About Achara Silver Co., Ltd.
Who are we?
Achara Silver Co., Ltd. is one of Thailand’s leading manufacturers and exporters of handmade Hill Tribe silver jewelry and accessories. It is located in Chiang Mai, the center of northern Thailand. Achara Silver was established in 1980 by Ms. Achara Patthong and Mr. Withaya Cheunjit. Their creativity to produce the best and most unique products out of the highest purity of silver, has launched them from a small business to a company that is well known and rapidly growing. During its 35 years of business its customers include, Thai and oversea customers, the Royal personages of Thailand as well as Hollywood movie star Mel Gibson; who visited and purchased our products while he was visiting Chiang Mai.
What makes us different?
Our most quality products are based on the hill tribe style that is made with and without semi-precious stones. We offer both silver accessories and finished products of own designs, with 96-99% of fine silver, produced by our professional designers. We also have exclusive designs from our customers with the enhancement by the skilled hands of practiced artisans.
artisans
In 1983, we started working with the first group of hill tribe called “Yao” or “Mien” who are very talented in making silver ornaments such as bangles, bracelets and necklaces. Two years later, we also adopted another tribal group called “Karen” or “Yang” who are specialized in creating 99% silver beads and pendants. At the present, there are over 500 hill tribe silversmiths from Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Nan provinces working for our company. They have learned to create quality products with the unique appearance, which represents centuries of their culture, art, and living.
mission
We have learned that the hill tribe people have a wonderful skill of making silver ornaments but most of them have not traditionally considered their jewelry as marketable. As our company’s mission is to help poor people to earn their living and to provide a stable economy for them, we decided to work with the hill tribe people and help them to improve their handcraft skills, and contribute a quality control to enhance their centuries-old traditional methods. We hope to bring acceptance and to also promote their culture worldwide.
vision
It’s our great honor to be able to serve worldwide customers’ demands for more than 35 years and we hope to continue a good relationship with all customers. We are really proud to present our distinctive products as you can see on the product section in this website. We also continuously create new exciting designs following the world trends and market needs. We would like to extend this invitation to you to join us.
Every single piece we create with heart
About Achara's Hill Tribe Artisans
Yao (mien) tribe
About Yao
Yao Women and Children Decorating Their Clothing
Photo by Handwerkwereld.wordpress.com
The Yao people are to be found in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. In Thailand there are approximately 55000 Yao in widely scattered villages in the provinces of Phayao, Nan and Chiang Rai, and perhaps another 10000 or so refugees from Laos, living in refugee camps along the border.
The Yao originate in southern China, and are the only hill tribe to have a written language. Yao villages are mostly found on low hills, and their houses built usually of wooden planks on a dirt road. There is a guest platform of bamboo in the communal living area. Their economy for several generations has been based quite largely on the cultivation and marketing of opium, although opium addiction is relatively rare among them. With the present drive to stamp out the cultivation of the opium poppy in Thailand, the Yao find it necessary to seek other means of livelyhood.
Yao women are noted for their magnificient cross-stitch embroidery, which richly decorates the clothing of every member of the family. The costume of the women is very distinctive, with a long black jacket with lapels of bright scarlet wool. Loose trousers in intricate designs are worn and a similarly embroidered black turban. Yao silversmiths produce lovely silver jewelry of high quality.
The Yao have a written religion based on medieval chinese taoism, although in recent years there have been many converts to christianity and buddhism. They are very peaceful and friendly, who pride themselves on cleanliness and honour and they are called the "businessmen" among the hilltribes.
The Hilltribes of Thailand
by Thailine.com/thailand/english/hill-e/yao-e.html
Karen tribe
About Karen
The Karen reckon 1983 to be their year 2722. This means that they look to BC 739 as the year of their founding. Unfortunately they cannot remember where it was. In their legends Karen speak of coming from the land of Thibi Kawbi, which some have thought may indicate Tibet and Gobi desert According to some the Karen probably originated farther to the west than the other five tribes.
No doubt there has been Karen living in Burma for many centuries. It was in the 18th century that Karen began to make their way across the Salween River from Burma into Thailand. This is verified by some Karen still living in Mae Hong Son Province who can calculate the time of the first wave of Karen settlers into the area. During the
last half of the 18th century and the early years of the 19th, Karen communities along the eastern border of Burma were undoubtedly caught up in the turmoil of events when Burmese and Thai armies pursued each other through their territory. They would have suffered the oppression such people endure even today when caught between hostile forces having to
A Karen Couple Creating Silver Jewelry by Hand
Photo by Achara Silver Co., Ltd.
"Our mission is to create the best quality with unique design of silver jewelry as well as to preserve Thai and hill tribe culture..."
by Ms.Achara Patthong
President of Achara Silver Co., Ltd.
It was the Yuan who were at that time ruling the areas along the eastern bank of the Salween River. The Lawa(Lua?) were then moving out of certain areas in the Yuan principality(especially in the Lannathai areas of Mae Sariang and Chiang Mai), and it seems quite likely that the Yuan rulers welcomed the peace-loving Karen into the resulting vacuum.
The Lawa had not moved out of some areas, so the Karen asked for permission to live near them, or in some cases even in their villages. The Lawa who seemed at the time in no danger of being outnumbered by these relatively small groups of immigrants, graciously gave permission-only to find that in time the Karen had taken over the area and crowded them out. To this day, however, some Karen and Lawa live along side each other in Mae Hong Son Province. There is much evidence of Lawa influence in the dress, ornamentation, and implements of the Karen there.
There have been successive waves of Karen immigrants moving
feed the marauding troops and serve them as porters and guides. When accompanying these armies they would have discovered vast areas of virgin forest on the Thai side where they could perhaps live in peace. There is evidence that the Karen of that period established a symbiotic relationship with the Yuan (Northern Thai), and may have moved across the river with some of them.
into Thailand since then. There is no significant immigration taking place within this generation, although there are even now groups of Karen from Burma taking temporary refuge on the Thai side of the border due to unrest in their own country.
Peoples of the Golden Triangle
by Paul and Elaine Lewis