Fair Trade and Our Weavers

I have worked with the Thai Craft Trade Organization, a certified member of the International Fair Trade Organization for many years and share its commitment to fair pay and healthy working conditions. I have seen first hand during 25 years of working in Thailand how our weavers can improve their income, send their kids to school, and create self esteem while carrying on indigenous textile traditions.

Perhaps more important, I have known and worked with many of these workshops and cooperatives for many years and can assure you of their integrity. Most of my Thai artisans are represented by weaving organizations as part of the OTOP local production groups rather than foreign intermediaries. I visit my weavers annually to maintain our partnerships and to ensure the well-being, health and safety of the workers as well as the quality of their products. For example, I've worked for over 25 years with Good Shepherd Sisters in Nong Khai Thailand. They run a training center for young at-risk girls who learn weaving and other textile arts. They are serving the neediest villagers with many wonderful programs and pay the girls even as they train.

You may have heard of Patricia Cheesman of Naenna Studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand who founded "Weavers for the Environment" and initiated a new waste treatment system for dyers in her villages. She actively promotes safe dye and eco-weaving practices while educating artisans about natural dyes and sources for sustainable gardens.

In Savannakhet, Laos the LAHA group grows organic cotton to create beautiful traditional Phuthai natural dye ikats. Their colors from indigo, sappan wood, ebony and others are the most brilliant on cotton anywhere. Their mission is to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty and preserve traditional weaving while supporting 15 villages. The weavers are all women who work at home so they can care for their families.

While it takes more effort, I feel that it's imperative to go directly to the village to witness the loom and weavers at work and to ensure that we offer the best possible product to you. Mekong River Textiles is dedicated to promoting and sustaining traditional cultures of mainland SE Asian through development of the textile arts. Thank you for your support!