Unfurling Umbrellas: Inside Bo Sang Village, Chiang Mai

By Meenakshi J

What if rain were something to be welcomed rather than avoided — softened by colour and craft instead of umbrellas hurriedly pulled out of bags? I found myself thinking along these lines in Chiang Mai, where a visit to the Umbrella Village felt less like a sightseeing stop and more like a gentle revelation.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, and looking beyond Bangkok

Chiang Mai, flanked by mountains and often draped in drifting clouds, moves at a pace very different from Bangkok. On the penultimate day of our stay, I travelled along San Kamphaeng Road, about ten kilometres from the city, to reach Bo Sang Village — also known as Bor Sang — long associated with the making of traditional paper umbrellas. Walking through the village, I began to see how this everyday object had quietly become a symbol of northern Thailand’s artistic traditions.

As a traveller, I have often felt that to truly understand Thailand’s culture, one must look beyond its beaches and skylines. Northern Thailand offers this shift in perspective with ease. My time in Chiang Mai, and later in Chiang Rai revealed a quieter, more textured landscape, one where craft, community, and rhythm of life take centre stage.

San Kamphaeng Road: a centre for Thai handicrafts

San Kamphaeng Road can rightly be seen as a hub of Thailand’s handicraft and handloom traditions. The handmade paper umbrellas crafted here make for striking souvenirs, but what intrigued me more was the chance to witness their making up close.

In India, colourful cloth umbrellas often appear during religious processions or in the adornment of temple sanctums, yet I had never encountered the spaces where such objects are actually made. Visiting Bo Sang offered that rare opportunity — to observe a familiar form take shape through a different cultural rhythm, guided by patience, skill, and repetition.

“Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow, without a little rain“

– Unknown

History of the Umbrella Village

The history of Bo Sang’s umbrellas is rooted in a local legend that continues to shape the village’s identity. Folklore suggests that several centuries ago, a monk named Pra Inthaa from Wat Bo Sang travelled to Burma (present-day Myanmar) on a religious journey. It was there that he encountered the use of colourful umbrellas and recognised their potential beyond mere utility.

On returning home, Pra Inthaa realised that Bo Sang possessed abundant bamboo and other natural materials required for umbrella making. He learned the craft, brought back samples, and began teaching local farmers — offering them a means of steady income during the agricultural off-season. To ensure that the benefits were shared widely, the production process was divided among neighbouring villages, each specialising in a different stage. Over time, this collaborative system gave rise to a cluster of umbrella-making villages, with Bo Sang emerging as its centre.

The Process of Parasol making

The umbrellas crafted here are made using silk, cotton, or saa paper, depending on their intended use. The process itself is meticulous and labour-intensive, involving multiple stages carried out by skilled artisans. Men and women at the handicraft centres work patiently through each step — from preparing the bamboo frames to stretching, painting, and finishing the paper — sustaining a tradition that has endured through generations.

That early act of sharing a skill continues to define Bo Sang, where umbrellas remain woven into everyday life rather than preserved as museum pieces.

At the handicraft centre, the making of a Bo Sang umbrella unfolds in two broad stages. What follows is a visual walkthrough of the process, based on the pictorial steps displayed within the workshop premises.

From fibre to form: how Bo Sang umbrellas are made

Stage 1: From saa tree to paper

The process begins with the saa tree, whose inner bark forms the base of the handmade paper used in Bo Sang umbrellas. Watching this transformation from fibre to sheet, offers a quiet insight into the patience embedded in the craft.

Stage 2: Shaping the umbrella

Once the paper is ready, the umbrella begins to take shape — bamboo frames are assembled, stretched, and slowly transformed into objects of both use and ornament.

To make the umbrellas waterproof, they are coated with natural treatments such as oil, persimmon extract, or lacquer. There are differing views among traders on this — some insist that fully waterproof umbrellas are made of cotton rather than saa paper, while others disagree. It is worth checking this detail before buying, especially if you plan to use the umbrella beyond display.

What stood out equally was how little material went to waste. Bamboo, an inherently sustainable resource, is used thoughtfully — longer sticks form the umbrella frames, while shorter pieces are repurposed into brightly coloured hand fans. As a result, the range of handmade products extends well beyond umbrellas, encompassing lanterns, parasols, and fans in a riot of colour.

The artisans’ skill is not limited to traditional forms either. They paint with equal ease on everyday objects — mobile covers, handbags, backpacks, even caps — working swiftly yet precisely. The motifs are intricate, completed in minutes, and dried quickly with a hairdryer before being handed over. I left with patterns painted on my backpack, camera pouch, and mobile case — small, functional souvenirs that carried the memory of the place with them.

My takeaways

I have always had a soft corner for handlooms and handicrafts, and Bo Sang was no exception. While the larger umbrellas were tempting, practicality prevailed — there was still Bangkok ahead. So, I settled for four small packs of paper fans, each containing four pieces, marking what felt like the beginning of my souvenir shopping journey in Thailand.

Later, my driver mentioned that Chiang Mai hosts the Bo Sang Umbrella and San Kamphaeng Handicrafts Festival every year, usually over three days on the third weekend of January. The festival celebrates the artisans and their craft, filling the streets with colour, processions, and displays of handmade work. It is worth checking the Thailand Tourism website for exact dates if you plan your visit around this time. And while in Chiang Mai, a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park makes for a rewarding contrast to the city’s slower rhythms.

In many ways, the Umbrella Village set the tone for the rest of my travels in Thailand — a reminder that meaningful journeys often begin with small, unplanned encounters.

A quiet request

When visiting handloom or handicraft centres, I try to carry back at least a small souvenir — something modest, yet meaningful. The gesture may seem minor, but it supports the people behind the craft and helps sustain traditions that rely as much on continuity as on appreciation.