The village of Bo Sang (aka the umbrella village) sits about 20 minutes outside of Chiang Mai, so we took the kids there for a visit one afternoon.
Right past an archway going into Bo Sang is a factory + showroom which demonstrates the entire process of making umbrellas by hand. It starts with the basics of splitting the wood and ends with painting the umbrellas when they’re done.
Beyond the factory, the village itself was underwhelming and a little disappointing. We’d heard that many of the umbrellas weren’t even made there but shipped in from a factory somewhere else.
The actual “factory” was neat though and educational for the kids. And it was a nice afternoon out (and free too).
Ironman Rickshaw-style
Making umbrellas from hand:
Splitting the wood
Putting string around the wood frame
Umbrella frames waiting for a cover
The artists were free-handing all the umbrella designs – really amazing!
For a small donation, the painters would paint anything you wanted including your kid. One girl I saw had her jeans painted and they kept offering to paint my purse. They are extremely talented and fast! We decided to let Beckett and Mara get little “tattoos” on their arms.
More pictures from around the village:
Bo Sang can be found on the eastern suburbs of Chiang Mai off Rt. 1006E.