Antiques and Crafts in Chiang Mai
Intro |
The Old City |
Wua Lai |
San Kamphaeng Road-Bo Sang |
Hang Dong-Ban Thawai
Shops in the Wua Lai area
Ban Makbanwang Silver Factory, Wualai Road Soi 2.
This small family-run factory is located at the first intersection as you walk south on Wualai Soi 2 from Rat Chiang Saen Road.
Turn left (east) and the factory is the second house on your left. Here, you can see hammering, forging, and tooling.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.793' E098°59.003'
Image Foundry, Rat Chiang Saen Road.
Located on Chiang Saen Road between the Suan Prung and Chiang Mai gates, this small series of workshops makes Buddha images out of bronze, using the lost-wax process.
Here, you can see wax figures being created, and view chasing being done on hand-held grinding wheels.
GPS Coordinates: N18°46.869' E098°59.061'
Laitai Silverware, 16 Wua Lai Road, Soi 3. Tel: (053) 282-588.
Located 2 minutes south of the Wualai Road-Soi 3 intersection, this is one of three shops located within 50 meters or so of each other. Laitai specializes in new and old designs. It is also 30 seconds away from Wat Sri Supan, to the east, which is not to be missed.
GPS Coordinates: GPS N18°46.626' E098°59.130'
Wat Sri Suphan. This temple, just to the east of Laitai Silverware, has designs made of beaten, gilded metalwork.
More amazing, to our eyes, is the workshop of Ajarn Manope Chaikaw, located immediately to the right of the entrance to the wat.
Manope's specialty is beaten aluminum, and his massive high-and-bas relief aluminum work, based on the Ramayana, is reminiscent of Ghiberti's Florentine doors.
The ajarn (teacher) runs an aluminum crafting school here, and you can buy his designs, as well as the work of his students.
GPS Coordinates: GPS N18°46.612' E098°59.115'