turies ago as a cottage industry most probably in the

village of Wua Lai, just outside Chiang Mai. The old-

time silversmiths made trays, bowls for water and for

offerings, boxes for betel and for herbal medicines. Later

generations also made snuff-boxes and cigarette cases.

Today a variety of objects attractive to tourists are made.

Until recently Wua Lai was a hive of activity; all the

main street was lined with silversmiths on both sides. But

now all the craftsmen, about thirty of them, have been

hired by one big concern. It operates as a factory, and the

craftsmen are paid according to their individual skill and

only silverware but other northern handicrafts too.

Inside, the factory reverberates with the loud

banging of the silver-beaters, and the harsh, acrid smell

of the furnace and the molten metal hangs on the air.

ftom old Indian rupees, Burmese kyats and other old

The silver is melted in a round ceramic container

placed in a furnace. Saltpeter and popped rice are mixed

with it to render it soft and smooth. When the silver has

reached the molten state, wood-ash is added to prevent it

sticking to the sides of the container when it is poured

out. Gasoline is also added before the silver is poured;

this immediately catches fire, making the molten metal

more cohesive and getting rid of air bubbles. After five

minutes' settling the wood-ash is scraped off and the

silver is poured out into flat, shallow molds where it

forms into thin sheets.

It is now dipped into sulfuric acid, that workhorse of

so many industrial processes all over the world, to

remove further air bubbles, and then into something

very Thai — tamarind juice. This washes away all dirt

and particularly the acid. A bronze wire brush is now

used to put a preliminary shine on the silver before it is

hammered into the shape of whatever is being made.

At this stage, while it's still hot, shaping is relatively

easy. Hammers and chisels of all sizes and types are used,

depending on the shape and design of the article.

After shaping, another shine is given with the

bronze brush, and with more tamarind juice and sand-

stone.

Elaborately embossed bowls are still one of the main

types of article turned out. To decorate each bowl, a

wooden anvil or "former", shaped something like a large

toadstool, is placed inside the roughly-formed bowl. The

whole is supported in a kind of wooden trough some-

thing like a garden sawing-horse for cutting logs, at

which the craftsman sits. To hold the bowl firmly, the

wooden trough is first covered with a mixture of melted 

fat and resin, and the bowl itself is also filled with resin to

stop it from slipping about on its wooden "former". But

first, the design is roughly beaten on the inside of the

bowl. Then when everything is firmly in place, the crafts-

man sits down comfortably on a cushion in front of the

bowl in its wooden trough, and starts hammering away,

using the rough design he has beaten out from the inside

as a guide — plus his skill born of plenty of practice.

After the design is complete, the resin is melted and

poured away and the bowl is boiled in water mixed with

sulfur for thirty minutes. It's important to keep the water

boiling the whole time, or the silver won't have the

attractive white luster which makes it saleable.

A final shine with brush, another rinse in tamarind