Handwoven cotton

Cotton, originally cultivated in the Indus Valley, has been used to make textiles for thousands of years. It is cool, absorbent, and wears and dyes easily. These are properties that have made it popular worldwide. It is the fiber most often used to make traditional Thai textiles. Weaving was a craft that was passed on from generation to generation throughout Thailand. Today there are a handful of weaving communities left where the tradition is kept alive, mostly by older women who weave on their front porch, in between farming and taking care of their families.