January 3, 2005

MUSLIM HATS A THRIVING BUSINESS

Sewing machines in every home, tambon's hats famous worldwide

Story by WASSAYOS NGARMKHAM

 Despite ongoing violence in the deep South, a Muslim community in Pattani is thriving because making Kapiyoh, or Muslim hats, is a good business even in difficult times.

 Almost 100 families in tambon Kamiyor, about 10km south from the heart of Muang Pattani, make the snug-fitting round hats to fill eager demand by both Thai and Middle Eastern buyers.

 Sewing machines rumble from every house here to make the hats worn worldwide by Muslim men.

 The Kamiyor-made hats have a significant share of the world market due to the quality of their sewing, reasonable prices and uniquely gentle patterns which easily beat rival products from China and Indonesia.

 ''We supplied more than four million Kapiyoh last year to distributors and exporters in Bangkok who forwarded the products to overseas markets, especially Saudi Arabia,'' said Abdulkarim Karima, Kamiyor's 40-year-old head of its Kapiyoh-making group. The community had hat sales last year worth 80 million baht.

 Mr Abdulkarim and some others started on their own to make and sell the hats in 1992. But growing demand for the quality products encouraged the villagers to join together in 1997 to raise production capacity. Today, every family in Kamiyor has at least one sewing machine to make hats. Although villagers work at home, they do so in a well-organised industrial system. They are assigned one of eight production steps, which include cloth cutting, embroidering, sewing and finishing work.

 ''The job allocation allows us to make a great deal of products. Each step is assigned to the families with relevant skills. We never give a quantity order to one family. All villagers know that the more they make, the more they earn. Each family normally earns at least 200 baht a day and the record daily income is 500 baht,'' Mr Abdulkarim said.

 He said apart from Kamiyor, the major hat-producing community, more than 1,200 other families in six districts of Pattani are cashing in on the business and all the communities get on well together.

 Demand sometimes exceeds supply, especially during the Haj pilgrimage when foreign buyers compete with Thai pilgrims for the hats.

 ''Foreigners like Thai Kapiyoh because of its comfort, high flexibility, quality materials and tailoring technique,'' Mr Abdulkarim said. ''The strongest point is embroidery on a Kapiyoh. The embroidery from tambon Kamiyor is more beautiful than the products made elsewhere, whether Bangladesh, Indonesia or China.''

 During the Haj, the villagers must produce the hats not only for Bangkok exporters but also for fellow villagers who travel to Mecca to sell Kapiyoh. The hats usually sell extremely well, since they are often one-fifth or one-quarter the price of hats at local shops. The patterns of Thai-made hats are so unique that buyers in Mecca call them ''Kapiyoh Thailand'', Mr Abdulkarim said. The makers have recently begun attaching ''Made in Thailand'' labels on the hats to promote Thai workmanship.

 The wholesale prices of Kapiyoh hats from Kamiyor vary according to materials and patterns, he said.

 White and embroidered hats, which are the most popular, wholesale for 20 baht each. Those with golden embroidery are priced at hundreds of baht and can retail for 900 baht each in markets.

 Villagers are happy to work at home and make a good income. They remain united while violence sets surrounding areas ablaze.

 Ama Salae, 41, and his wife live solely off what they earn making hats. They assemble hats and forward them for inspection. They earn 28 baht for 20 hats.

 ''Today I will earn 420 baht, but we don't make that much every day. We earn at least 250 baht a day,'' said Mr Ama, who returned from Saudi Arabia three years ago.

 He and his wife lived in Saudi Arabia for seven years and made Kapiyoh at a factory there. They had to return home after the Saudi authorities began to enforce immigration laws strictly.

 ''Some 1,000 Thais illegally stayed there and sewed Kapiyoh because Saudi Arabia likes Thai craftsmanship, which is better than that of workers from other nations. They paid a high wage, as much as 700 baht,'' he said.

 Kapiyoh makers in Thailand depend on ordinary sewing machines since a pattern sewing machine like he used in Saudi Arabia is too expensive, costing nearly 100,000 baht. The poor-quality equipment forces people to rely more on their own craftsmanship, which results in unique hand-made hats that impress foreign buyers, he said.