Most classical Thai art originated in our under the patronage of the royal courts. It is an amalgam of the finest cultural traditions of Asia, blended and stamped into unique forms instantly recognizable as Thai.

Classical art encompasses Buddhist art as represented in religious architecture, decorative murals, and Buddha images. The art reflected the complex formal structure and etiquette of court culture, with its heavy Indian influences, and expressed both religious and intellectual impulses. Entertainment was considered to be of secondary value in this category of art.

Another category is popular art, which arose from age-old village realities and the rites associated with birth, death, and the seasonal cycle of crop cultivation.

When speaking of Thai art in general one is able to distinguish between these two groups. On the other hand, different as they are, they are complementary and mutually reinforce each other. Much classical or court-inspired art later evolved into simpler forms which found popular appeal. Classical drama, for example, moved into the realm of popular culture in the form of comic folk-operas.

During the Ayutthaya period, writers, painters, dancers, sculptors, architects, musicians, and skilled craftsmen came under the royal patronage of kings and the nobility. Thai architects and artists were responsible for building and decorating palaces, monasteries, and shrines in conventionally acceptable forms and styles. Unlike their Western counterparts, they were not expected to display revolutionary originality or inventiveness. Thus art and craftsmanship were transmitted from generation to generation according to rigid discipline.

In an attempt to provide general training to Thai craftsmen, especially those who worked in the palaces, the Krom Chang Sip Mu (Organization of the Ten Crafts) was established. According to Prince Pradit Worakarn, who was given charge of the Chang Sip Mu Department during the reign of King Rama V, the original organization in fact covered at least 13 different craftsmen: drawers, paper-makers, engravers, figure-makers, modellers, plasterers, lacquerers, metal beaters, turners, moulders, wood-carvers, sculptors, and carpenters.

In the Bangkok period, these were grouped into 10 divisions: drawing (which included draughtsmen, painters, muralists, and manuscript illustrators), engraving (woodcarvers, engravers on metal, precious metal inlay), turning (lathe-workers, carpenters and joiners, glass mosaic workers), sculpting (paper sculptors, decorative fruit and vegetable carvers), modelling (beeswax moulders and bronze casters, mask and puppet makers), figure making (dummy and prototype makers), moulding (craftsmen in bronze and metal casting), plastering (bricklayers, lime plasterers, stucco workers and sculptors), lacquering (masters of lacquerware and mother-of-pearl inlay), and beating (metal beaters and finishers of metal articles).

Contemporary Thai arts and crafts, though modernized to some extent through improved technology, are still very much inspired by tradition. Ranging from delicately wrought silverware to numerous utilitarian items of everyday life, they are part of the kingdom's rich cultural heritage.