Community Spotlight
Mat Weaving in Dong Mafai
As part of their restoration efforts, the grandmothers of Dong Mafai are reviving the art of mat-making to gain new sources of income and foster sustainable restoration efforts in the community.
Scroll down to learn more!
Image (right): Mae Grom and Mae add working together on the loom.
Washing the Phrue plant to prepare them for slicing!
Mae Khwan shows us how intricate each piece of mat is.
An Isan Cultural Heritage
In Isan culture, mats are more than decoration; they are everyday essentials. Woven from a plant called Sedge—a type of reed—mats are traditionally used for sitting, sleeping, and especially for eating together on the floor, a practice common in homes in northeastern Thailand. Each mat carries a piece of Isan life—not just in how it's used, but in how it's made.
The craft is passed down through generations, often taught by grandmothers to their grandchildren. Every mat is handmade, and no two are exactly alike.
"Most households here have their own setup for weaving, making mats for everyday use. These mats are part of every stage of life. You play on them as a child, share meals on them with family, and kneel on them at the temple during ceremonies. For as long as I can remember, mats have been part of every day of my life."
- Orn, Local Community Coordinator
How they're made
Hear their stories
We sat down with the grandmas to learn more about their craft. Here are some the highlights from our conversations.
Restoration of our lands.
The community dreams of turning the old mining site into a thriving sedge forest where anyone who wants to weave can gather materials freely. By growing doing so, they hope to make mat-making more accessible, while restoring the land and reviving tradition at the same time.
Revival of our lives.
During the years of resisting the mine, the community faced deep losses of land, time, and parts of their cultural life. With so much energy focused on their activism, traditions like mat weaving faded away. Now, by picking up the reeds and weaving again, they’re reviving parts of their lifestyle that was almost lost.
We Dye Naturally.
Yes, you read it right. 100% Natural Dyes.
Unlike most mats on the market in Thailand, the Grandmas have been working tirelessly to experiment with natural dye techniques. Using resources from their own environment, they’ve developed boiling and sun-drying methods to transform the dried sedge plant into vivid, earthy colors. While most mats are dyed with synthetic chemicals, the Grandmas’ mats are completely natural—sourced and crafted in Isan. They use the leaves of the fiddle-leaf fig tree as well as the bark of the fang tree (Caesalpina Sappan). They come from the land and are woven by the hands of women who call this place home.
Come to Dong Mafai to be part of it all!
Visitors to Dong Mafai are welcome to experience this tradition firsthand. As part of the community’s growing ecotourism efforts, you can spend a day learning how to weave your own mat and experiment with natural dyes alongside the Grandmas themselves.