泰國絲綢

Buntoon Wongseelashote

摘要： 泰國絲綢歷史悠久。泰國絲綢行業發展始于1902年，在朱拉隆功國王的贊助下建立了絲綢研究中心和技工學校，主要涉及蠶桑、蠶繭、織造和服裝加工等方面。泰國絲綢由泰國本土蠶繭生產，不均勻的蠶絲線有利于織造獨特的絲綢織物。泰國絲綢對全球絲綢貿易的貢獻較小，絲綢面料約占泰國絲綢出口的一半，其主要市場是美國和英國。泰國絲綢一直不是經濟意義上的產物，傳統上由于成本高昂而被保留在特殊場合，當地的消費量也較低。曼谷詩麗吉王后紡織品博物館的建立推動了泰國絲綢的研究和展示，從而提高公眾對泰國文化和泰國傳統紡織品的認知。

關鍵詞： 泰國絲綢；絲綢產業；傳統；歷史發展；推廣；貿易

中圖分類號： TS94109；K826.3（336）文獻標志碼： B文章編號： 10017003（2018）02009504引用頁碼： 021304

Thai silk

Buntoon Wongseelashote

（Thai silk Association， Bangkok 10700， Thai）

Abstract： Silk industry in Thailand has a long history. The actual development of Thai silk started from 1902 when a research center and silk technical school for silk were established under the patronage of the King Chulalongkorn， mainly involving the sericulture， cocoon growing， fabrics weaving， garment making， and so on. Thai silk is produced from the cocoons of Thai indigenous silkworms， and the uneven silk yarns are good for weaving unique commercial silk fabrics. Thailand is a small contributor to the global trade in silk and silk fabric accounts for about half of the silk exported from Thailand. The predominant markets are the US and the UK. Thai silk has not been an economic product， and it is reserved on special occasions due to high cost. Local consumption for it is low. The founding of the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok has promoted the research and demonstration of Thai silk and improved the public awareness of Thai culture， and the traditional textiles in Thailand.

Key words： Thai silk； silk industry； tradition； historical development； promotion； trade

1.1泰國絲綢業的歷史發展

1.1Historical development of silk industry in Thailand

Silk industry in Thailand has a long history. It started from 1902 when the actual development under the patronage of the King Chulalongkorn （King Rama 5th） was undertaken towards the sericulture， cocoon growing， fabrics weaving， garment making， and so forth. At that time， Dr. Kametaro Toyama， an associate professor of Tokyo University， was hired to give advice as to how to raise cocoons to get silk yarns with the best quality. Then， a research center for silk which led to building Thai silk expert groups in the country was established， focusing on the development of good sericulture in particular[1].

On September 30， 1903， King Chulalongkorn established the Thai Silk Technical Bureau as a part of the ministry of agriculture. His majesty also assigned the prince of the first class pichai mahindarodom （a Royal Prince Penpatthanaphong） as the director of this bureau. Furthermore， a school called ‘a Silk Technical School was also established to educate Thai people about silk. The school was set up as a replacement for the center set up by the Japanese professor who retired one year later. The assistance from the Japanese on silk was not available until 1969. Thailand received technical support again from the Japanese government during 1969 and 1988 under the Colombo Plan. Under the Plan， 6 Thai silk experts were sent to Japan to conduct a research on the cocoon production， pesticide usage and right methods of yarn pulling under the Japanese supervision. Through such assistance， Thailand ultimately succeeded in producing warp yarns， i.e. 3A quality， as a substitution for those imported yarns.

On July 21， 1976， Queen Sirikit decided to establish the foundation for the promotion of supplementary occupations and related techniques in order to help generate additional income for the poor in the remote areas. Thai silk was not only part of job creation. This foundation aimed to perform， but the foundation also promoted Thai custom and tradition through other Thai traditional handicrafts. This foundation is located throughout the country， representing the generosity of her majesty the Queen having been extended to all poor Thais， who could then make extra income in addition to their income from rice farming， etc.

1.2泰國絲綢的種類

1.2Types of Thai silk

Thai silk is produced from the cocoons of Thai indigenous silkworms. Thailands silkworm farmers cultivate both types of the indigenous silkworms that give irregular and uneven silk yarns （Fig.1-4）， good for weaving unique commercial silk fabrics， and the Bombyx Mori， 3A quality， smooth and even， used mainly as warp yarns， glossy mulberry silk yarns.

After silk originated in ancient China where the practice of weaving silk began around 2，640 BCE， Chinese merchants spread the use of silk throughout Asia through trade. Some accounts indicate that archaeologists found the first fibers of silk in Thailand was over 3，000 years old in the ruins of Baan Chiang. The site is considered by many to be the oldest civilization in Southeast Asia.

After World War II， an American CIA officer named Jim Thompson decided that silk would be popular in the United States， and through his connections in New York the product began to be sold as a traditional Siamese fabric. In fact， the material he created had little relationship with what had previously been produced in the country. But through clever branding and by developing a range of ‘Thai patterns， he managed to establish Thai silk as a recognizable brand.

Writing on the Bangkok Post in 1949， Alexander MacDonald noted that， ‘...out of a number of scattered remains of history， from cultures borrowed from Siams neighbors， and from colonies of fat and lazy Siamese silk worms， Jim Thompson was trying to build a modest business. Throughout the 1950s， Thais remained little interested in Thai silk， considering it generally suitable only for fancy dress. However， it was American tourists who sustained the local development of a silk industry in Thailand. In 1951， ‘The King and I， a classical musical play， was opened on Broadway， featuring a depiction of the Thai highclass costumes in the mid19th century in which the costumes were all made of Thai silk （Fig. 5）. Created by Irene Sharaff， the production served to promote the material among the American audience， and fueled the interest in the country.

the 1950s， silk shops opened up across Bangkok. But the silk was sold almost entirely to the tourist trade. Tourists bought a large amount of the fabrics and then took them home where they would make the silk into a piece of clothing. Locally， Thais showed little interest in the product as it remained expensive， and unsuitable for the hot climate[23].

2泰國絲綢產業市場

2Market of Thai silk industry

2.1泰國絲綢產量

2.1Output of Thai silk

The Queen Sirikit Department of Sericulture estimated that in 2016， 73，690 small landholders raised mulberry silkworms on 39，570 rai， producing 287，771 kg of silk cocoons. Another 2，552 farmers grew mulberry silkworms on an industrial scale， producing 145，072 kg of silk on 15，520 rai of land. Indigenous silk production， on the other hand， amounts to only a fraction of these quantities， grown by a small network of 600 families scattered throughout 28 provinces in north， northeast， and central Thailand[4]. The Queen of Thailand supported the Thai silk industry in such a way that her priority objective was that farmers spent their spare time when they were free from rice farming activities to have some extra incomes from selling silk yarns and weaving silk fabrics （Fig.6-7）. In order to promote these activities， efforts were also made to the teaching of degumming， dyeing， and weaving of Thai silk fabrics[5]. Marketing on the other hand is concentrated in the local market.

2.2Export trade of Thai silk

In her majestys view， there is no desire to promote silk as the goods that may generate income through export. The industry was meant to serve as local demand， for use in special events. In 2016， the silk worth USMYM14.6 million was exported from Thailand. The predominant markets are the US and the UK. Silk fabric accounts for about half of the silk exported from Thailand （the rest is raw silk， yarn， cocoons， and silk waste）. However， Thailand is still a small contributor to the global trade in silk. Thai silk exports account for just 0.1 percent of global production， with most Thai silk used locally.

However， silk fabrics and garments consumed by tourists have been recorded in 2016 over 50 million US dollars.

2.3泰國絲綢的應用

2.3Application of Thai silk

Thai silk has traditionally been reserved for special occasions due to its high cost， so its local consumption is relatively low. One can see more contributions to Thai silk in the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok. Its founding in 2003 was to create public awareness of Thai identity and culture， and the beauty of Thai traditional textiles， through research， exhibition， and interpretation （Fig.8）.

3結語

3Conclusion

Thai silk has never been a product in the economic sense. As shown below， it does not matter as an economic contributor. It is more treated as a traditional heritage， and it remains as such even today.

參考文獻：

Reference：

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（a）control group； （b）S1； （c）S2； （d）S3