Ban Phai, Thailand, July 21--Few people may be aware that some of the beautiful carpets seen at luxurious hotels in the United States, Europe or even Japan were actually handwoven by local residents in a small district in northeastern Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post.
The 400 employees of Carpet Maker (Thailand), located in Ban Phai district of Khon Kaen, make carpets with various patterns and color schemes for export around the world.
"We chose to set up the carpet-weaving plant in Khon Kaen because the province is known to have the most skilful weavers in the country. And our decision has been proven right as shown from the quality of our output and worldwide recognition," said Prasoot Wongthong, deputy managing director of Carpet Maker, a subsidiary of the Inter Krai Group, a leading weaver of fabrics.
Carpet Maker, the country's second-largest producer of carpets after Carpet Inter, exports its products to high-end markets in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, China and the Middle East.
The company has a monthly production capacity of 8,000 square metres. Of this amount, around 3,000 square metres are woven by hand and the remainder machine-made.
Its main products include silk and wool carpets. All of the wool it uses as raw material is from New Zealand.
More than 80% of the company's output is for export, 50% to the United States and 40% to Europe. One of its major customers is Harrods department store in London.
Last year, the company had sales of around 200 million baht. It has an annual sales growth target of 15% to 20%.
Prasoot said that lately competition in the world markets had intensified with carpet makers from China, India and Indonesia adopting a price-cutting strategy, making their products about three to four times lower in price than those of Carpet Maker.
Consequently, Carpet Maker has opted to position itself in the high-end market, particularly in hand-tufted products where it does not have to rely on price-cutting and can instead stress the quality of its products.
The company also plans to increase its exports to such markets as Japan and the Middle East.
"We have become confident that we can gain exports in Japan after we successfully managed to sell a lot of carpets weighting more than three tonnes to the Portopia Hotel in Kobe last year," he said.
"Usually, Japanese buyers avoid purchasing carpets from Asian countries and instead mainly import them from Europe. So this is definitely a good sign".
He attributed the successful sale to the company's opening of a booth at the Thailand International Furniture Fair in Bangkok last year.
Prasoot said the company was considering producing carpets under its own brand name in addition to making carpets on order.
"We are not sure what brand name to use. Perhaps Carpet Maker because the name is beginning to become well-known in the US and Europe," he said.
The company set up Carpet Maker (UK) in the United Kingdom to function as a distributor in Europe.
But some of its focus will be on domestic sales since Thailand's expanding economy and growing middle class have high potential.
The company also plans to borrow 15 million baht to expand a plant that manufactures carpets made from synthetic nylon fibre in order to tap a lower-end niche.
Carpet Maker was established in 1999 with registered capital of five million baht and an investment of 15 million baht from Soonthorn Kraitrakul, the founder of Inter Krai.
