OUR PRODUCTS

INTRODUCTION

As I already wrote in our first post, we are one of the manufacturers in Thailand for wooden household utensils and massage tools. We have many friends, kins and distant relatives who have asked us to distribute their products abroad in the future. We have specialised personally on the production of palm wood articles. The other offered products are manufactured by our friends and family relatives. These manufacturers are small family enterprises. It is on the internet often said that these articles are produced by hill tribe people in the North of the country. This is wrong! Being precise, in North Thailand there isn't a great variety on different types of wood. The main wood article of the North was teak. Unfortunately, large companies have exploited this wood too much. In the area around Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, there aren't large resources of rose wood, palm wood or even rubber wood.  We will introduce you in this post to various types of wood which are used in Thailand. We will as well mention the parts of the country where these species of trees are found most. In a following post, we will display then to you our product palette. 

There seems to be the myth on the internet that the sales of wooden articles support the hill tribe people. Hill tribes do not produce these items. The production of wooden articles is unfortunately not in their ability. These articles do not help the indigenous people to find an alternative to the opium and ganja trade. The items have a complete different cultural background. They are derived from a cultural tradition of people in the Northeast Thailand (Isaan) and central Thailand! They manifest a cultural heritage of these regions.

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOD

  A wide variety of woods is used in Thailand for the production. There are teak, palm wood, rosewood (the name derives from the colour of the tree and not a relation to the flower). There is a real problem in Thailand about rosewood and teak which were exploited and cut down in too many places. Therefor, these two kinds of wood are only limited accessible. Coconut tree wood is a complimentary to the palm wood. It has gained some market share only in recent years. The wood of the rubber tree has become popular as a white wood besides the wood of the drumstick tree. Later, is usually not declared correctly, neither on markets nor on the net. Further, there are some less known trees used for production such as the  Malacca tree, tamarind and the Albizia saman. Bamboo and mango are not so much suitable for the production of high quality household utensils and massage tools. 

PALMWOOD 

Often, palm wood is used to manufacture wooden articles. It is the wood of the sugar palm. If the tree becomes old or unfruitful it will be cut down and used as a recycle material. Then it is used for the production of household items, massage tools or other practical articles. Previously, these fascinating trees were only cut down and used as fire material. It is also possible to manufacture large items with the wood. These are articles such as furniture, building materials or even complete parquet floor. Palm wood comes traditionally from central Thailand from the provinces of Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Petchaburi. Nowadays, there are some fine artisans as well in the Northeast of Thailand such as in Buriram or Sakaeo.

TEAK

This wood has been popular for many years. Unfortunately, nowadays it is an endangered species. It has fell victim to deforestation.  Previously, there was a lot of the tropical teak forest in the provinces Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. The deforestation was mainly caused by the expansion of North Thailand's road system. As the new highway between these two provinces was built, the amount of deforested area that was incredibly large. Alone between 1945 and 1975 the amount of area covered by forest dropped from 61% down to 34%. Further, Thailand is losing per year 3.4% of its forest. Laws were established to protect the teak trees. The owner of teak is only allowed to cut 10 years after the initial date of planting only 20% of the trees. A farmer has further to replant at least half of the amount of trees with new seedlings. This compensation is however, in my personal opinion, much too low but at least a start.

Teak is an extremely hard wood which is best suited for the production of furniture such as beds, tables, cupboards and shelves. It must be manufactured by using heavy machinery and is so not suitable for the small enterprises. Therefor, even about this wood it is just wrong to state that it is an article made by hill tribe people.

 ROSEWOOD

In the last decade, this famous and fascinating wood has suffered a horrible large decrease by deforestation. Particularly, Chinese millionaires have favoured it for building and decorating their homes. So, too many trees were cut down and which makes it worse Thailand is one of its last habitats. Conservationists project that the species could be extinct within 10 years (by 2026). (1)

Unfortunately, the Thai sense for keeping the nature in balance is not very developed. The concept is missing of keeping the environment intact for future generations. Well, it is even understandable as Thais still believe in the old saying of 'in water, there is fish; in the field, there is rice'. This indicates an abundance of food. It shows as well that Thais never had the need to not consider much about their natural resources. A lot of Thais think that everything will still be there for them plentiful in the next decades.
It is often the greed of keen business people and corruption of the local administration which still does not enforce the rules of a reduction in deforestation. It is an urban legend that Thais would need this nonfunctional policy as they are too poor. Thais in general are not poor but rather wealthy. It is very often the image (or face) that has to be kept. So, they do not plan reasonably with all their resources but waste them only to make money. Well, it is just the same as all over on our planet!
The same rules as for teak apply for rosewood. It is not legal to export it in raw conditions. However, the customs are too often looking away and only a small number of illegal exports is stopped.
Considering this condition, I hope it has become obvious that we cannot offer you a wide variety of articles made from rosewood. Many articles declared as rosewood by other traders are indeed not items made from this material. I will write about compensatory woods in following paragraphs. We will only offer you as rosewood items which are really rosewood. The variety of the items has become limited. We have some smaller items such as coffee spoons, cutlery and massage tools. I promise you to describe all articles with the correct kind of wood that we have  used in the production. 

 WOOD FROM THE RUBBER TREE

This wood has milky white grain. It has become popular among Thais and foreigners. We have launched in the last two years many items manufactured from this wood. The rubber tree, as used in Thailand, is the Para rubber tree or also called sharinga. It is planted mainly in the South of Thailand on large plantations. The primary usage is as resource for the rubber and latex production. After 25 years, the harvest declines and then it is used for the production of many wooden articles. Productsmade from this wood, are 100% recycling products. It is a hardwood and we manufacture dishes, trays, containers, buckets, cups and bowls from this material. There is one thing we have to warn of before the purchase. If you see in stores a rather yellowish rubber wood article than this wood is not really usable. It can be easily infested by smaller insects such as termites.

 WOOD FROM THE COCONUT PALM

The coconut palm has a great versatility and can be used for many items such as food, cosmetics and also wooden house hold articles. The palm is fruitful for a duration of around 25 to 30 years. Then the wood is used as a recycling product. The coconut palm is widely common in Thailand in most parts of the country particularly the South.
There are some important differences to the above mentioned palm wood.  coconut wood soaks water and there is the danger that it can rot in the long run. This limits its usage so that we usually use it only as a complementary wood together with palm wood. Such an item are our yin yang salt and pepper spenders. The obvious visible difference is the colour of both woods' grain. The coconut wood has a rather light brown but the palm wood is darkish brown, such as umbra which can be as dark as almost black.

COCONUT SHELL

The fruit of the coconut shell is mainly used as food or as drink, as coconut meat or water. It is also used for oil and fat. Some interesting wooden household items are made of it, too. One of the most remarkable items are soap dishes. In combination with palm wood it is also used for ladles, cups and tea cans.


WOOD FROM THE DRUMSTICK TREE

The drumstick tree is rather known under its scientific name Moringa oleifera. Other names for it are horseradish tree, benzoil tree and ben oil tree. It is a fast growing deciduous tree which can reach a height of 10 to 12 meters quickly.  The smell of its roots often reminds of horseradish. Its roots were used by English soldiers in India as a horseradish substitute. However its wood looks fascinating and has no strong smell. The fruits of this tree are consumed as food and plant oil can be won from its seeds. Still, even such a wonderful tree has one time reached the age that it cannot be as productive anymore. Then its wood can be used for the production of wooden items. As the stem is not that thick, rather smaller articles are produced such as spoons and saucers. The drumstick tree can be mainly found in Northeast Thailand.

WOOD FROM THE MALACCA TREE AND TAMARIND

The wood of this two species of deciduous trees is often used as a substitute for teak wood. The Malacca tree is the only tree which is currently manufactured on big scale in the North of Thailand. The Malacca and the teak are similar in the wood grain. Many times, it is sold as real teak. So, there needs to be paid a bit attention if you are not offered a wrongfully addressed species of wood. The wood is qualitatively less valuable as the teak as it is lighter and has not such a high density. However, as the teak had to be replaced as a wood for manufacturing, the Malacca tree fulfills at least basic standards. It is known under its scientific name Phyllanthus emblica. Some people call it Indian gooseberry. In its productive years, all parts of the tree can be used in the Ayuverdic traditional medicine. Further, its fruits can be used for many traditional dishes. We use its wood for the production of games and some massage tools. Further, the wood has an excellent grade of hardness that it can be manufactured into wall hangings, boards, cupboards, shells, large elephant figurines and tables. The Tamarind is a further substitute for the teak but is not that often used as it is not that common placed as the Malacca tree.

WOOD OF THE ALBIZIA SAMAN

The Albizia saman or also called Samanea saman is quite popular in Thailand. It is a favourite tree in parks and very productive. It is the habitat of the insect kerria lacca which is cultivated to produce lac. This is used for shellac and resin. This is then used for the production of figurines made by Thai artisans but as well for vinyl products. The wood is a substitute for the rosewood as its grain is similar. Unfortunately, the wood cannot compensate fully the beauty of the rosewood. It is most common in the North of Thailand.

PROBLEMS OF BAMBOO AND MANGO WOOD

Many traders try on the Jatujak market to sell you articles from bamboo and mango. These are definitely beautiful items and have also their purpose and advantages. The bamboo is very often used to produce backscratchers, massage tools and smaller music instruments. The mango wood is often used for jars, flower vases, candle holders and bowls. Unfortunately, both kinds of wood feature big weaknesses.

Bamboo is a light wood which is unfortunately a breeding ground for insects such as termites. Therefor, it does not last a long time. You might ask yourself, after reading such as statement, about the reason that you have seen many bamboo houses in South East Asia. Well, the reason is pretty simple, they cost only 10% the price of stone or brick buildings in the construction. However, you will be shocked or surprised if I tell you that these houses usually only last three to five years without bigger repairs. Very often, these houses were only built for a temporary purpose.

Mango wood does not have such a problem but it is as well a light wood without a high density. So, it gets soaked quickly by water which can cause rotting. Further, this wood cannot keep water and so after only a short time of usage, water will start rinsing out of it. If you have bought flower vases of this material, then I suggest you to put either a plastic bag into it to use it or to use it only for dried flowers.

THE DIFFERENCE OF BRIGHTNESS IN GRAIN

We are asked frequently by customers the justified question about the reason why some items have different brightness in the grain. Trees, like people, are different from tree to tree as we are from person to person. Generally, trees are getting darker with progressing age. As well, same as people have birthmarks, trees have at times darker spots. This is not a mistake, weakness or even disease but a natural progress. As an example, the effect of sunlight or soil can effect the structure of the plant. As well that there are no perfect people, perfect trees are also very difficult to find. This is also the case if you order articles in sets. They are all different and therefor you can see that we do not use any colouring substances or bleaches.

SUMMARY

I hope that I have described clearly enough that we do not use endangered woods at KHT Kaufhaus Thailand and Nongluck Thai Wood. We are very much connected with nature but we see a possibility in recycling trees as a chance to bring it closer to you in your homes. We live on a great farm where my wife tries to grow a wide variety of trees. She is always happy if she can add a new species to our living tree collection. We love it to surround us with nature which means trees, plants and animals as they all bring joy to our lives.

1)  https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/01/more-valuable-than-gold-thailands-fight-to-save-the-siamese-rosewood/