[plalleste]

When I saw this being discussed in TCB I thought it was fabric softener.

Normally morhom shirt is starched (ŧá»é§), it becomes soft after washing. The color of morhom will be more beautiful after you wear and wash it for awhile. Morhom shirt is durable, cheap price, unisex, and comfortable. I was recommended to buy morhom clothes from Phrae province, good quality fabric.

Photos from oknation and Thaitambon.com

[Accor$314]

I think the one just before the last is the real hot one. As a farang I would not want to wear that one in the hot season. I guess Thais are used to it.

[plalleste]

'Thai farmer's shirts'. I wonder if they could be Morhom also?

If the fabric is dyed with natural hom color, called morhom cloth (indigo dyed cloth) kha, but some textile producers might use synthetic dye which cost less. If you mention ‘morhom shirt’, people tend to think of traditional design: round neck shirt, but nowadays morhom cloth is used in new designs too.

In english 'morhom cloth' might be called 'Thai farmer's shirts' as many people in upcountry area like to wear it, but some Thais I've met do not like this term, it could be interpreted in negative/insulting implications - poor, etc. .

[BuyCheapest]

I'm yet to find a shirt that doesn't stain everything else in the washing I hate to run the washing machine for one shirt.

btw, I only found out recently that immigration staff in Chiang Mai wear these traditional shirts on Fridays. the ladies wear indigo, the men "raw" colour.

[fameintatenly]

I believe the ones I have are the original fabric, if not the original design. They 'bleed' when washed, and are very stiff until washed many times. The oldest I've had since around 1972, but of course I don't wear it very often, and it doesn't fit quite like it used to. The color as well as the fabric has become much softer with age in comparison to the newer one. We bought them in Sampeng market, along with Pakama.

I think he probably used the term 'Thai farmer's shirt' as a description only, thinking I could understand it better. There is no offence meant, kha, and I am glad to know the correct term. I am a country girl myself, and I know how important farm work is, especially if we like to eat!

Thanks for the information.

[fameintatenly]

Thank you, Khun Mel. I love to learn about Thai fabrics and clothes. They are among my favorite things in Thailand (and let's not forget about jewelry). It's good that we can learn about culture at the same time!

[BuyCheapest]

forgot to mention that schools in Chiang Mai (and maybe other northern provinces as well) must have traditional Lanna uniforms for Fridays. it is hardly ever the usual indigo colour shirt, it usually comes in all sorts of colours (our school has red for the girls, white for the boys). teachers usually wear something more fancy, not the simple cotton shirts.

[picinaRefadia]

Thanks Mel from Jimdory

[jessyhalm]

Morhom shirt/trousers

after checking from Thai websites, I got the official meaning from the Royal Institute of Thailand, July 2533 B.E. (1990).

Thanks for the further investigation and detailed description.

When I saw this being discussed in TCB I thought it was fabric softener.

[Accor$314]

Thanks, Mel. We were required by our Peace Corps trainers to get the Morhom shirt and trousers for our performance at the goodbye party for our Thai host families. As much as we looked around at the UThong markets, we could only find lightblue shirts. That was actually quite an advantage because they were very lightweight compared to the dark blue trousers. And it was extremely hot that day end of April.

[plalleste]

I'm yet to find a shirt that doesn't stain everything else in the washing I hate to run the washing machine for one shirt.

I asked the girl who washed my morhom/dyed clothes about the color fading, she soaked morhom in salt water overnight before first washing, she did it another 3-4 times after that no more color fading.

[plalleste]

Morhom shirt/trousers

In Thai Chatbox chatroom I was asked the meaning of ‘morhom’, despite I am familiar with these morhom clothes, but I don’t know the meaning of this term. I was given the link regarding its meaning, but I think it’s not right, after checking from Thai websites, I got the official meaning from the Royal Institute of Thailand, July 2533 B.E. (1990).

Morhom (ÁèÍÎèÍÁ) is local language in Lanna area (Northern of Thailand), means the color of the shirt, dark indigo dye (ÊÕ¤ÃÒÁÍÁ´Ó).

Mor - ÁÍ ËÃ×Í ÁèÍ means ÊÕÁÍ ÊÕÁ×´ (dark colour) ÊÕ¤ÃÒÁ (indigo)

Hom - ÎèÍÁ means ¤ÃÒÁ (indigo dye, deep violet blue), natural color from leaves and trunk of Hom Tree - the annual plant (äÁéÅéÁÅØ¡) with scientific name (ª×èÍÇÔ·ÂÒÈÒʵÃì) - Baphicacanthus cusia Brem, family name (ª×èÍǧÈì) – Acanthaceae.

This term with the spelling ‘ÁèÍÎèÍÁ’ was added in the dictionary of Royal Institute 2525 B.E. (1982), later there was a linguist suggested the spelling should be ËÁéÍËéÍÁ. After the consideration of the royal institute committee, the conclusion of spelling of this term should be ÁèÍÎèÍÁ or ÁèÍËéÍÁ, and ending the spelling as ËÁéÍËéÍÁ.

The spelling of ËÁéÍ (pot) will mislead to the meaning that ‘cloth/shirt dyed in a pot’, but in fact it is cloth/shirt dyed with the color from hom tree in any kind of utensil/container, not necessary to be a pot, cold water dye method is used for morhom. Either ÁèÍÎèÍÁ or ËÁéÍËéÍÁ, both are pronounced in falling tone (ÇÃóÂØ¡µìâ·).

Morhom shirt originated in Thailand after World War II by Lao Puan (ÅÒǾǹ) who immigrated to Phrae province, they sold dark indigo dyed clothes to forestry workers and these clothes became very popular. In 2496 B.E (1953) Mr. Kraisri Nimmarnhamin hosted traditional northern dinner called kan dtohk (¢Ñ¹âµ¡) in ChiangMai to honor Professor Sanya Dharmmasak and American Consul (¡§ÊØÅ), everyone dressed in round neck, indigo dyed cotton shirt with paa kaao maa (¼éÒ¢ÒÇÁéÒ – waist cloth, loincloth, bathing cloth) around the waist. After this dinner, morhom shirt had gained more popularity, spread to other areas, generally people understand that morhom is a traditional shirt of Lanna males.

Photos of traditional morhom shirt. Nowadays morhom clothes have been developed in various blue shade and more designs.

[plalleste]

Susana

Definitely I understand that you do NOT have ill intention or offending meaning of this term, from your posts you are not that type kha .

I’ve seen several websites using ‘farmer’s shirt’, some Thais don’t mind of this term but some do. I met a few Thais wearing morhom shirt in Bangkok and they were asked in negative tone 'why are you wearing 'seua chaao na' (farmer's shirt)?' from one Thai woman, this group didn't answer but smiled, after this woman left, she was mentioned as 'arrogant!!'.

When I had business in the North, morhom shirt was Friday uniform of my staff, my working attire on Friday and religious events was also in morhom or northern style. Staff of most offices in ChiangMai, Lamphun wear morhom or traditional northern clothes on Friday.

Thai language and cultures are complicate and sensitive in many cases, easily misinterpreted, and some listeners do not tell us directly. There are many Thai words with positive or negative connotation, some Thais don’t know these connotations either.

[fameintatenly]

I like the way they look. I have one which looks similar to the middle shirt on the bottom row. The difference is that mine has ties to keep it together. I have another which has buttons. Mr. x used to call them 'Thai farmer's shirts'. I wonder if they could be Morhom also?

[ambiddetcat]

forgot to mention that schools in Chiang Mai (and maybe other northern provinces as well) must have traditional Lanna uniforms for Fridays. it is hardly ever the usual indigo colour shirt, it usually comes in all sorts of colours (our school has red for the girls, white for the boys). teachers usually wear something more fancy, not the simple cotton shirts.

I was staying at a good quality hotel in CM over one Christmas with a group ,and we were encouraged to dress Thai on Friday-one or two of the ladies dressed Thai and I put on a Morhom and the trousers to go with it that I had bought a few days earlier-unaware of this tradition-caused a few comments among the Thai staff-not sure if all were complimentary!

[Thunderzee]

Yes, they really do wear these in Phrae. That's me on the left.

PhraeSongkran.JPG