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((Short description|Silk from the cocoons of Thai silkworms))
((More citations needed|date=May 2008))
[[File:Thai Silk Cloth - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg|thumb|Traditional Thai silk cloth]]
[[File:Silk Spool Jim Thompson Photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|Silk cocoons and spool at [[Jim Thompson House]] ]]
'''Thai silk''' (((lang-th|ผ้าไหมไทย)), ((RTGS|''pha mai thai'')), ((IPA-th|pʰâː mǎj tʰāj|pron))) is produced from the [[Pupa#Cocoon|cocoon]]s of Thai [[silkworms]]. Thailand's silkworm farmers cultivate both types of the domesticated silkworms that produce commercial silk: ''[[Samia cynthia|Samia ricini]]'', commonly known as the eri silkworm, which produces [[wikt:matte|matte]] [[eri silk]], and the ''[[Bombyx mori]]'', producer of the better known, glossy mulberry silk.<ref name=BP-20170219>((cite news|last1=Wangkiat|first1=Paritta|title=Ericulture reeling them in|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1201117/ericulture-reeling-them-in|accessdate=19 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=19 February 2017))</ref> The latter is by far the larger silk producer of the two.<ref>((cite web|title=Types of Silk|url=http://inserco.org/en/?q=types_of_silk|website=International Sericultural Commission (ISC)|accessdate=19 February 2017))</ref>

In Thailand, the Center for Excellence in Silk at [[Kasetsart University]]'s [[Kamphaeng Saen]] campus plays a leading research role in [[sericulture]] research as well as providing silkworm eggs and know-how to Thai farmers.<ref name="BP-20170219" />

==History==
[[File:Thai man spools silk at Jim Thompson House photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|Thai man spools silk at Jim Thompson House]]
After silk originated in ancient [[China]] and [[India]], where the practice of weaving silk began around 2,640&nbsp;<small>BCE</small>, Chinese merchants spread the use of silk throughout Asia through trade. Archaeologists found the first fibers of silk in Thailand to be over 3,000 years old, in the ruins of [[Ban Chiang]].<ref>((cite book|title=In Pursuit of Gender: Worldwide Archaeological Approaches|date=2001|author=Sarah M. Nelson, Myriam Rosen-Ayalon|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=075910087X))</ref>((rp|198))<ref>((cite web|url=https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/scimsujournal/article/view/19231/16916|title=Applications of Silk Based Materials|author=Prasong Srihanam|date=2012|access-date=March 30, 2021))</ref><ref>((cite web|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/19218/AP-v23n2-153-163.pdf|title=The Significance of Clay Rollers of the Ban Chiang Culture, Thailand|author=William J. Folan, Burma H. Hyde|date=1980|access-date=March 30, 2021))</ref> The site is considered to be one of Southeast Asia's oldest civilizations.

According to Chinese diplomat [[Zhou Daguan]], who was sent to [[Cambodia]] by [[Temür Khan]],  [[Thai people|Siamese people]] were skilled in silk production:<ref name="siamese">((cite book |author=Zhou Daguan|title=A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People|translator=Peter Harris |publisher=Silkworm Books |year= 2007 |isbn=978-1628401721 ))</ref> “In recent years people from [[Siam]] have come to live in Cambodia, and unlike the locals they engage in [[silk production]]. The [[mulberry]] trees they grow and the [[silkworms]] they raise all come from Siam. (They have no [[ramie]], either, only [[hemp]].) They themselves weave the silk
into clothes made of a black, patterned satiny silk. Siamese women do know how to stitch and darn, so when local people have torn or damaged clothing they ask them to do the mending.” Based on [[Anna Harriette Leonowens]]'s record, Siam were also the exporters of cotton, silk, and raw silk.<ref>((cite book|title=The English Governess at the Siamese Court being the Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok|author=Anna Harriette Leonowens|date=1870|publisher=Fields, Osgood & Co.))</ref>((rp|290,294))

However, silk produced on the [[Khorat Plateau]] was generally only used for private consumption, with the Thai court preferring to purchase Chinese silk imports. There was an attempt in the early 20th century to develop the native industry with the help of a Japanese sericulture expert, Kametaro Toyama. However, this attempt failed, due to a lack of local interest in producing for a larger market.<ref>Ian Brown, "Government Initiative and Peasant Response in the Siamese Silk Industry, 1901–1913", ''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 68, Part 2, July 1980</ref>((RP|34))

After World War II, former [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] officer [[Jim Thompson (designer)|Jim Thompson]] thought that silk would be popular back home in the USA. Through his connections in New York, he began marketing the product as a traditional Siamese fabric. In fact, the material he created had little relationship to what had previously been produced in the country. But through clever branding and by developing a range of "Thai" patterns, he managed to establish Thai silk as a recognizable brand.<ref>Joshua Kurlantzick, ''The Ideal Man: The tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War'', (Wiley, 2011)</ref>

Writing in the ''Bangkok Post'' in 1949, Alexander MacDonald noted that, "...out of a number of scattered remains of history, from cultures borrowed from Siam's neighbors, and from colonies of fat and lazy Siamese silk worms, Jim Thompson is trying to build a modest business."<ref>"The Postman Says", ''Bangkok Post'', January 13, 1949</ref> Throughout the 1950s, Thais remained little interested in Thai silk, and considered it suitable only for special occasiona. Rather, it was American tourists who sustained the local development of a silk industry in Thailand. In 1951, ''[[The King and I]]'' opened on [[Broadway theater|Broadway]], featuring a depiction of the Thai court in the mid-19th century, where the costumes were all made using Thai silk. Created by [[Irene Sharaff]], the production served to promote the material to the American audience, and fueled interest in the country.<ref>((cite book|last1=Klein|first1=Christine|title=Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination|date=2003|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520224698|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IttIURofT2kC|accessdate=26 January 2016))</ref>

Throughout the 1950s, silk shops opened up across Bangkok. However, these shops sold almost entirely to the tourist trade. Wealthy Americans would come into Jim Thompson's shop and buy large amounts of the fabric, and then take the fabric home to be sewn into clothing. Locally, Thais showed little interest in the product, as it remained expensive and unsuited to the hot climate.((citation needed|date=March 2021))

==Production==
The Queen Sirikit Department of [[Sericulture]] estimates that in 2013, 71,630 small landholders raised mulberry silkworms on 39,570 [[Rai (unit)|rai]], producing 287,771&nbsp;kg of silk cocoons. Another 2,552 farmers grew mulberry silkworms on an industrial scale, producing 145,072&nbsp;kg of silk on 15,520 rai of land. Eri silk production, on the other hand, amounts to only a fraction of these quantities, grown by a small network of 600 families scattered throughout 28 provinces in north, northeast, and central Thailand.<ref name=BP-20170219/>

==Exports==
In 2006, US$14,540,325 worth of silk was exported from Thailand. The predominant markets are the US and the UK.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071010125606/http://www.geospace.co.uk/silk/thailand_silk_exports.html Exports of silk from Thailand]</ref> Silk fabric accounts for about half of the silk exported from Thailand (the rest being raw silk, yarn, [[Pupa#Cocoon|cocoons]], and [[silk waste]]). However, Thailand remains only a small contributor to the global trade in silk.<ref>[http://www.geospace.co.uk/silk/worldsilk.html The global trade in silk] ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202155627/http://www.geospace.co.uk/silk/worldsilk.html |date=2007-12-02 ))</ref>
China produces 100,000 tonnes of silk a year, 80 percent of the global market, while Thai silk exports account for just 0.1 percent of global production, with most Thai silk used locally.<ref name=BP-20130507>((cite news|last1=Fernquest|first1=Jon|title=Silk Boom: Opportunity for Thailand|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/348840/silk-boom-opportunity-for-thailand|accessdate=26 January 2016|work=Bangkok Post|date=2013-05-07))</ref>

==Mulberry silk==
===Weaving===
[[File:Thai Silk Weaving 3 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg|thumb|Weaving Thai silk, [[Surin Province]]]]
The production of Thai silk begins with the ''[[Bombyx mori]]'', a small silk worm that comes from the eggs of a silk moth. For their first year, these worms feast on the leaves of mulberry trees, before building a cocoon with their spittle.

In its original cocoon form, raw silk is bumpy and irregular. Thai weavers separate the completed cocoons from the mulberry bush and soak them in a vat of  boiling water to separate the silk thread from the caterpillar inside the cocoon.

The ''Bombyx mori'' usually produces silk thread of varying colors, ranging from light gold to very light green, with lengths varying from 500 to 1,500 yards per cocoon.

A single thread filament is too thin to use on its own, so Thai women combine many threads to produce a thicker, usable fiber. They do this by hand-reeling the threads onto a wooden spindle to produce a uniform strand of raw silk. The process is a tedious one, as it takes nearly 40 hours to produce a half kilogram of Thai silk.

Many local operations use a reeling machine for this task, but the majority of most silk thread is still hand-reeled. The difference is that hand-reeled threads produce three grades of silk: two fine grades that are ideal for lightweight fabrics, and a thick grade for heavier material.

The silk fabric is then soaked in hot water and bleached before dyeing in order to remove the natural yellow coloring of Thai silk yarn. To do this, skeins of silk thread are immersed in large tubs of hydrogen peroxide. Once washed and dried, the silk is then woven using a traditional hand-operated loom.

[[File:Thai Silk Weaving 2 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg|thumb|center|800px|Operating a traditional hand loom, Surin]]

==Eri silk==
((main|Eri silk))
Eri silk is a [[wikt:staple|staple]] fiber, unlike other silks, which are a continuous filament. It was introduced to Thailand from South Asia in the 1970s. The texture of the fabric is coarse, fine, and dense. It is strong, durable, and elastic. Eri silk is darker and heavier than other silks, and blends well with wool and cotton. Due to its thermal properties, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. The fibre is "cottony", not glossy like mulberry silk.<ref name="BP-20170219" /> The cocoons of eri silkworms are open-ended, meaning the grown larvae can leave via the opening. This has led to eri silk being termed "peace silk" or [[ahimsa]] silk as its production harms no living organisms. Mulberry silkworms, on the other hand, make a hole in the cocoon when emerging as moths, thus damaging the silk. To prevent the damage, processors boil the mulberry cocoons to kill the larvae, leading organisations such as [[PETA]] to blacklist mulberry silk.<ref>((cite web|title=Down and Silk: Birds and Insects Exploited for Feathers and Fabric|url=http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/animals-used-clothing-factsheets/silk-birds-insects-exploited-fabric/|website=People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)|date=19 March 2004 |accessdate=19 February 2017))</ref>

==Types of Thai silk==
To be able to identify genuine Thai mulberry silk easily, Thailand's [[Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (Thailand)|Agriculture Ministry]] uses a [[peacock]] emblem to authenticate Thai silk and protect it from imitations.<ref>((cite web|title=Thailand: Types of Silk|url=http://inserco.org/en/thailand|website=International Sericultural Commission (ISC)|accessdate=19 February 2017))</ref> They are:

*'''Gold peacock''': Indicates premium Royal Thai Silk, a product of native Thai silkworm breeds and traditional hand-made production.
*'''Silver peacock''': Indicates Classic Thai Silk, developed from specific silkworm breeds and hand-made production.
*'''Blue peacock''': Indicates Thai Silk, a product of pure silk threads and with no specific production method (allows chemical dyes).
*'''Green peacock''': Indicates Thai Silk Blend, a product of silk blended with other fabrics and with no specific production method.

==Identification of genuine silk==
As traditional Thai silk is hand woven, each silk fabric is unique and cannot be duplicated by commercial means. In contrast, [[artificial silk]] is machine woven, which means that every part of the fabric is identical and has the same color.

In addition, Thai silk has a unique lustre, with a sheen that has two unique blends: one color for the [[warp (weaving)|warp]] and another for the [[weft]]. Its color will change when viewed at varying angles to light.

Thai silk smells like hair when burned. The silk is similar to the composition of human hair and fingernails. When the flame is removed, Thai silk immediately stops burning. Artificial silk smells like plastic when burned and continues to burn even if the flame is removed.

In terms of price, Thai silk is usually 10 times more expensive than artificial silk.

Examples of varieties of Thai silks protected as [[Geographical indication|geographical indications]] include '''Lamphun Brocade''', '''Chonnabot Mudmee''' and '''Praewa Kalasin'''. <ref>((Cite web |last= |title=Geographical Indications: An Introduction, 2nd edition |url=https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4562 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=www.wipo.int |page=18 |language=en))</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:Thai Silk Sample 1 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Sample 2 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Sample 3 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Sample 4 - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Dress - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Dresses - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Thai Silk Skirt - Ban Tha Sawang.jpg
File:Silk thread at Jim Thompson House (36345567205).jpg
</gallery>

==See also==

The '''Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles''' in Bangkok is a state-of-the-art museum dedicated to Thai silk and includes the country's first dedicated textile conservation laboratory.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.qsmtthailand.org/ |title=Home |website=qsmtthailand.org))</ref> On display are numerous dresses worn by [[Queen Sirikit]] of Thailand, which she wore during state visits to promote traditional Thai 
textiles, some designed by [[Pierre Balmain]].<ref>Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia (2012), [https://couturenotebook.com/couture-news/queen-sirikit-museum-of-textiles-review The Queen of Thai Silk], couturenotebook.com</ref>

==References==
((reflist|2))

==External links==
* [http://inserco.org/en/thailand International Sericultural Commission: Thailand]
((Silk fibre))

[[Category:Silk]]
[[Category:Woven fabrics]]
[[Category:Thai handicrafts]]
[[Category:Textile arts of Thailand|Silk]]

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