Visiting the Silk Weaving Village of Chonnabot on Our Isaan Road Trip

Exploring the Isaan wasn’t only about scrambling spectacular Khmer Empire temples at dawn, feasting on fiery northeastern Thai food at local eateries and mouthwatering markets, and absorbing lush bucolic landscapes dotted with farmers tending rice crops and herding cows, Thailand’s northeastern Isaan region is also famous for its silk, another remnant of ancient Angkor, and the silk weaving village of Chonnabot was high on my to-do list.

From Prasat Hin Phimai in northeastern Thailand, our road trip through the off-the-beaten-track Isaan region took us north to Khon Kaen, a cool university city that sprawls around a serene lake in central Isaan. As the Isaan region‘s silk is almost as celebrated as Isaan food, we made a stop on the way to Khon Kaen at the traditional silk weaving village of Chonnabot.

Thailand’s best fashion designers, who we’d met covering Bangkok Fashion Week, and award-winning Thai furniture and lighting designer, Jitrin Jintaprecha, who we had recently interviewed for a magazine story, all had a tremendous respect for traditional Thai arts and handicrafts, especially basket making and silk weaving. Many of the fashion designers used Thai silk.

Interestingly, traditional materials and techniques are increasingly being incorporated into contemporary furniture and lighting designs. Jitrin does this in innovative ways, such as his collection of light shades he created inspired by fishing baskets. (Ed: something that would take the world by storm in just a few short years.) Knowing this made us even more keen to learn about Thailand’s traditional crafts, so we were eager to visit the silk weaving village of Chonnabot.

Visiting the Silk Weaving Village of Chonnabot on Our Isaan Road Trip

The Isaan region rarely gets foreign tourists visiting as it is, so we were greeted with surprise at our presence. Weekends are busiest in Chonnabot when in-the-know Thais travel from Bangkok to the silk-weaving village to buy handwoven silk directly from the source, but silk shops rarely seen foreigners.

We visited Chonnabot mid-week, in the off-season, in the region’s hottest month, at a time of year when most of the villagers, including the silk weavers, are out in the fields or doing maintenance around their farms and homes. Chonnabot was a ghost town.

We dropped into Sala Mai Thai, the first stop for most visitors to the small silk weaving village. Chonnabot’s official centre for silk weaving, Sala Mai Thai is dedicated to the conservation of mudmee, the weaving technique for which Chonnabot is famous.

Unfortunately, the lights were off at Sala Mai Thai and there were no silk weavers on site, so the sole staff member directed us to the main street of the small village, where they suggested we try Boonmee Thai Silk, which they said was always busy.

The village of Chonnabot was established around 1783 during the Rattanakosin era and Chonnabot’s silk textiles are regarded as some of Thailand’s finest silk textiles, with most of the silk producers kept busy with orders from the Royal Palace.

The best silk producers, such as Boonmee Thai Silk, work year-round, its artisans busy weaving silk even when everyone else in the village has temporarily abandoned their looms for the more important task of ploughing the fields.

At Boonmee Thai Silk, we found a friendly manager and two women diligently weaving on traditional old wooden looms out the back of the shop. In fact, we heard the clicketty-clack of the looms before we saw the women.

As they were occupied with their work, we quietly watched the two women for a while, working in silence, rhythmically operating the antique contraptions with an obvious skill developed over time.

I don’t know if you’ve watched silk weavers at work before, but it’s mesmerising. I can watch them for hours, wondering what they’re contemplating as, like magic, they create these splendid, intricately patterned cloths from colourful spools of thread.

I often wonder if they’re imagining what might become of the beautiful textiles they’ve produced, what their silk fabrics will be made into, who might drape their silks around their bodies – a Princess perhaps?

I didn’t dare ask the weavers what they were thinking. I was afraid they might answer that they were wondering how much work their lazy husbands had got done on the farm that day.

Visiting the Silk Weaving Village of Chonnabot

Here’s a quick little guide to visiting the silk weaving village of Chonnabot.

Who Should Visit Chonnabot

If you’re a lover of silk and keen to buy handwoven silk directly from the source, or you simply enjoy watching artisans at work, then a short visit to the village of Chonnabot is definitely worth your time. If you’re not, then give it a miss and focus your time exploring the Isaan region on the Khmer temples such as spectacular Prasat Phanom Rung instead.

When to Visit Chonnabot

It’s best to visit Chonnabot during the cooler ‘winter’ months of December, January and February, which is the tourist high season in Thailand, when there will be more weaving shops open, or on weekends when Chonnabot is busier with Thais from Bangkok in town to shop for silk.

How to Get to Chonnabot

You could book a rental car in Khon Kaen and drive yourself the 65 kms south on Highway 2 to Route 229 east to Chonnabot. It’s an easy drive. But if you prefer to look out the window at the scenery, then hire a driver with vehicle on Get Your Guide, where you can also book tour guides. For buses, check out 12Go.

Where to Stay in Chonnabot

Unless you’re in Chonnabot to buy a lot of silk or you’re learning to weave, you probably won’t want to stay in Chonnabot and will want to base yourself in Khon Kaen instead, which is a far more compelling little city, with a lot more to offer travellers. See our posts on cool Khon Kaen and home away from home in Khon Kaen.

What little accommodation Chonnabot has mainly caters to Thais, with basic motels and cabins, and some camping places near the lake. If you do need to stay in Chonnabot, the best accommodation in Chonnabot is not actually in the village at all, but a 10-minute drive away in nearby Mancha Khiri, also written as Manchakhiri on maps, another small town.

The best accommodation in Mancha Khiri is Yusabai Place hotel, also written as U-Sabai Place, although you’ll mostly find it online in Thai, อยู่สบายเพลส. Rooms are clean, modern and functional, and very affordable. Mancha Khiri also has a small market, and more cafes, simple eateries, and food stalls, often in local homes.

Where to Eat and Drink in Chonnabot

If you’re looking for air-conditioning and don’t want to stray too far from the silk shops, try Milk Mallow Cafe, amongst the silk boutiques on Soi Si Bunrueang. It has an odd menu of Thai standards, from stir-fries to curries, along with Western-style dishes, such as crumbed fish and fries, although the speciality is chilled milk drinks and desserts.

The best coffee in Chonnabot is on the same street at nearby Laimai Home Brewer, where you’ll find heady espressos and a range of specialty coffees, along with matcha lattes, Thai tea, sodas, and even affogato.

For better Thai food, head to the parallel street of Soi Pho Si-sa-at, to Phai Khew Roast Duck Noodle and Rice, a simple eatery with a handful of tables and a variety of duck dishes (US$1.50-$2). You’ll also spot simple stalls in the front yards and ground floors of locals homes and there’s a small Lotus Supermarket near the hospital.