Mon Pottery

A few weeks back, before my trip back home to the US, my wife and I took a day trip just outside of Bangkok to Koh Kret, a small island community made from a bend in the Chaophraya River.

I had been to Koh Kret before but only on weekends. I was expecting to see the bustling market with its famous Mon food, but we were surprised to see that everything was closed in this sleepy little island community. The boats were running to and from Koh Kret, but I think nearly everything shuts down on weekdays.

In fact, we barely saw anyone, save a few local residents going about their business. Life moves a lot slower on Koh Kret, and it was amazing how quiet the island was.

We were a bit disappointed that nothing was opened, but we had come all that way, so we spent some time wandering around the twisting paths that encircle the island looking for something to see or do.

Finally, we came across a small pottery studio that was open. A few men were sitting around in the studio drinking Thai whisky on ice when we arrived, but they were happy to let us look around.

Unlike much of the rest of Bangkok, the people on Koh Kret are mostly Mom, a small ethnic minority historically from Myanmar. They had built the community that became Koh Kret before the river was diverted in the 19th century, turning the area into an island. Being cut off from the rest of the city allowed the community to preserve much of its traditional culture. In fact, you can still see signs written in Burmese from time to time! One of the things that makes the community so famous, however, is their pottery.

For 100 baht, they told us, we could learn how to make our own pottery as well!

The guys working at the studio gave us aprons and fired up a rickety motor attached to an old throwing wheel.

They showed us how to make our own pots and decorate them in the Mon style. In all, it probably took about 30 minutes to make our pots.

My younger brother is really good at pottery. He's an artist, and his ceramic works are incredible. I'm not sure it runs in the family, to be honest, but I was proud of my attempt!

After that, we ended up having a coffee at the one coffee shop we could find that was open. People seemed kind of confused that we were there. I guess nobody really visits the island on weekdays!

It was a little disappointing to find so many things closed, but the experience of creating Mon pottery was really special. For that, it was really fun that we were the only ones there.