IV

      The objects in this group are classified into five sub-groups }namely } cooking utensils , clothing signs , sport and game equipment and toys.

      1. Cooking Utensils
           The objects in this sub-group are those used in preparing food for a small domestic industry. Here are six example.

           1.1 Kheng Nung

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This is Chinese container for steaming snacks made of flour. It is made of slices of bamboo fastened with rattan. It has a round shape and high edge made of a wide piece of bamboo strips.

         1.2 Kheng Pla Thu.
           This kind of Kheng is for steaming a fish of the mackerel kind. It has a round shape woven of slices of bamboo.Its edge, also made of bamboo strips , is fastened with a tao wan stem.

            1.3 Kra-chon krong Nam-tan
            This kaind of Kra-chon is used to strain the juice of a coconut tree before the juice is to be boiled down.In using this utensil one has to go through the following steps.
                   1. place s large pan on a stove
                   2. put a wooden stand on the pan.
                   3. place a Kra-chon on the stand.
                   4. place a piece of thin cloth inside the Kra-chon,
                   5. then pour the juice into the Kra-chon

                               kc-krong.jpg (4129 bytes)                     kc-krong2.jpg (2972 bytes)

              The object is woven of bamboo strips. Its edge is made of a thicker piece and fastened with rattan. It has a shorth cylindrical shape with a round top and hexagonal bottom .

         1.4 Kra-wo
              A Kra-wo is a utensil normally used by those who make sugar from the juice of coconut trees. It is used to cover the pan while the juice is being boiled to prevent the latter from boilong over .The body of Kra wo is woven of bamboo strips. Its edge is made of a thicker piece fastened with rattan . It has a cylindrical shape, but with a top part wider than the bottom. See how the object is used in sketch.

          1.5 Thi chon fong Nam-tan

This utnsil is made of a bamboo trunk sliced to rough pieces at one end.These slices pieces of bamboo become the warp on which bamboo strips are woven to make a shape of a flat spoon or a trowel. This bamboo implement is used to take out from boiling palm juice. The palm juice boiled this way is taken as a refreshment.

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1.6 Thi kan Nam-pla

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This bamboo implement is used with a bamboo differ to take fish sause from a jar that contains home-made fish sauce. it works like a strainer to separate fish sauce from fermented fish.It is woven of bamboo strips in the shape of a cylinder.

         2. Clothing
           Farmers and gardeners in Thailand often wear hats when they go out to work. The hats, like other kinds of wickerwork objects, are made of the material locally found. Traditionally three kinds are called "Muak" ,and one kind is called "Ngop"

              2.1 Muak bai Tan (a hat made of palm leaves)

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This kind of hat has an inner structure woven of slice of bamboo. Palm leaves are stiched and fasten to the outer part of the inner structure.There is a hole on top part. The hole is covered with palm leaves woven in a round or hexagonal shape. The middle part. where the body and the 'wing' meet, is covered with strips of palm leaves sewed together to make a fancy look. The edge of the "wing" is made of double strips of bamboo and fasten with a piece of threas this kind of hat is subdivided into two varieties.

             2.2 Muak Kui
              This is a typical Chinese hat. Its inner and outer structures are woven of bamboo strips in the same patterns. There is a lining made of palm leaves between the inner and outer structures.It is used like a Muak Bai Tan.

           2.3 Muak Chao Suan (a gardener's hat)

This kind of hat looks similar to a Chinese hat, but its top is blunt. The materials and the way it is made are also like those of the Chinese hat. That is there is a lining made of palm leaves between its inner and outer structures that are woven of bamboo strips.Its edge and top are made of bamboo strips rattan.Inside this kind of hat, there is a holder called a "rang", which literally means a nest. The holder is woven of thin pieces of bamboo strips. It has a cylindrical shape and is fixed to inner part of the hat's top. When a gardener goes out to work, he or she wears this kind of hat.

2.4 Ngop

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A Ngop is another kind of jat trditionally made and used in the central provinces. Its shape is like a Kra-chat placed upside down.Like a Muak Bai Tan , a Ngop has an inner structure woven of bamboo strips, and its outer part is covered with palm leaves fixed to one another with threads. A hole in its top is also covered with palm leaves woven in a round shape. But like a Muak Chao Suan, there is a "rang" inside it .Its edge is made the same way as that of a Muak Bai Tan . The uniqueness of a Ngop is in its shape and its "wing" which is much larger than the "wing" of a Muak Bai Tan. The form of a Ngop varies with the location where it is made. A Ngop is a typical farmer's hat.

3. Signs

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In Thailand , many people believe in superstition. A wickerwork object is collected from the central provinces.It is called a " Cha-leo". This object is woven of bamboo strips. It is to be placed on top of a pot containing liquid medicine . Usually a Thai herbal physician also acts as apharmacist. In prepaing liquid medicine, he also places a Cha-leo on top of thepot to signify the sacredness of the medicine, and to prevent the ingredient from being seen.
It is said in the Thai dictionary compiled by the Royal Institute that a Chaleo is also used as a sign to tell that the things where a Cha-leo is places upon are for sale, and a sign to mark a boundary.

5. Toys
               Up until about the middle of this century grown-ups in this country usually made toys for the young for their pastime. The toys, often were imitation of people, animals, or things seen in everyday life. therefore there were dolls, toy elephans, horses , oxen , buffaloes , and fish, etc. The materials to make those toys were various e.g. clay , paint cloth, leaves.
               In making toys, wickerwork also has a part to play. Wickerwork toys appear in many forms , the most popular of which was and still is, a mobile made of a set of Pla-ta-pians. The literal meaning of the word "Pla-Ta-pian" is a kind of fresh water fish. The toy is an imitation of it.
                   5.1 Pla-ta -pian
                    Pla-ta-pian is usually woven of palm or coconut leaves. There usually are sets of nine, twelve or fifteen baby fish hanging from the mother fish in the from of a mobile. There are specific names for each kind , for instance, "Pla luk Kao" ( The fish that hasnine babies), " Pla Luk Sipsong"(thefish that has twelve babies). The mobile is notmally hung over a baby's cradle . It moves along when the cradie raocks.
              5.2 Other toys
                   Other popular toys for children are Nok (birs) , Kung (prawn) and Tak-ka-tean (grasshopper). These toys are usually woven of dry palm or coconut leaves. Onr can still find them sold in a festival held in a monastery compound. Sometimes children do their own weaving at home for fun.