Taking advantage of the off-season, highland women embroider brocade to increase their income

Thai women gather to embroider on the porches. Photo: Dao Tho

Along the villages of Yen Na, Yen Hoa, Nga My... communes of Tuong Duong district, everywhere you can see Thai women gathering on their porches to embroider.

Sitting on the porch, Ms. Lo Thi Hoa (Hao village, Yen Hoa commune) and four other women are diligently embroidering on brocade skirts. Ms. Hoa said: Every year, after the new rice celebration, she and her sisters undertake brocade embroidery to earn extra income. Depending on the size and difficulty of the pattern, they are paid from 60,000 to 80,000 VND for each skirt.

According to Ms. Hoa, every season, villages with a tradition of making brocade such as Xop Thap, Na village (Huu Lap commune - Ky Son), and some people in Pha Danh and Nam Can communes bring their samples down here to have skirts embroidered. These products, after being embroidered, will be sold to Laos.

Patterns embroidered on brocade skirt. Photo: Dao Tho

Mr. Mac Van Can, head of Na Phu village, said that the village has 73 households with more than 150 women, most of whom are involved in embroidery to earn extra income. This is also a form of creating jobs for women, avoiding the situation where many people leave the village to work far away or flee to China to work as hired laborers during the off-season.

The skirts, traditional Thai costumes, are completed and neatly folded. They are not only a symbol of beauty but also contain the hard work of the women here, day and night.

Thai children also learn traditional embroidery. Photo: Dao Tho