Chiang Mai Umbrellas

Chiang Mai Umbrellas is Sunisa Umbrella Factory's English language web site. We are located near Bo Sang Umbrella village in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and manufacture high quality bamboo umbrellas, serving customers worldwide. Our product lines cover modern umbrellas, classic Thai umbrellas, paper umbrellas and wedding umbrellas. We also produce fabric and paper hand fans with bamboo frames.
Our umbrellas and hand fans are handmade with environmentally sustainable materials. We exclusively use local, quickly renewable bamboo. Most or our umbrella covers are made of natural materials and all of our umbrella materials are fully biodegradable. This also goes for our bamboo hand fans. We make our products in socially responsible working conditions.

The craftsmanship and artwork is nothing less than amazing and outstanding

(Please single click on a picture to enlarge) 

This is the view as you walk into Umbrella Showroom

They make fans and umbrellas.

Ain't she Pretty!

Making the spindle that holds the spokes.	Making the spokes of the umbrella.
This lady is putting fabric on the umbrella.  You can buy cotton, rayon or silk fans and umbrellas.	Small umbrellas.
BIG umbrellas!	You can buy small silk fans inside (any color) for about $1.50 and take it out to the work area and pick any design you want painted on it.
Ladies outside in the workshop to paint your fan or umbrella.  The cost for painting is extra and the price depends on the size and the design.	You can always buy completed products from  the showroom - they have a great selection.   I made it out with just one small umbrella  and one fan for me.
They also have paintings and wall hangings.	These 2 pictures were  Elder Moleff's favorite.

L-T-R:  Pinky and Elder and Sister Ure the MLS (Membership, Leadership & Support)  Senior Couple in Chiang Mai.  Pinky is a member of the church who came about a 2-3 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to be our interpreter and guide.  She spent the 3 days with us   and with the help of Sister Wasson (Family History Support office in Hong Kong) was able  to submit over 100 ordinances to be done in the Hong Kong Temple.  She will be making  the trip to Hong Kong in August.

Celadon

Celadon is a term for ceramics denoting both a type of glaze and a ware of celadon (color). Celadon originated in China, and notable kilns such as the Longquan kiln in Zhejiang province are renowned for their celadon works.  Celadon production later spread to other regions in Asia, such as Korea and Thailand.

Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun provinces are at the heart of Thailand’s ceramics industry, but Chiangmai is recognised as the home of the renaissance of Northern Thailand’s most famous wood ash glaze, Celadon.   The typically green-glazed celadon was desirable because of its resemblance to jade, a colour long associated with wealth and success.

Some Celadon pieces that Sister Moleff has at our apartment in Bangkok.  Note the glaze and artwork.  Other pieces were shipped home to Prosser WA.  We were not allowed to take photographs in the Showroom.  Some exquisite vases in the showroom were priced at $10,000 USD.

This is the entrance to the Celadon factory.  Showroom is to the right.  The following photographs, which we were allowed to take, are inside the factory.  When we entered  the showroom we were greeted with a small cup of lemongrass tea.  The cups were  rounded and served on a small round plate.  The Thai people are very gracious.

The dry clay which is mixed with the right amount of water to make the greenware.	A happy potter at his trade.
Dryware ready for the kiln.	Dryware on a kiln cart awaiting its turn to be fired in the kiln.
Dryware that is being painted with a glaze design before firing.  These ladies do this freehand.  They are truly artist.	Another piece of dryware that is being  painted with a glaze design before firing.  These pieces when finished could cost over $1,000+ which is why the pieces we bought  are about $1.50 each.

Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market

Khlong Lat Mayom is one of the three floating markets located close to Bangkok, no more than twenty kilometres from town and accessible by taxi from Wongwian Yai (the last BTS station on the Silom Line). Khlong Lat Mayom is nothing like the huge touristy Damnoen Saduak or the crowded Amphawa but really has the charm and authenticity of a local market and you might be one of the only foreigners around. You can spend a couple of hours here then move to the largest Taling Chan floating market, just a couple of kilometers away.

Everybody love floating markets - Thai and tourists alike - you just have to see how locals flock to the place on weekends! Local market culture has deep roots in Thai daily life and eating out is not a special event as it is in western culture: it's fun, cheap and casual, and Thai food has so many variations it can be a travelling theme on its own.

Just like the two other markets around bangkok, the definition of 'floating market' is a bit stretched, the place being in fact more of a riverside market. The canal here is very narrow and only few boats are parked all alongside the riverbank and below a low bridge, cooking for customers who sit at low tables all along the water. Eating is always the highlight of a floating market visit, sitting on a little wooden stool not higher than 10 cm and ordering a dish cooked on a tiny wooden boat anchored just next to your table is such a fun and exotic experience!

Please Single Click on Photos to Expand

Can you guess which one is Thai.  Sister Petchfa, our guide and friend, on the left or Sister Moleff on the right.	Handsome looking couples can be seen frequenting the markets.
The market is on shore with boats selling products on both sides of the canal.	She has some tasty looking fruits and veggies.
Getting into our boat.  The name of the boat was 'Honeymoon'.	1-Thai power boat.  His home is further up  the canal where he grows his own fruits and vegetables.
Her food looked real good.	Lunch or dinner in the rough.
It was a peaceful ride.	Thailand is a beautiful country.
The market on shore.	A craftsman at work.

Wat Arun

Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or Wat Arun (Thai pronunciation: [wát ʔarun], "Temple of Dawn") is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Bangkok Yai district of Bangkok, Thailand, on the Thonburi west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks and the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence.  Although the temple had existed since at least the seventeenth century, its distinctive prang (spires) were built in the early nineteenth century during the reign of King Rama II.
The main feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (Khmer-style tower) which is encrusted with colourful porcelain.  This is interpreted as a stupa-like pagoda encrusted with coloured faience.  The height is reported by different sources as between 66.8 m (219 ft) and 86 m (282 ft). The corners are surrounded by four smaller satellite prang. The prang are decorated by seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China.  The presiding Buddha image, cast in the reign of Rama II, is said to have been moulded by the king himself. The ashes of King Rama II are interred in the base of the image.

Please single click on the photos to enlarge.

On our way to Wat Arun.	Its a sight to see.
These guys are doing a great job holding up the temple wall.  Look at the porcelain chips.	Its a looooooong way up.
	Inside the Wat is very beautiful.
Guardians of the gate.
Take a good look at her fingernails.	You heard of the Ravens feeding Isaiah, well...... Chao Phraya River