The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the President of the Ministry of Interior Housewives Association presided over the opening of the Royal Fabric Pattern Contest “Siriwachiraphon Fabric Pattern” and Southern Handicrafts.
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The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the President of the Ministry of Interior Housewives Association presided over the opening of the Royal Fabric Pattern Contest “Siriwachiraphon Fabric Pattern” and Southern Handicrafts. He believes that everyone is happy because they are responding to the royal initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, which has improved the quality of life of the people and provided income from the wisdom that has been passed down and preserved from generation to generation. He was very pleased that this year there were over 8,600,000 pieces of fabric and handicraft submitted, an increase from last year. In particular, the Southern region had 1,370 pieces of fabric and 87 pieces of handicraft submitted.
At Laguna Grand Hotel & Spa, Songkhla Province, on 7th September at 10.30 AM, Mr. Suttipong Juljarern, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, together with Dr. Wandee Kuncharayakong Juljarern, President of the Interior Ministry Housewives Association, presided over the opening ceremony of the royal fabric pattern contest “Siriwachiraphorn Fabric Pattern” and the Southern Handicraft Fair. The ceremony was also attended by Mr. Prasopchok Yoosamran, Advisor to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Sayam Sirimongkol, Director-General of the Community Development Department, Mrs. Orjira Sirimongkol, President of the Community Development Housewives Club, Mr. Somnuk Phromkhieo, Governor of Songkhla Province, Mrs. Maneerat Phromkhieo, President of the Songkhla Interior Ministry Housewives Association, executives of Songkhla Province, executives of the Community Development Department, Dr. Yongyuth Suwanbut, Honorary Advisor to the Mayor of Phraeksa Subdistrict Municipality, Mrs. Aranya Suwanbut, Mayor of Phraeksa Subdistrict Municipality, civil servants, related officers, Thai fabric experts and textile prototype craftsmen.
Mr. Sutthipong said that today is another occasion that he is confident that all of us, the people of the Ministry of Interior, as well as the weavers and fabric makers in the southern region, are happy because everyone who comes to this area has responded to the royal initiatives of Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya over the past 3-4 years, both the royal initiatives of “Thai Fabrics for Fun” and “Sustainable Fashion”, which have clearly resulted in tangible results, allowing the people to have a better quality of life, earn income from the wisdom that has been passed down and preserved since the generations of grandparents and ancestors, to create opportunities to expand and develop further, with the royal initiative as the main principle to achieve success, such as the example of Krabi Province, “Ao Luek Batik”, which used to earn income from Thai fabrics of 600,000 baht per year. After taking the royal initiative to develop batik production, the income has now skyrocketed to almost 60 million baht per year. Similarly, Songkhla Province, which used to sell at 380 baht per yard, after taking the royal initiative to develop further, now has an income that has increased to 2,500 baht per yard, has jobs, careers, and increased and stable income.
Mr. Sutthipong added that this year, there were more than 8,000 pieces of fabric submitted for the competition, a significant increase from previous years. All of this came from everyone’s active support. His Majesty has brought us what he calls “wisdom”, including the granting of various royally bestowed fabric patterns. In particular, the southern region has received an overwhelming amount of royal grace because His Majesty has granted many royally bestowed batik patterns, including the Batik Ruam Jai Thet Thai Princess pattern, the Thai Sea pattern, the Southern Forest pattern, the Dok Rak Rajakanya pattern, and the Pattani Hibiscus pattern, resulting in a variety of patterns, colors, techniques, methods, and even processing or designing and sewing.
His Majesty also kindly reminded us that “sustainability will occur if knowledge and wisdom are passed down from generation to generation” by having the Ministry of Interior as the “middle link” to talk to local people under various bodies of knowledge that generates enormous income for people in every area. His Majesty also granted a marketing idea by presenting stories about products related to communities or lifestyles, making works that come from the wisdom of ancestors more valuable in the feelings of consumers, and increasing the value of products, including fashion trends, the use of natural colors in various royal books “Thai Textiles Trend Book”, all of which were tangible. His Majesty graciously granted a team of experts “Fun to Wear Thai Fabric” to help drive the design, tailoring, marketing, and natural dyeing guidelines. For sustainable fashion to be sustainable, there must be further development, tailoring, that motivates people to wear Thai fabric every day and on every occasion, from individuals to families, groups, and a new episode called “Sustainable Village”, which means from a small point expanding to a large point and “teamwork”, which clearly results in people being happy. When all Thais are happy as a whole, “the country is stable and the people are happy.”
Mr. Sayam Sirimongkol, Director-General of the Community Development Department, said that the Community Development Department has brought the royal fabric pattern “Siriwachiraphon Fabric Pattern” to organize a competition in 14 categories, with a total of 8,651 pieces of fabric and handicraft submitted, divided into 8,117 pieces of fabric and 534 pieces of handicraft. In the South, 1,370 pieces of fabric and 87 pieces of handicraft were submitted.