Tribal People with Crafts Skills, Issue 1

The traditional clothes of the Hmong are adorned with examples of the embroidery skills of Hmong women. Samphan Craft (Hmong) had begun in 2000 to help preserve these skills by developing products for the international market.

Huay Laeng (Hmong) Village

The project is based in Huay Laeng village in the Wiang Kaen district of Chiang Rai province on the border with Laos, 325 kilometers north east of Chiang Mai. Orders from Thai Tribal Crafts help provide full-time employment to three women and supplementary income to up to 100 others in Huay Laeng and surrounding villages.

Village women with minimal education have learned to adapt their traditional skills to the needs of the international market, quality control, basic book keeping skills, and the day-to-day running of a business.


While under the auspices of the Samphan Hmong Church, and helping pastors’ wives support their families, the project is not limited to helping Christian women. From the outset the project has been self-supporting rather than mission-subsidised. Sales to Thai Tribal Crafts provide the basis for the on-going long term viability of the project under local leadership.