Thai silk’s popularity rose suddenly, when Jim Thompson, an Amerixan OSS officer, started creating and branding his own version of ‘Thai’ silk, which was quite different from the kind of fabric that was traditionally woven in the region. Nonetheless, his clever marketing established Thai silk as a valuable commodity.
The King Rama V of Siam (1968-1910) was very interested in silk production and admired the skill of his country’s weavers. He developed the silk weaving in central Isan to serve the court’s needs, by introducing semi-mechanized equipment[18]. This area is the main area of silk production even today, including Jim Thompson’s factories