Chiang Mai is regarded as the center for northern handicrafts, be it handwoven fabrics, woodcraft, wicker ware, lacquer ware or other utensils. Visitors to Chiang Mai, therefore, should not go home without buying some locally-made souvenirs. Prominent among the local handicrafts is sa paper and sa paper products from Tambon Ton Pao in Chiang Mai's San Kamphaeng district.
Making sa paper has been a tradition for the villagers of Tambon Ton Pao. However, the product was not popular in the old days, when it was used mostly for the production of umbrellas, banners, hot balloons, candlewick or cabalistic writing.
Thanks to consistent promotion and development assistance from government authorities, the handicraft rooted in folk wisdom became a much-wanted product both at home and abroad, earning an impressive income for the villagers of Tambon Ton Pao.
The center of sa paper production in the village is the Sa Paper Preservation house. Owned by the Lapinta family, the center has made sa paper production a cottage industry for more than two decades. Yet, although production relies on the traditional technique of making the paper by hand, the House continues to be innovative in creating new products that can be applied to everyday life.
Everyday, members of the cottage industry come to work at Sa Paper Preservation House, where they are grouped according to their individual skills. While one group looks after coloring, another cuts the paper, or takes care of arranging the paper sheets into rolls or volumes while yet another group looks after packaging.
Sa paper is made from the bark of the mulberry tree, and production calls for certain know-how and skills. The bark of the tree is peeled and dried in the sun. Then it is soaked overnight before it is boiled and pounded or ground into fiber. The pulp is then diluted with water in a large basin. For colored sa paper, the desired colors are added to the water at this stage. Then the fiber is stirred with a stick before it is sieved and dried in the sun. It is also possible to decorate it with leaves and flowers petals to creat unusual designs on the finished product. The sheets of paper are dried completely before they are made into different products.
Besides its many products which come in a wide range of colors and designs, from gift-wrapping paper and greeting cards to writing pads and envelopes, diaries and picture albums, accessories, trinkets, paper bags and artificial flowers, Sa Paper Preservation House welcomes the opportunity to promote the making of sa paper to interested parties, to ensure that this occupation of northern art continues well into the future.
