This simple yet elegant cushion cover is handwoven by the Karen artisans in northern Thailand with a backstrap loom.

• 40 cm H x  40 cm W

• 100% cotton with handwoven

The Impact

Traditionally the tribal peoples in Thailand have supported their families by engaging in slash and burn agriculture, which required them to move their village every few years in search of new fields when old ones lost their fertility. It is now no longer possible for them to continue this semi-nomadic lifestyle, as there are no new places to move on to. Mainly for ecological reasons the Thai Government now prohibits the felling of trees and clearing of hillside land. Thus, the tribal people are finding that they have less land on which to support their families.

Thai Tribal Crafts Fair Trade organises handicraft production that helps to restore and revive these traditions which otherwise might have been forgotten. They currently work with 7 hill tribes, namely the Akha, Hmong, Karen, Lahu, Lawa, Lisu and Mien groups, as well as many tribal women living in Chiang Mai, Thailand.