The Mlabri Tribe

With a Jumbo Hammock,
it’s not only you who gets to relax, but also the manufacturer!

You see, all our hammocks are hand-woven by the Mlabri tribe. Due to deforestation, their once nomadic life style in the jungles of North Thailand is no longer an option and they have struggled long time to find a suitable alternative. Now, making these quality hammocks has finally helped them establish financial independence within the home village. The project makes alternatives such as tough fieldwork or sweatshop labor unnecessary. Instead it has brought them healthcare and probably the first unemployment fund in Thailand. Positive products from and for positive people.

For more detailed information, please read on below.

The Mlabri are an enigmatic group of about 300 people who, until a few decades ago, used to live a nomadic life as hunters and gatherers in the dense forests and high mountains of Northern Thailand. They would build temporary structures of bamboo sticks thatched with fresh, green banana leaves and occupy these for a few days, until the leaves turned yellow.

Since the proof of their existence consisted mostly of these abandoned huts, they were given the traditional Thai name of “Phi Tong Luang”, meaning “Spirits of the Yellow Leaves”. However, since they are peaceful people, they wish to be referred to as “People of the forest”

There is some controversy about the Mlabri’s origin, but at present they are recognized as (new) Thai citizens. They have had to struggle long time for this, and many problems started when their natural habitat was diminishing due to deforestation, making their traditional way of life less and less possible. Because they couldn’t have their own land, they had to work for other tribes and often faced slave like servitude, forced tour shows and other degrading alternatives.
Some 20 years ago, they started receiving help from a missionary and his family. Great steps were achieved in the areas of education and health, but the need for a steady income remained.

In 1996, an intrepid Suisse motorbike tour guide, Peter Schmidt, who had formerly worked as a textile engineer, discovered the village and was struck by the women's skills in making string bags from the fiber of jungle vines. Occasionally these bags would make a sale as souvenirs, but never enough to become a reliable source of income. Peter offered his knowledge of weaving hammocks in order to help, opened the first shop near Chiang Mai and that was the beginning of one of the most successful development projects in the area.

The Mlabri adopted this new handicraft that seemed to go quite well with their quiet life style and started off with the production of the original Mlabri hammock, a.k.a. the Jungle Hammock. Meanwhile, they have also mastered the quite tricky process of dying the cotton yarn as well as the most intricate weaving techniques such as V-weaves and Silk hammocks. Men have joined the workforce and production has expanded to include eight different styles of hammocks that are being exported to more than 15 countries world wide.

Unlike in sweatshops, the goal was not to simply mass produce at lowest cost, regardless of any human needs of the laborers. The idea rather aimed at offering financial independence for the Mlabri while enabling them to continue as much as possible with their own lifestyle. That also means that every hammock is produced in a healthy and family oriented environment (the home village) and the workers are paid honest wages. Money is set aside for healthcare and education and there is even a steadily growing social fund. None of this would have been possible without the Mlabri’s own enthusiasm.

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