The Thai people are proud of their weaving, dying and embroidery, and they see the khan pieu as the pinnacle of their achievement.

Thai girls learn to embroider by studying traditional scarf patterns from the age of six or seven. At first, they only embroider some simple lines or shapes. When they become skillful, they start to handle more complicated patterns. Making their own khan pieu is seen as both good practice for their skills and also as a first step towards becoming independent in life.

In fact, the standard of the scarves is the measure by which their entire personality and worth as a person is judged.

The basic material is cotton thread. Every step of the process of making khan pieu is done by hand, from spinning and dying to weaving and embroidery.

Normally, it takes a Thai girl from two to four weeks to make a khan pieu. The shole length of the khan pieu is not embroidered. Only the ends of the scarf are embroidered. When Thai girls embroider their scarf, they often copy other designs, make their own changes, or create completely new designs according to their creativity.

Once completed, Thai girls roll and place the scarves on their heads, with one end hanging over the forehead and the other visible behind.

The khan pieu is involved in every aspect of a Thai woman’s life. Simple designs are worn for everyday working and doing the chores, while more elaborate versions are worn for festivals that mark the defining stages of life.

They are also an important marker in love and marriage: young people of both sexes use them as messages to express their emotions, and girls give them to their love as keepsakes. They are also indispensable at weddings: the bride presents khan pieu she has made with her own hands to her new in-laws. Then, when she moves to her husband’s home after the marriage, she makes sure to wear her finest scarves for the first few days of her new life.

Time out