Silk retailer promotes proud tradition

       Chatchai Puliwakin was 27 years old when he first came to Khon Kaen 30 years ago to work as purchasing manager for Thai Silk company, the producer of Jim Thompson silk products.
       From the same shop-house he began work at, the first of 30 Jim Thompson branches to be built over the years, Chatchai recalls how great changes have come to this Northeastern city.
       "Khon Kaen has expanded so much and there are now daily traffic jams, unheared of a few years ago," he says.
       "But for the silk business, we have seen a gradual drop in production. It is worrying that less Northeastern households are cultivating silkworms."
       The trend is alarming as silk cultivation is core to the Northeast culture, he adds.
       "Young people leave the farms to look for jobs in Bangkok and large cities, leaving the elderly to tend the farms," he says.
       "This has led to a shortfall in local silk crops. During the past few years, we have to rely more from producers abroad."
       To check the decline in production, Jim Thompson has embarked on a number of community schemes such as contract farming to promote silk cultivation.
       "These programmes can help farmers obtain additional income from silkworm cultivation," Chatchai says.
       Khon Kaen remains the main market for the silk trade.
       "Weavers from all over the Kingdom come here to obtain supplies. They come from as far as Surin, considered by many as the top weaving centre for Thai silk."
       In the modest shop-house, Chatchai tends to several merchants who have brought bales of silk to sell.
       Chatchai inspects the goods to verify their grade and makes payment accordingly.
       "What you see today with half a dozen sellers, is a sharp contrast to the long queues we attended to 30 years ago," he recalls.
       The shop was chosen for its location near the main bus terminal, just a few steps away.
       "It was chosen because it was a convenient spot for the traders when they hop off the bus. They can come straight to us without commuting any further, thus saving them time and money," he says.
       The silk company was founded by the legendary Jim Thompson, an OSS agent during World War II. He rose to fame when he disappeared in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands in 1967. His body was never found.
       "I never met Thompson. I joined the company 10 years after he vanished," says Chatchai.
       "But he deeply impressed me with his decisions such as coming to the Northeast."
       Jim Thompson was also one of the first entrepreneurs in Thailand to offer company shares to workers to induce better output and loyalty.
       To this day, many of his original weavers at Ban Krua hold the shares they were given in 1948.
       Chatchai says he also intends to hold on to his shares in the company even after he retires.
       Originally from Bangkok, Chatchai says he now prefers living in the Northeast where people are friendly and the place is still unpolluted.
       "I was born in Thon Buri and I still have a house in Klong Tan," he says. "But I find Bangkok crowded, dirty and noisy."
       "After staying here the past 30 years, it is hard to leave."