Bang Sra Kao Mat Weaving Village

Bang Sra Kao is a working mat-weaving village in Laem Sing district, about 16km southeast of Chanthaburi town. The craft here runs on kok — a sedge grass grown in the surrounding fields — cut, dried, split, and hand-dyed before it’s woven into mats, bags, and household goods on simple wooden looms. The village’s weaving centre, the Bang Sra Kao Mat Art Centre, was set up in 2000 with Social Investment Fund backing to organise local sedge cultivation and craft production into a proper cooperative, and it has since earned a five-star OTOP rating — the top tier awarded to Thai community-craft products.

Walking through, you can watch the whole process rather than just the finished result: reeds harvested and split into even strips, dyed in batches using both natural and synthetic colours, then woven into geometric patterns that range from plain utility mats to detailed decorative pieces. The earthy, slightly grassy smell of drying kok hangs over the workshops, and it’s common to see weaving done as a household activity, with several generations working the same loom in shifts. Finished goods are sold wholesale and retail on-site, and prices run well below what the same quality fetches in Bangkok craft shops.

Bang Sra Kao also holds an annual community festival, usually in March, that brings food stalls, demonstrations, and expanded sales of local kok products to the village for a few days — worth checking local listings for exact dates if you’re planning a trip around it, since they shift year to year.

Insider Tip: Weekday mornings are the most active time to see weaving in progress — by mid-afternoon, especially on weekends, many workshops slow down or close early.

Watch out: this is a genuine production village, not a staged show — expect a modest, practical setup rather than a polished visitor centre, and don’t expect every household to have mats on display for sale at any given time.

Getting here from Chanthaburi town means crossing the Tri Rat Bridge onto Sukhumvit Road, heading toward Trat for about 8km, then turning off toward the village for another 8km. There’s no direct public bus, so a car, motorbike, or taxi from town is the practical route. Bring cash for purchases and comfortable shoes, since the workshops are spread along a stretch of village lanes rather than clustered in one building.