Claiming to be the largest handicraft village in Thailand, Ban Tawai (also spelled Baan Tawai) falls under the mainstream-but-kitschy category — worth visiting for serious shopping, passive browsing, and plenty of picture-taking. It’s big enough to fill a day, but the two or so blocks covered by a black mesh bring some much-needed shade to this excursion.
We have three Thai artists to thank here — Pho Naan Daeng Puntusa, Pho Jaima Inkaew and Pho Huen Puntusart. The three of them learned carving in Chiang Mai, then brought their skills to the village and began teaching others. Since 1957 (2500 B.E.), the handicrafts here have included wood carving, polishing, and wood antiquing — making new wood look like antique wood. While retail and wholesale are available, there isn’t an apparant difference on who does the latter or at what terms. If you’re looking to do some wholesale purchasing, bring along a Thai interpreter.
For a village that’s dedicated itself to a single medium, I have to say I’m very impressed with the relative diversity available here. Most shops had a pretty specific theme, such as this shop:
Plenty of little tables.
A little colorful eye-candy never hurt anyone.
Some wooden bowls in different shapes, anyone?
Let’s call the shaded area about 2 blocks long, and essentially the abbreviated version of the area. You could conceivably spend the entire day in the area doing nothing but shopping and meandering around the area.
These are quite literally larger-than-life, and I have no idea why someone would want a large cowboy or Indian… The same shop also had plenty of other offerings, including these animal-themed chairs:
On our way into the village, we spotted a life-size elephant made of metal — naturally, we had to stop to get a good look on our way out:
Welcome to a working showroom — the staff seemed too busy working to pay much attention to us, though this was just a short stopover. The dozen or so pieces inside were all large in nature — kind of a shame, though, since I’d love to own a tiny version of this guy.
Another metal-made animal out front.
It’s mainstream, and the shaded area makes for a good little walking area with plenty of parking around. If you’re on a scooter or motorcycle, it’s worth taking the day or a half-day to meander around the area.
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Name: Baan Tawai Handicrafts Center
Address: Soi Ban Thawai 3, Tambon Khun Khong, Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50230 (GPS: 18.685887,98.950036)
Directions: This is a fairly well-known mainstream destination, and a songthaew or tuk-tuk will take you, albeit for a somewhat inflated price. From central Chiang Mai, head west on the southern part of the Old City square. Take a left to go south on Thipanet road, or route 108. (If you make it to the southwest corner, take a left, then go 1.5 kilometers and head right (south) on route 108. Go about 12 kilometers, looking for the brick arch on the left just past the Petronas gas station (the one with the blue leaf). If you miss it, take a left at the next light- it’ll get you to the same road.
Once you’ve made the left, go about 2.5 kilometers and admire the pretties along the way. An arch will instruct you to turn right — while this whole area is worth taking in, turn right and go about 500 meters to the shaded area. This shaded area covers a couple of square blocks, and is the abbreviated version I mentioned earlier.
Hours: none posted — aim for between 10am and 5pm.
Admission: free
Phone: 081–882–4882
Website: http://www.ban-tawai.com
