......Thai furniture is best characterised by its use of natural hardwoods, like teak and mahogany. This sort of wood confers beauty, warmth, colour, attraction and comfort to any room it’s put in, and gives it a considerably more homelier feel. By far the best bargains are antiques made of these hardwoods, frequently made by the master-craftsmen of Chiang Mai, because they stand the test of time, being extremely durable and actually improve with age, if that’s possible. Wood is also incredibly versatile and can be transformed into a whole host of furniture items and it also has the advantage that it’s also decorative and ornamental.
If you buy Thai antiques, you’ll have no problem as long as
you intend to keep them in
the country.
However, if you want to export them, you’ll have to obtain a licence. This process can be left to your supplier if you’re a tourist and intend to leave the country soon; otherwise, you’ll probably have to attend to the laborious procedure yourself.

Reclaimed hardwoods
Teak and mahogany are also protected tree species, which might also pose another problem if you buy new. However, many Thai furniture makers are now eco-sensitive, especially European-run companies, and have adopted the practice of recycling or reclaiming hard woods.
Reclaiming can often give a further dimension to the furniture object, as it will give the item an extra history. A surplus wat teak door, centuries old, transformed into a table or armchair will not only provide a stimulus to conversation, but also to your own imagination every time you use it.
Ox carts are another popular reclaimable item, not least for their wheels, shafts and axles, which are often put to very innovative uses, perhaps serving as backs of chairs or backdrops to display cabinets.
The benefits of reclaimed wood are considerable, too, especially when compared to green wood. New wood is expensive, requires high maintenance and is often unseasoned, unlike the older, reclaimed variety, which has often been aged for 30 years, so is extremely hard, shouldn’t warp and requires minimal maintenance. Teak makes an admirable material for outside furniture, by the pool or patio, because it will survive prolonged exposure to the sun and rain, unlike the cheap, seemingly attractive furniture, as buyers of the mass-produced products will know all too well, to their cost.
The modern outdoor furniture, often made of composite materials, might have looked attractive for a short while, but exposed to the elements will warp and fade badly, even losing its integrity and becoming useless.

Traditional Thai furniture
Traditional Thai furniture is often heavy and ornately patterned or carved, reminiscent of European Louis XIV, Victorian or even Mediaeval furniture, down to the bow legs on some occasional tables and chairs.
Many examples are also inlayed with lighter woods like bamboo, or by mother-of-pearl. Alternatively, they may have raised additions in the form of bamboo, poppies or pumpkins, or branches often mimicking the tendrils of nature.
This style probably looks best in the form of single cabinets, sideboards and storage boxes, where it can be set off by more contemporary pieces. Seemingly, there’s no end to the types of furniture items which are crafted in the Traditional style. These range from beds, wardrobes, sofas, benches, stools, armchairs, executive desks, bars, shelves, screens, dining and coffee tables and chairs, to TV or video enclosures, entertainment centres, and roll-top computer desks. The Thais are nothing if not creative and improvisational.

Contemporary
Thai furniture
Such ornate furniture is not to everyone’s taste, however. Recognising this, more contemporary designers frequently use the hardwoods for their solid look, which is favoured for table lamps, which, if simple and unadorned, can grace any room.
They also use hardwoods for frames, while employing alternative materials from natural cotton to PVC and acrylics for the seats of armchairs, sofas or dining chairs, for example.
However, contemporary furniture makers generally go for the other natural materials available in Thailand. These include bamboo, redwood, and nyatoh (Indonesian redwood) among the lighter woods, and raffia-like, readily woven materials such as water hyacinth, bamboo strands, banana leaf, sea grass, rattan, and abaca (an Asian plant similar to banana leaf), which are perfect for wickerwork armchairs, baskets, bins and boxes. They are also readily transformable into sculptured objets d’art, or lamp stands.
Relatively modern materials are also frequently incorporated in contemporary furniture, such as crushed bamboo and MDF. To manufacture crushed bamboo, the bamboo is first peeled bamboo and then compressed flat into a board. The crushed bamboo board is then used to coat all types of wood to make the furniture resemble bamboo. MDF (medium density fibreboard) is made from wood-fibre, glued under heat and pressure.
Being made of fine particles, without visible surface grains, it can be cut, filed, or drilled without impairing the surface. The MDF can be finished by using teak and other types of wood laminates or veneer. Having formed boards of such materials, they can then be used for a huge variety of products, including sofas, bedside and occasional tables, coffee tables, TV stands, chests, dining chairs, floor screens, dining tables, beds, wardrobes, desks, daybeds – you name it – it can all be made out of these amazingly versatile materials.
Natural products, such as driftwood, which require no crafting are also used for lamps, and are frequently surprisingly attractive. Other unique wooden sculptures were originally used by Thai Hill tribes as axles and wheels, while others have been submerged and shaped by mussels, or have been lying in the forest for years ‘where nature has set its fingerprint’; some items being up to 60 years old.
Metal is also incorporated as frames for tables, beds or chairs, including glass-topped items, or used whole for latticed or punched tables and certain stylized items, such as Roman, Gothic, or Parisian chairs.

Lacquer-ware
Decorative items are frequently made of lacquer-ware or ceramics and then ingeniously combined with natural materials such as bamboo, wood and coconut. These are all waterproof and again can be sculpted into many imaginative designs. Cloisonné, or enamel work, where different colours are separated by strips of flattened wire placed edgeways on a metal backing, is also a Thai speciality and the items make incredibly attractive ornaments, which will inevitably take pride of place in anyone’s home.

Religious items
No traditional Thai home would be complete without a few of the obligatory religious artefacts, so whether to please the ‘better half’ or just abiding by the ‘when in Rome’ principle, one should take advantage of what’s on offer.
These take the form of elaborately or simply carved teak altar tables or shrines, elephants, water buffaloes and figures from Thai mythology, resembling fairies or nymphs and Buddhas of all description. If you wish to be a dedicated collector, are a perfectionist, or just wish to impress others with your specialised knowledge, the Buddhas or gods generally fall into one of the following eras: Mon (Dvaravati) 6-11th centuries, Mon (Haripunchai) 11-13th centuries , Lopburi 10-13th centuries, Lan Na 13-14th centuries, Sukhothai and Suphanburi 13-15th centuries, and Ayutthaya 14-18th centuries.
The Buddhas, likewise, if they follow the stylised postures of those in the wats, will take one of four positions, sitting in the classic meditational Buddha pose or padmasana (lotus posture), standing, walking or reclining. He can also be seen adopting various hand postures, called mudras, which, technically speaking, direct subtle energies to various parts of the body or the surrounding environment.

Spirit houses
Anyone resident or having visited Thailand any number of times will have noticed the structures which I, sacrilegiously, tongue in cheek, call ‘Buddhist bird tables’, for ease of description.
Strictly speaking these are not Buddhist, but Animist, that is the belief that everything has a spirit.
No true Thai feels comfortable without one of these structures which resemble small temples, and can either be simple, made of painted wood, or elaborate with reflective stones or metal and are available in a variety of styles and levels of sophistication, which is reflected in their cost.
Thais believe a spirit house (Saan phra phum) is essential to give local spirits a residence of their own rather than have them inhabit the house with the residents, and whether you accord with this belief, or not, it’s best to affirm its efficacy, or hold your peace.
The spirits are also believed to confer good luck and various other blessings. To set one of these spirit houses up, they should be oriented to the south and filled with a variety of figurines representing up to nine spirits, the best known of which being Phra Chaimongkhon – the spirit of houses.
Also placed in the spirit house are a bewildering number of figurines of family spirits, ghosts and various other entities that it’s best to let your ‘better half’ take control of. The spirit houses can be obtained from various sellers which display their wares off Sukhumvit Road.
One trusts this small outing into the furniture of Thailand will have stimulated your sense of curiosity and allow you some insight when you accompany your partner/s or friends on their Thai furniture or artefact shopping sprees. Ω