Antiques and Crafts in Chiang Mai
Intro |
The Old City |
Wua Lai |
San Kamphaeng Road-Bo Sang |
Hang Dong-Ban Thawai
Shops on the San Kamphaeng Road - Bo Sang route
San Kamphaeng Road has been called the "Handcraft Highway," and with good reason.
From the junction of Highway 11, and running 13 km east to the village of San Kamphaeng, you'll find dozens of shops specializing in antiquities, crafts, and ceramics.
If you don’t have a car, your best bet is to hire a taxi or tuk-tuk and make leisurely stops along the road at your whim.
At Km 9, you’ll find the junction of Highway 1014, and the village of Bo Sang, famous for its painted parasols.
We have listed venues worthy of a stop, listed geographically west-to-east, beginning at the Highway 11 (Chiangmai-Lampang Highway) junction,
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.996’ E099°01.688'
Huanfai Dai-Ngam, 6/5 Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 249-398. Located roughly km from the Highway 11 interchange, Huanfai specializes in cotton and clothes, and traditional and modern textiles, which can be purchased by the piece, or in bolts.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.968’ E099°01.855'
Chiang Mai Silverware, 62/10 Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 246-037. Located 5 km north of the Highway 11 junction, this enterprise sells contemporary silver jewelry and housewares, but its strongest point, we fell, is the outstanding collection of antique silverware on the second level. Especially impressive are the older Burmese-inspired bowls, and antique silver necklaces.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.809’ E099°02.657'
Baan Celadon, 8, Moo 10, Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 338-288. Located roughly 5.5 km from the Highway 11 junction, you can see the making and painting of celadon pottery here. Celadon is stoneware, fired at high temperatures, with a wood and ash glaze, a man-made attempt to duplicate opaque jade. The cracks under its surface are caused by the differing cooling rates of the clay and glaze. We were particularly impressed by the extraordinarily fine paintings of traditional scenes on vases. The staff is friendly, and careful not to bother you when you’re browsing.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.725’ E099°03.110'
Pon Art Gallery, 35/3 Moo 3, Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 384-542.
This outstanding collection of old sculptures, architectural woodcarvings, jewelry, and you-name-it is housed in several old traditional open Lanna houses. The collection is spectacular, the setting down-home. Khun Tu is a resident expert whose English is good, and she has a comprehensive understanding of the pieces on display.
Dealing with her and her family members was a delight. Allow yourself 45 minutes.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.668’ E099°03.246'
Borisoothi Asian Art & Antiques, 15/2 Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 338-460.
Located 6 km from the junction of Highway 11, Borisoothi houses a good selection of Buddhas, sculptures, and lacquerware, and is well worth a stop.
Proprietor Nan Borisoothi has been in the business for 40 years, is friendly and extremely knowledgeable.
Many of her high-end pieces come with legitimate 3rd party certificates confirming age and origin, and there are many unique pieces in the lower end of the price spectrum as well.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.604’ E099°03.403
Louis Silverware, 99/1 Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 338-494.
Located a bit east of 7 km from the junction, Louis is the best silver-aluminum workshop we've seen in the Chiang Mai area.
For starters, check out the mammoth village and Ramayana installations from master artist Boonlert.
Each takes four years to complete, and you can view his work in progress, under the awning in the workshop area to the rear of the main store, adjacent to the two-story traditional house at the center of the complex.
Inside the store are modern and traditional silver pieces, all well made.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.318’ E099°04.126'
Ban-Khern Lacquerware, 173 Moo 2, Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 338-293.
Located roughly 7.5 km from the junction, Ban-Khern’s gold-black lacquerware is the best we’ve seen in Chiang Mai.
Especially impressive was the lacquer san phra phoom, the ornate large cabinets, and dozens of wonderful small boxes.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.160’ E099°04.291'
Arts and Crafts Chiang Mai, 172 Moo 2, Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road. Tel: (053) 338-025.
Located 100 meters or so east of Ban-Khern Lacquerware, this shop has hundreds of exceptional Burmese nats, Buddhas, vintage lacquerware, and Buddhist-related hardware.
The owners also have the Ban Changcome stores on Chiang Mai Hod Road (see Hang Dong), and in the Kad Dhara shops in the Dhara Dhevi complex.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.125’ E099°04.313'
Preservation House, 29/3 Ban Tonpao Moo 1, Tonpao, Sankamphaeng, Chiang Mai 50130. Tel: (053) 339-196.
If you’ve only got time to see one shop in the Sankamphaeng area, this is it.
Here, you’ll see the production of beautiful, hand-made saa paper, and its ultimate formation into photo albums, notebooks, boxes, bags, and wrapping paper.
Formed from the bark of the mulberry tree, the mulch is spread evenly over screened trays, and dried.
Its texture is rich, and can include leaves and flowers.
To get here, you must first exit Sankamphaneg road by heading north onto Ban Tompao Road, just east of the 8km point, at GPS Coordinates: N18°46.064' E099°04.463'. Preservation House is 500 meters down the road.
Along the way, you will see many saa shops, but Preservation’s comprehensive, and worth your time, as you wander from workshop to workshop within the factory.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.364’ E099°04.677'
Prempacha's Collection Ceramics, 224 M.3 Chiangmai-Sankamphaeng Road, Bo Sang Village. Tel: (053) 338-540. Located on the corner of Sankamphaeng and Highway 1014, in the village of Bo Sang, next to the Umbrella-Making Centre.
We've never seen a ceramics showroom as diverse as Prempacha’s, containing thousands of in-house designs, from formal pieces to daring variations of form and color. At least 10 different designers and twenty painters work here. Originally, Prempacha specialized in Celadon, a form of pottery made from feldspar, which gives Celadon its distinctive pale green color. Although Celadon remains a strong part of their collection, we found the fascinating examples of under-and-over glazed pieces to be even more compelling. Roughly 60% of their yearly production goes for export, to stores such as Nieman-Marcus.
GPS Coordinates: N18°45.829’ E099°04.946'
Umbrella-Making Centre., 111/2 Bosang Sankamphaeng Road, Bo Sang Village. Tel: (053) 338-324. Located right next door to Prempacha’s, this firm is the home of much of Bo Sang’s famous painted parasol business. The craft of parasol making was brought to Bo Sang from Burma by a Buddhist monk, who learned the craft and taught it Bo Sang villagers. Here, everything is made by hand, including heads, ribs, struts, and sleeves, and you can see the entire process here. The hand-painted creations on the parasols are wonderful, and the Centre even boasts a star painter, Lee Nakhampa, who was featured in Paul Saltzman’s 1979 film “Lee’s Parasol.”
GPS Coordinates: N18°45.855’ E099°04.938'
