This month a Thai Village team visited artisans in a village which was a 6 hours drive away. While most of our artisans live closer to our headquarters in Chiang Mai, we do have several remote artisans in different villages in Northern Thailand. On this trip we were able to visit 11 of these artisans who work on tin-smithing and embroidery projects from their home villages.

After the 6 hour drive we stopped at Village 9 to check on the water project (read more about that here) and then headed to an artisan’s home to visit with him before dinner. A gracious family in Village 16 hosted us for the visit. While sleeping on the floor and taking bucket showers (pictured below) are not for everyone, there is a sweet slow pace of life that also comes with village living, where spending time with people and living in community is valued. This was just the setting we desired as we visited people in their homes and got to know the artisans better.

Bedroom

Over the course of 3 days we went from home to home, visiting with several artisans. In some homes groups of artisans came together to meet us and in other homes the artisan welcomed us with their family or alone. We listened to many stories of difficult life circumstances and encouraged them when appropriate. And we heard repeatedly how important it was to be able to work on the Thai Village handicraft projects and earn income.

Thank you for supporting artisans by your purchases. Click here to browse or purchase today! Don’t need any products? That’s ok. We also accept monetary gifts which go toward helping run training programs among low-income people in Thailand. Click to give today!