Pha Jok Muang Long Learning Center and Natural Dye

Pha Jok Muang Long Learning Center sits in Ban Phai Lom, Tambon Hua Thung, in Long district - a weaving house and workshop built around the home of Pranom Thapaeng, a Thai National Artist recognised for Mueang Long tin jok, the district’s distinctive supplementary-weft weaving technique. It’s open daily, 8:00am-5:00pm, free to enter, and welcomes walk-in visitors without a booking requirement.

Inside, the centre demonstrates the full process behind a piece of tin jok cloth: spinning raw cotton into thread, hand-weaving on wooden looms, and dyeing with natural materials - indigo (locally, hom and khram) for blue, turmeric for yellow, and other plant dyes for the range of colours that give Mueang Long weaving its reputation. An exhibition space displays local weaving techniques alongside pieces by Pranom Thapaeng herself, and the centre has worked with Chiang Mai University’s textile research institute on developing its natural indigo dyeing process. Finished pieces - scarves, lengths of fabric, cushion covers - are sold on-site at set prices, a more direct way to buy Long district weaving than picking it up secondhand in Phrae town.

The pace here follows the weavers’ own working rhythm rather than a fixed tour schedule - you’re watching people do their actual jobs, not a staged performance timed to visitor arrivals. That means what’s being demonstrated on any given day (spinning, weaving, or dyeing) can vary depending on where the workshop is in its production cycle.

Insider Tip: If buying textiles is the goal, ask which pieces use the tin jok technique specifically - it’s the more labour-intensive, higher-value weaving this centre and Pranom Thapaeng are known for, distinct from simpler plain-weave cloth also sold on-site.

Long district’s other heritage stops - Baan Sala Huean Khamsaen and the antique houses around Baan Wong Buri in Phrae town - pair well with a weaving-focused day trip through the district.