Mook's Hill Tribe Crafts and Tours
The Karen people are an indigenous tribe of Northern Thailand and Myanmar, living the traditional way. Welcome to Muang Phaem
Weaving
My name is Mook. I am from the Karen hill tribe of Mae Hong Son in Northern Thailand.
I preserve the tradition of natural dyes and hand weaving from my ancestors. We make shirts, scarves, shawls and bags.
These handwoven scarves are naturally dyed using traditional methods. Dyes can be made from many forest ingredients. These include flowers, berries, and special barks. The ingredients are collected and steeped in water for a week to create a strong dye. The dye is then boiled and the cotton yarn is added which will soak overnight to absorb the color. After cleaning, cooked rice is rubbed into the cotton. This acts as a conditioner to strengthen the yarn.
The Yarn is now ready for weaving. Tension on the loom is created using the body weight of the weaver. A belt attaches the loom to the weaver who sits back or forth to tighten or loosen the loom. Once the weave is complete the ends are cut and tied to secure the pattern.
The entire process takes years to learn and is handed down from mother to daughter. Karen weaving is a very important part of Karen culture and is also now an important source of income from visiting tourists.
Muang Phaem
Welcome to Muang Phaem.
Muang Phaem village, named after the creek running through the village, is situated deep in the mountains of Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand. Ban Muang Phaem is a Karen ethnic village. We are a unique ehnic tribe with our own language. The villagers are mainly Buddhists, but a few practice Christianity. We have a rich culture and tradition that has been passed down from our ancestors for a very long time.
Most of the people have an occupation in agriculture. We use a system of rice production called 'nadam', which is the transplanting of small rice plants into the paddies. Rice is grown in terraces along with permanent and shifting fields. Clearing forest for rice fields is a traditional right that precedes the declaration of the area as a protected forest and wildlife sanctuary. Other vegetables are grown both for human consumption and for farm animals. People also gather vegetables from the forest and fish in the creek. Most food produced in Muang Phaem is eaten within the village, making it very self sufficient.
The specialty of this village is to keep the traditional life alive. The preservation of cultural traditions and local wisdom makes Muang Phaem a unique village. We still practive the traditional way of dyeing cotton from natural ingredients. It’s a local knowledge that is preserved from generation to generation. This includes dyeing from tree bark, leaves, flowers, mud, and fruit, and then weaving the cotton into fabrics such as sarongs, bags, blankets, scarves, etc. Other local crafts that we have preserved are basket weaving and the carving of wooden items, which are very durable and neatly finished for use in everyday life.
We have a villager who is an herbal doctor. He teaches about various herbs obtained by searching in the wilderness, such as the tiger tiger. When boiled and eaten it is a helpful tonic for the body. There are also other very useful herbs. This wisdom remains in the village of Muang Phaem.
Muang Phaem resides in a protected forest. Although the people have the right to harvest wood for the village, trees are not burned or destroyed without a good reason. The fish of the 'wang pla' (fish cave) are also conserved by not catching fish during the spawning season. The forest here is therefore very fertile. Walking through the rice fields, you will find a diverse forest with mineral springs that act as nutritional supplements for both wild and domestic animals. Further along you'll find the entrance to large limestone caves with stalactites and stalagmites.
With the cooperation of the villagers, Muang Phaem has developed into a beautiful village, both in terms of continuing the cultural traditions and inheritting the wisdom used in daily life. And always remember the living area of the protected forest. It is a distinctive identity of Muang Phaem village that is maintained and very worth visiting.
Village Gallery
Cooking Videos
Tours
You're welcome to join us to explore Muang Phaem.
Cultural activities include learning about Karen culture, the cultivation of rice, traditional weaving craft, forest medicines, and cooking. Other activities include a home stay in a traditional teak and bamboo house, forest hiking, and cave exploration.
Please message me below for more information or to book a tour. Thanks, ka! :)
Contact
Please message me if you have any questions or would like to book a tour. mookshilltribecrafts@gmail.com
To purchase a scarf or other weaving product click here or below for my Etsy page.