We have recently just returned from a buying trip in Thailand and Bali so we thought we'd share with you some of what we achieved, saw and bought on the trip. This post will start with our time in Thailand.

Basing ourselves in Chiang Mai in North Thailand, we attempted to visit as many of our existing suppliers as possible in order to check up on the working conditions and to take lots of photographs to document how things are produced.

Everyone Loves Elephants

The first person we visited was our elephant print and rayon producer, Khun Kaew. After being invited to her house to look through new samples and fabrics where the living room quickly became one huge mess of colourful rayon, we headed off to see where the clothing is assembled.

Kaew has been employing a team of tailors who have mostly been operating out of their own homes. Recently however, Kaew has been able to expand by setting up a small workshop on the outskirts of Chiang Mai and purchasing new sewing machines. There is now a mixture of home and workshop production. 

The Carvers of Chiang Mai

The next producers we visited were some of our woodcarvers in the countryside outside Chiang Mai. While we try to give our suppliers as many orders as we can, the reality is that for many wood carving is no longer a big enough source of income to do exclusively. Most of the wood carvers we met on this trip also farmed Longan fruit to supplement their income.

In fact, the way in which wood carving is incorporated into everyday life is fascinating. In each house, amongst the traditional carver's tools of hammers, saws and chisels and in between the mountains of sawdust there is plenty of evidence of other enterprise and daily home life. Egg trays and chicken coops, drying fruit, cookware and all manner of pets and animals, all help to show that these are truly small and traditional home industries.

'Thock, thock, thock'

We also visited the factory where all of our acacia wood frogs are made. This particular business has grown from strength to strength over the years and the owner has now built a large factory right next to his house and is now able to employ a large staff of carvers and painters.

Each stage of production for each frog is handled by a different section of the factory. The division of labour in frog manufacture!

Firstly the rough shape of each frog is carved out by hand before being carefully sanded down. Each sander is provided with a mask to protect against sawdust inhalation. The owner has also engineered a clever system that drips a small but steady amount of water in front of each worker that instantly reduces the amount of dust in the air. This system also helps get the sawdust ready for its next use: as a base for growing at a nearby mushroom farm!

The final part of this section is to use a drill to shape the central hole in each frog. Each frog is drilled and then given a quick tap on the head to see if it makes the desired 'thock' sound. If it's not quite right then it gets another go under the drill. If it passes the test then they are given a final quick sand down inside and are taken to the large drying kiln.

After the frogs are sanded and drilled they are placed in a large drying kiln. The owner of the factory was particularly proud of this part! The furnace is almost entirely fired by leftover chunks of wood from the manufacturing of the frogs and has been installed with a top of the range alarm system in case the fire gets too hot. It felt pretty warm standing next to it all in the middle of the day in Thailand!

Once the frogs have all been fully dried they are ready to be stained and painted. The painters use a mixture of techniques depending on the desired finish. Some use a paint gun to spray them whilst others require more detailed hand painting with brushes. After painting the frogs are given a final quality control check and are then packaged up for sending out. 

Thanks for reading. Next up we'll be blogging our time in Bali!