control costs.
"We have transformed the group's purpose from only producing traditional handicrafts to now producing various forms of containers, including creating integral forms and structures for modern designs and contemporary art installations," she said.
In 2016, the craft group from Kai Noi village was chosen to demonstrate their basket weaving skills at the Thai Factory Exhibition at Setouchi Triennale, a renowned art event in Japan.
Ms Wanthida says the group has been asked to supply nearly 300 products per month to the Royal Project Development Centre, alongside other clients, for prices ranging from 100 to 500 baht per product, bringing in ample profit.
Palida Fakkaelek, a KMUTT student doing her Masters degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and a member of the Kai Noi research team, says the group is now focusing on preserving khor leaves from mold and decomposition so the weaving group will have enough raw materials to create products for the whole year.
"We found that around 80,000 to 100,000 khor leaves were cut annually, meaning the same amount of khor branches were cut," says Ms Palida. "However, only 3,000 pieces of bark from the branches were used as strips for weaving basketry while the rest got moldy and decomposed."
If these 77,000 bark pieces could be peeled down to around 770,000 strips, they could be used to produce more basketry and potentially more income, she added.
Saowanee Pangmalee, known as Mae Luang Nee, is the leader of weaving craft group at Kai Noi village. She says the villagers' quality of life has improved significantly since the KMUTT research team got involved.
"At present, income from selling khor products averages around 5,000 to 10,000 baht a month per household, an increase from the 2,000 baht a month earned three years ago," she said.
Mae Luang Nee says she is happy the younger and middle-aged community members do not have to leave the village to work elsewhere as they can get by on selling craft products alone.
"Many who left the village earlier are also planning to come back," she said. "Our weaving crafts are bringing the village back to life."
selling points: King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi's research team in Ban Kai Noi.
helping hands: Woven crafts designed by Kai Noi villagers in collaboration with King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi students.
