“Baan Pa Toom Pa Tai” Museum

My wife had to attend a meeting in Sakon Nakon Province, so I looked up an interesting place to visit. Little did we know that we would find this place so interesting.The museum honours H.M. the Queen of Thailand’s personal visit in 1970s to the home of one of the village’s elders when H.M. the Queen graciously encouraged and supported their silk weaving so as to continue their traditional way of living. The home has been preserved and turned into a museum with photos of H.M.’s visit and quite a display of beautiful silk scarves and cloth by local elderly ladies.Nearby is the weaving centre of the village where one can see and learn how the silk is made, from the silkworms to a beautiful piece of cloth. Apart from using natural colours, these ingenious ladies finds a way to apply indigo (dark blue colour from plant of the same name which has made Sakon Nakon’s cotton products famous) with their silk, through repeatedly apply the indigo, sometimes up to 8 or 9 times, to make beautiful indigo-dyed silk.One can also the finished products from the centre.