Luang Prabang, the UNESCO-listed world heritage town in northern Laos, attracts many tourists who like to visit temples, waterfalls, caves and markets, but there are many attractions that visitors miss.
Mr Thongphan Chanthasa works on a lampstand.
Chan village in Chomphet district, just across the river from the town of Luang Prabang, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to see a community involved in producing clay pottery using traditional processes.
The village is located a short 15 minute boat ride across the Mekong River.
When the boat pulls up on the other side of the river the lush greenery is amazing and villagers can be seen making their way to the river to collect river weed.
Visitors can soak up the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the village as they slowly walk from house to house to observe potters producing numerous items of various shapes and sizes.
In the late afternoon and on weekends schoolchildren can be seen learning the craft from their parents and producing small clay elephants, buffaloes, pots, flowers, dogs and chickens which tourists can buy and take home as souvenirs.
One potter in the village, Mr Thongphan Chanthasa, 50, said “I have been earning money from pottery since 1982. I learnt the craft from my grandfather and he learnt it from his forebears.”
“In the past my family only made items like mortars and jars, but now we produce many different items to supply to hotels and guesthouses and local households.”
He manufactures jars, flower vases, fish ponds and other decorative items, with the most popular a lampstand used to decorate gardens and light footpaths.
“We get a lot of orders from hotels and guesthouses in Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, and Luang Namtha provinces and we just received an order for lampstands from a customer in Vientiane,” said Mr Thongphan.
“We are very happy our products are proving popular and hope to learn how to expand our range and improve the quality and quantity.”
“Originally our village had only eight potters but as demand increased more families turned to pottery to earn an income. In the last nine or ten years almost all the households here work in pottery and tourists are starting to visit the village to see the traditional Lao pottery process, ” said Mr Thongphan.
Source: Vientimes
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