Dan Kwian is busy cultivating its past

DAYOUT
All fired up

By Phoowadon Duangmee
Daily Xpress
Published on November 14, 2008

Got a weekend to spare? Make pals with the potters at Dan Kwian

While the rest of the world looks hungrily towards the future, the small village of Dan Kwian in Nakhon Ratchasima province is busy cultivating its past.

Inside a lowrise shack on what looks like a set for a country music video, a father and daughter sit near a long line of huge clay jars. The father is giving commands while the youngster listens attentively, her hands and feet busy with a potter's wheel.

"Dan Kwian pottery is a skill that's been handed down from one generation to another for more than 100 years," says the local guide who is taking us around the village. "We were taught by the Kha, a local tribe who lived along the Mool River."

"In those days we made basic earthenware, like chilli grinders, mortars and small containers for pla daek, a fermented fish with a strong aroma," adds an elderly potter. "We didn't market them then. My father used to travel out of the village with an oxcart full of jars and mortars that he would trade or barter for rice and grain in town."

Today, it's a different story.

Dan Kwian pottery, with its stylish designs and attractive reddish hue, is sold at Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok, and as far away as North America and Europe.

While the village is a great place to buy, the real deal here is to stroll along the pathways and stop off at the potters' corners to watch the artisans as they create the fine earthenware.

The ceramics come in various shapes and sizes, from small bantams to huge peacocks, from sculptures of children to buffalo.

"The potters shape their clay with their hands, while their feet spin the pottery wheel just like they did 100 years ago," says the guide. "Decorative patterns like flowers and vines are made by pressing a piece of wood on the soft clay."

The pottery is piled outside the stalls ready for its journey to Thailand's retailers or overseas.

Here in the village, visitors can snap up pieces for much less, at about  Bt100 a piece.

XTRA

Weekend potters

>> Dan Kwian is in Nakhon Ratchasima, halfway between the provincial capital and Chok Chai district on highway 224.

>>The locals conduct a free tour around the kilns every weekend

>>For many more fun and destinations on the roads, check out "Weekend Drives" - an Englishlanguaged guide by The Nation's travel writers.