Pillow Talk

The History of Thai Pillows & Mats

Very little is known about the origins of Thai pillowry. 18th Century European explorers made a few brief notes about strange looking triangle pillows that they noticed as they explored ancient Siam. But other than these sparse diary notes, the historical record of Thai pillowry is shrouded in mystery and legend. Popular belief (what Thai folk say) is that Thai pillow making started in Northern Thailand in a region called the Lanna Kingdom. Today this region is the Chiang Mai, Lamphun, and Chiang Rai area-the heart of Old Siam.

There is no doubt that Thai pillowry was produced at least two centuries ago, and may date back as much as 800 years when the Lanna Kingdom of Siam was established. The first pillowry produced were simple triangle pillows and mats. It was obvious to early pillowmakers that triangle pillows and mats went together. Around the mid-19th Century, Thai artisans began sewing the triangle pillow to a series of folding mats-and so the first folding pillows came into existence.

The fabrics used in the early era a pillow making must certainly have been Mudmee fabric. Mudmee weaving (also known as Ikat weaving outside of Thailand) has been around for thousands of years. It is the first type of pattern weaving to exist in Ancient Siam. The earliest pillowry also would have been stuffed with a cotton-like substance called kapok. These trees were as plentifull a millenium ago as they are today. Rice straw would have been used in the triangle pillows for structure as rice production in Thailand dates back thousands of years.

Thai pillowry and mats have evolved from the ancient culture of Siam. They are not a product of 21st Century marketing. Thai pillow making has changed little from centuries ago. To posess a Thai pillow or mat is to posess a part of Thai culture that is as old and traditional as the ancient walls of Chiang Mai.

Modern Thai Pillows & Mats

At House of Thailand, we oversee the making of our pillows and mats. We deal directly with the pillow-makers.

Today, Thai pillowry and massage mats are produced in a small village in a region of Thailand called Esaan.  The pillows and mats are made the same way they have been for centuries. Kapok and Rice Straw are still used. All pillows are handmade. Thai Pillowry is produced nowhere else in Thailand. The villagers support themselves by not only making pillows, but also growing rice. During the rice harvest, pillow production comes to a halt.

Women are the pillowmakers. Women do all the skilled work in making a pillow or mat including the fabric making.

No one is sure when the village began to specialize in making pillows. Village lore his it going back at least 4 generations. Why pillowmaking died out in Northern Siam and took root in Esaan, no one knows.

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The Art of Thai Massage

Thai massage and Thai pillows and mats are inextricably linked. Thai mats and mattresses can be used for many reasons-sleeping, playing, relaxing. But the mats and mattresses (mats roll up and mattresses fold up-an important distinction) are commonly used by traditional Thai masseuses. Thai masseuses have used Thai mats/mattresses to practice the art of Thai massage for centuries.

Traditional roll-up mats are two inches thick and are portable. The same tubular construction that is used in triangle pillows is used for the roll-up mats to ensure that the kapok fill does not bunch up or create "hard spots" Mattress are three inches thick and fold-up. A Thai mattress is not as portable as a roll-up mat and is often used for both massage and sleeping in Thailand.

Roll-up mats become soft and floppy with use. This is normal and much desired. The more the roll-up mat is used, the more comfortable it becomes. The round tubes become flattened, the fabric stretches and the kapok will compact. The mat will quickly lose its new appearance, but it becomes softer and more pliable. It will last many years, sometimes a lifetime depending on use.

Thai pillowry, especially bone pillows, bolsters, papaya pillows, and triangles are expecially important to traditional Thai massage. Thai masseuses used these unusually shaped pillows during a massage to support the neck, legs or arms. Ideally, a "well-equiped" Thai masseuse will have an assortment of Thai pillowry for her needs, just like a carpenter will have many tools in his toolbox.

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Kapok

The Heart & Soul of Thai Pillows and Mats

All Thai pillows and mats are filled with kapok. If your Thai pillow or mat is filled with something other than kapok, then it's not an authentic Thai pillow or mat.

Kapok is a cotton-like fibre that comes from the giant pods of the kapok tree. It's very soft and has a yellow luster. Kapok is hypo-allergenic, resistant to compressing, repells insects (keep the bedbugs away!), resistant to mold and mildew and it's 100% organic. Kapok is impervious to water (In fact life jackets were made of kapok). Kapok is considered a premium fill around the world. Thai pillowmakers have used Siamese kapok for centuries in producing their pillowry.

Kapok trees grow to over 200 feet tall and are abundant throughout Thailand. The pods are broken open by hand and the seeds are manually seperated from the soft kapok filling. The raw kapok fiber is then directly used for pillowry. There is no chemical treatment of the kapok and no chemical additives. The kapok used in Thai pillowry is organic.

Thai pillowry is made from either new kapok or used kapok. Old pillowry is recycled in Thailand for the kapok. Old kapok will often have twigs and leaves mixed in because it lays on the ground before being stuffed into pillowry. Old kapok also has lost some of its fluffyness, usually due to an increase in moisture content.

At House of Thailand, we use only new kapok for our mats and mattresses. The mats and mattresses are lighter, fluffier, and the kapok is free of any twigs or leaves. We bring kapok into the Pillowmaking Village by the truckload and it's used exclusively for our pillowry. Using new kapok in our pillowry does increase the cost of the pillowry, but the increase in quality is well worth it!

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Good Pillow or Bad Pillow?

A Guide to Quality

A good Thai pillow or mat is: 1. Well stuffed with new kapok. 2. Double-stitched at the seams for strength/durability. 3. The fabric is good quality and properly cut.

When looking for a Thai pillow or mat, always squeeze them. That's the single most important quality check you can do. (I squeeze pillows all day long!). You're checking to see if the pillow/mat is evenly and well-filled. Especially with triangle pillows you should squeeze the three edges. They should feel very firm-almost hard-and often slightly bumpy (because of the ricestraw inside.) You do not want a spongy feel.

New kapok is better than used kapok. New kapok is not only cleaner and much lighter, but has more loft and fluffiness. New kapok is especially important if you're buying a mat or mattress.

Pay attention to the stitching of the pillow/mat. Often a pillowmaker will elongate the stitching so that the barest minimum of stitches was used to sew the pieces of fabric together. This is what you don't want. You want the seams to be double stitched in a cross-hatched pattern so your pillow is well constructed.

Fabric is like a good meal. If you don't begin with good fresh ingredients, your meal will not be very appetizing. And so it is with Thai pillows/mats-if the fabric is flawed or mis-cut, the pillow will be of low quality. Check the fabric for substantial imperfections in the weave. Also check, especially with folding pillows, that it's straight when unfolded or rolled out. Often pillows are crooked due to mis-cutting the fabric.

House of Thailand: A Tradition of Quality

At House of Thailand we produce the finest Siamese pillows and mats. We use only new kapok. We require the pillowmakers to use exact amounts (by weight) of kapok in each pillow/mat to ensure a proper fill. We inspect the stitching for strength. We are experts in Thai fabrics and use only the best. We challenge anyone to produce a finer pillow/mat than we do!