Even if you’re only in Thailand for a few days, you can’t help noticing there are lots of fascinating everyday items that just don’t appear back home. “Making Thai” is a sumptuous coffee table book dedicated to capturing and explaining these small gems of Thai life.
I’ve only had a quick flick through this in the local bookstore, but Making Thai is a fascinating take on the small details of everyday things in Thailand that it’s easy to see but not really take in. Everything from the ceremonial demon figures that appear on numerous buildings to the leaf shaped fans is covered in here, providing a visual compendium of Thai design that’s been rarely acknowledged elsewhere. It’s a great addition to the superb Very Thai, which captures in pictures and words many of the weird and wonderful sights you’ll encounter in Thailand.
Making Thai’s official blurb says
This book is a visual documentary of everyday life objects in Thailand, things from the old days to the modern times. Categorised into the following chapters: Carving, Casting, Weaving, Pounding, Sculpting, Painting, Tiling, and Folding, these objects featured have one thing in common, that is, they all speak of culture visually. Varies in forms but unfilled in the spirit of Thai culture, this serves as both a rare record of the lesser seen objects in Thailand and also a source of inspiration for designers today, who are always keen to re-visit the past to create something new. Conceived as a series, this book is targeted at primarily the designer and also, anyone who has an interest in Asian history and culture.
Making Thai is unfortunately not currently available on Amazon – it’s published by Page One Publishers in Singapore, and is presumably available in Singapore bookshops. It’s definitely available in Bangkok bookshops.
See also my list of Thailand book recommendations
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Sounds like a very interesting book. I hope someone who is very inclined with Morocco and its fascinating cities can also come up with a book with the same concept as “Making Thai”.