Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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BEYOND THE SEA
Chiang Mai's unseen industries

Text & Images: Graeme Monaghan

Wetsuit factory

As we all know, here in Chiang Mai there are many, many manufacturers making an unbelievable array of goods. In fact, there are few commodities that cannot be produced in this city and its surrounds. The government's One Tambon One Product scheme appears to have been a resounding success in recent years amongst the manufacturers of this amazing variety of handicrafts for both local and overseas consumption.

Most of these goods are of Thai flavour and reflect the culture and handiwork of Thai artisans.

However, there are other industries here that go about their business almost totally unheard of and bring in much needed currency to Thailand, at the same time providing employment for Thai people. For example, few people would know that this city has several companies producing fishing flies. Yes! Chiang Mai boasts at least four factories producing these tiny imitation flies and insects that are used to deceive fish and keep the angler happy. The range and variety of these lures is enough to boggle the mind as they tend to imitate a myriad of different species.

As you would imagine, this is extremely skilled work that can be done only by hand and for which the delicate fingers of Thai women are ideal. To give you some idea of the expertise required, it can take up to three months to train someone in this basic art.

Almost 100% of these items are sold overseas, mainly to Europe.

It is interesting to note that the largest fish ever caught in a European river on a hand-made lure was taken by a lure made right here in Chiang Mai by the Mango Fishing Co. It was an 84.7 kilogram catfish and was caught in Germany in 2007.

But the fly-fishing lure isn't the only water-related product produced here.

Another surprising ocean commodity made in Chiang Mai is wetsuits. You know; those rubberized suits worn by almost every surfer and skin-diver these days.

Yes; seven hundred kilometers from the nearest ocean there are no less than two factories turning out hundreds of thousands of these suits every year.

Mr. John Equid, General Manager of Onsmooth Thai Co. Ltd, owned by the famous Rip Curl Surf Company, and the largest local manufacturer, explained to me that they have no less than nine-hundred workers in their Saraphi factory producing in the vicinity of a staggering half-million units per year.

Made in Chiang Mai

The process of cutting, gluing and stitching these suits is a complex one requiring considerable expertise as there is no margin for error. Obviously, quality control is paramount in a competitive industry such as this.

This means that this Thai-Australian company is responsible for bringing many millions of baht into the country. Not only that but Mr. Equid tells me that though they built a new factory only five years ago to cope with increasing demand, they now need to expand once again. Aside from the Rip Curl factory, there is also one other wetsuit manufacturer in Chiang Mai district.

The father of this whole deep-sea-diving business was undoubtedly the Frenchman Jacques Cousteau. It was he who, shortly after the Second World War, pioneered the use of the air-tank attachments that enable the diver to remain underwater for extended periods. In doing so he started a craze that has caught, and continues to catch, the imagination of millions.

The main problem in those early days was control of body temperature as the suits were made mainly of rubber. With this type of suit the body tended to overheat in warmer water and freeze in chilly seas.

Therefore, though exploring the ocean depths was becoming more and more popular, it would never have reached its current status without a miracle product called…NEOPRENE.

It was invented way back in 1930 by a brilliant scientist named Wallace Crothers, a man who held more than 50 scientific patents. But like so many extraordinarily gifted people he suffered severe depression and took his own life aged only 43.

Like many great inventions, such as Velcro and Teflon, Neoprene's use remained largely unexploited except for various minor uses such as maintaining constant temperature in water pipes.

However, with neoprene's discovery and use in the diving industry almost all those temperature problems were solved.

This astounding material contains millions of tiny bubbles that are filled with nitrogen to give greater insulation and it also makes the suit quite buoyant. This means that divers probing the deeper depths of the sea must frequently wear weighted belts to aid submersion.

Obviously a material of such quality has many other uses. Its inertness and durability makes it most suitable for many industrial applications such as gaskets, hosing and corrosion-resistant coatings and much more. This same inertness is also a protection against those who may suffer skin allergies.

(Personally; I use a piece as my computer mouse pad and find it superior to anything else.)

But it doesn't stop there as there are literally dozens of other everyday applications for neoprene, including cell phone holders, ankle and knee supports, fishing waders and anything else that require a flexible and strong protection. All this with a material that is only 7 millimeters thick.

But to return to our factory in Saraphi…..whenever people hear of a factory in Asia manufacturing whatever it is they're producing, and employing close to 1,000 people, they automatically think: 'sweatshop'. A place where locals work long hours for overseas companies for little money and under trying conditions; hence the name. But not in Chiang Mai.

Mr. Equid informs me that his factory operates under strict government rules and regulations that include overtime rates, holidays, and long term benefits for the staff.

So, not only are they bringing much-needed currency into the Thai economy but retain hundreds of workers in well paid work and with secure and permanent conditions.

No doubt Chiang Mai has many other little-heard-of industries that go about their work quietly and provide employment and benefits for Thai people under well regulated conditions. But if we don't know about them all, it's reassuring to hear about the ones we do.