I’m experimenting with making Samut Khoi (สมุดข่อย), a type of traditional folded accordion book in Southeast Asia. My penmanship has always been terrible—and that’s in English. I didn’t learn how to write Thai growing up so I’m learning now and might as well learn a traditional bookmaking technique in the process.
I probably shouldn’t have gone so small with my Samut Khoi (สมุดข่อย)! These are often illustrated with scenes from the text, but at this scale it’s really hard on the hands—both writing and illustrating. They aren’t traditionally this small.
This is a scene from the Ramakien (รามเกียรติ์), the Thai version of the Indian Ramayana. Here Hanuman, the Monkey King, is trying to convince Nang Sita that he’s really a messenger sent by Phra Ram!
Next step: learning to make my own paper!
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