A handsome handicraft found throughout most of Thailand is produced by skillfully plainting reeds, strips of palm leaf, or some other easily available local plant. The supple mats made by this process- -weaving without a loom, as one authority calls it- -are widely used in Thai homes, from the simplest to the most also now being made into shopping bags, place mats, and decorative wall hangings.

One popular kind of Thai mat is made from a kind of reed known as Kachud, which grows plentifully in the southern swamps. After the reeds are harvested, they are steeped in mud, which toughens them and prevents them from becoming brittle. They are then dried in the sun for a time and pounded flat, after which they are ready to be dyed and woven into mats of various sizes and patterns.