The Thai Lao group in Dien Bien Province

The Thai Lao group is located in Nua Ngam Commune, Dien Bien. In 2003, this group was supported by a program from The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in which the result is a very nice series of photos displaying at the Museum. After that exhibition, the villagers expressed their wishes to have more training support in management, product development and marketing so that they could revive their traditional skills and earn more income through textile production. Based on this wish, Craft Link decided to work with the group under one new project cooperated with Unesco. 

Through the first assessment trip in the project, Craft Link realized that some of the weavers had very good skills in weaving traditional textile, while some others did not remember the technique at all. What’s more, their dyeing skill and silk treating skill were being lost. So, through a series of trainings during the three years 2005-2007, Craft Link has helped this group to keep alive their tradition. At the same time, their textile products are introduced widely, not only in domestic market, but also to the US market through international exhibitions.