Eet, the head weaver of Asian Threads Weaving Center, continues to be the heart and soul of the Weaving Center in the village of Napanat located in northern Thailand. She is always busy with business. Eet has made numerous trips to the capital city of Bangkok at least once or twice per month in order to sell products at different fair trade shows. These shows provide opportunity for the Asian Threads weavers to publically present themselves and their work as one of the benefits of their membership in the Thai Fair Trade Association. Each month the weavers participate in a fair held at one of the large hotels in downtown Bangkok. Proceeds from the sale of their products covers the expenses of the trip. Unfortunately, it is not the type of venue in which to sell a significant volume of items, but it does provide the Weaving Center with some exposure. It is noteworthy that various buyers from local Bangkok organizations occasionally will wander into the fair, therefore providing Eet and the ladies more business exposure.
Typically during the four-hour fairs which are held on Saturdays, Eet would make $100 to $200. Each month is a bit different in the composition of buyers, but typically May & June and November & December timeframes are the best selling months. Eet continues to have about ten individuals work in the Weaving Center in the weaving or sewing capacities. Unfortunately, volume has never reached the point that they can be offered full time jobs. But they are happy to do what they do!
Men as well as women continue to travel to and from Bangkok from Napanat to find work at reasonable wages. This working arrangement continues to put a significant stress on the grandparents that have to parent the grandchildren when the parents are away for long periods of time.
The weavers continue to dream about opening a shop in the capital city of Bangkok that would give them an ongoing point of distribution, but the rent and the manpower to man the shop are not within the foreseeable future. Sales in the village are minimal as there is not tourist trade to the village. The weaving center is a positive gathering and training place for the village people of Napanat. There is always some activity occurring, whether it is weaving, cutting, dying, sewing, or throwing of the weft.
Eet continues to use her business expertise to assist other Tai Dam people groups in the neighboring countries of Vietnam and Laos. However, at this time Eet has not been able to attract others to the Weaving Center in order to train them in the art of weaving. Eet is excited to be part of the overall process, however, and is more committed than ever to it. She sees the potential and understands the necessity of quality control. She continues to do most of the work herself rather than paying others to do it! Her profit-and-loss margin is still quite slim so she does whatever she can so that expenses are held to a minimum. Eet and her fellow weavers continue to rejoice that their work is seen as of high quality and reasonable prices.
