The native products of the Northern part of Thailand mainly consist of teak wood carving, lacquerware and - the most famous - Thai silk. Not only are these products are hand-made in various styles and colours, most of the times they are also meant to be practical and useable, too. For example, on display today is a lady handbag made by joining a small bamboo stem and Thai silk together which is very beautiful and makes a good gift for ladies.
There are also many hand-made simple gifts available. To begin with, when you come to visit Northern Thailand, buy for your friends or relatives an umbrella made from sa-paper (a kind of paper common in the area) for protection from sunlight or just for decoration, or a small fan to provide cool them down during any hot day.
Indeed very famous in Southern Thailand is a kind of shadow show called Nang Talung. The show consists of a white thin movie screen lighted up with lamp, well-trained men who move the puppets, and of course, the puppets, each resembling a person or an animal, which are made from cowhide figure. Normally in a show, there are no more than 5 puppets.
In the show, each puppet is moved and provided dialogue by a well-trained man. The shadow of the puppets moving and lively conversing is reflected on the white screen for people to see with great fun.
Many tourists visiting Southern Thailand like to watch Nang Talung and buy cowhide puppets as displayed today for as gifts for friends or just for home decoration. The puppets, made from cowhide, is coloured using natural substance and are very beautiful.
In this part where tradition is said to remain most well-preserved, a common sight in the area is a type of clothes weaved in various styles and colours using thread obtained from a kind of plants in the area. These beautiful clothes, hand-woven, are fondly called "E-sarn cloth" (E-sarn is an informal name of Northeastern Thailand). Nowadays, "E-sarn cloth" are also made into smaller products like scarfs, handkerchieves and neck-ties.
However, one the most famous and well-known gifts from this part of Thailand must be a native musical instrument called the reed organ. The reed ogan is made of bamboo just as displayed here. When blown, the organ produces a unique, sweet sound. The price of reed organ can range from 100 Baht (Approx. S$4) to as expensive as 5000 Baht for musicians using the organ in a band.
The central part of Thailand, including the capital Bangkok, is very prosperous with good economy. Among wide range of gifts from this area, one of the most famous produts that emerged is "Benjarong", a hand-made pottery painted in five colours made meticulously from natural substances. In ancient times, the use of Benjarong was only restricted to the royal family. Though nowadays Benjarong is now more common, it is still very expensive due to the hard work that is put into it. The price of such a gift can range from 100 Baht (Approx. S$4) to 1000000 Baht (Approx. S$40000!) depending on factors like quality and craftsmanship. Benjarong is recognised as one of the national souvenirs that are given to top foreign leaders who visit the Kingdom of Thailand on the behalf of their governments. Generally, Benjarong is only affordable for well-to-do people for decoration purposes.
Indeed, although the abovementioned products are all in great varieties, what presented here today are just a small part of the cultural gifts available in 4 parts of Thailand. When you visit Thailand, however, there is no need to travel all the way of respective parts of Thailand to get hold of all these gifts if you are on a time constraint. These products and more are available for sale at OTOP (One Tambon One Product) shops which house cultural gifts from several parts of Thailand. The location of OTOP shops can be found in guide books available at the hotel where you stay.