Thailand For Visitors

Dan Kwian

pots
Some of my own treasures from Dan Kwian.

 
A few miles south of Korat is the "land of ceramics" at Dan Kwian. The village has become famous, at least in Thailand, for its pots made of fired clay from the banks of a nearby river. The grandiose name actually describes a market of many small shops lining either side of a wide spot in the road. There are similar markets along many roads in Thailand, where ever there is a local specialty. In most cases, although there are usually at least a dozen or so shops to chose from it doesn't really matter which one you shop in because they all have more or less the same stock.

I was pleasantly surprised at Dan Kwian to find that the shops had a wide variety of styles on offer. This is especially the case if you explore the shops around the parking area behind the stalls on the west side of the road. Each shop has their own style on display, so you can really explore each of them to find what suits your fancy. We bought about half a dozen items in all on our first trip, filling up the trunk of the car. The photo shows a sampling of what we've purchased. If the selection was a surprise, the prices were downright shocking. The smallest vase, approximately ten inches high, was just around $1.50 while the largest was less than $7.00. This is a fraction of what you will pay in a Bangkok tourist shop, if you can find this kind of thing at all.