Home Destinations Amnat Charoen 🧭 Plan Your Trip 🔎 Search About

Home › Thailand › Amnat Charoen › Amnat Charoen for Handwoven Cloth & Souvenirs Khit Weaving Villages + Town Markets

🧶 Amnat Charoen itinerary

Amnat Charoen for Handwoven Cloth & Souvenirs
Khit Weaving Villages + Town Markets

Amnat Charoen is a small town you can cover quickly, but the thing a lot of people overlook is its handwoven cloth — especially khit weaving, the real-deal Isan technique that groups of village women have been working at for decades. This plan lays it out over 2 days, taking you out to actual weaving villages in Hua Taphan and Pathum Ratchawongsa districts, then looping back to pick up souvenirs at the town markets. It's an easy self-drive trip, and you'll come home with cloth in hand.

🧶 Isan khit patterns🛍️ Small-town souvenirs🚗 Self-drive trip

Amnat Charoen for Handwoven Cloth & Souvenirs Khit Weaving Villages + Town Markets

🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026

The cloth that locals in Amnat Charoen are proudest of is khit, a weaving technique that picks up the warp threads one at a time to build raised, textured patterns. It's used for everything from full lengths of cloth to triangle pillows, shawls and bags. The province's signature design is the takho slap uea pattern, inspired by the hooked water dippers villagers once used, woven together with the 'uea' motif that stands for sharing and generosity. Once you understand where the patterns come from, shopping for them gets a lot more fun.

This plan suits anyone driving themselves, because most of the weaving villages sit outside town and are hard to reach by public transport. If you don't have a car, your best bet is to hire a car or motorbike in town and head out — the distances between stops aren't far and you'll mostly stay on main roads.

Day 1 — Khit weaving villages, Hua Taphan

Day 1

Khit cloth, Hua Taphan district

08:30

Leave Amnat Charoen town, heading for Hua Taphan districtAround 40 km, roughly a 45-minute to 1-hour drive along the Amnat Charoen–Hua Taphan road. Fill up before you go, since petrol stations thin out once you leave town.

09:30

Ban Kham Phra Handicraft Centre, Kham Phra subdistrictIt sits along the Hua Taphan–Amnat Charoen road, about 2 km from the Hua Taphan district office. This is the main gathering point for khit cloth from the Kham Phra women's group, with lengths of cloth, khit pillows, bags and plenty of cloth-based products.

10:30

Watch the weaving in person with the Kham Phra women's groupThis group has been weaving together since 1992, mostly rice farmers who weave in the downtime between planting seasons. If you're lucky you'll see a loom set up under the raised house — say hello and ask to look, the people here are friendly.

12:00

Lunch break in Hua Taphan townThere are rice-and-curry shops and noodle stalls around Hua Taphan market, local prices of 40–60 THB a plate.

13:30

Shop for cloth and souvenirs at your own paceSmall khit pieces or scarves start in the low hundreds of THB; shawls and finely woven lengths climb to several hundred or into the low thousands depending on size and how intricate the pattern is. You can haggle a little if you buy several pieces.

15:30

Drive back into Amnat Charoen townYou'll roll back into town in the early evening, with energy to spare for the night market.

How to buy real khit cloth

Genuine handwoven khit has raised patterns that look slightly different on each side, and you'll clearly see the thread knots on the back. Printed or machine-woven cloth looks identical and flat on both sides. If you want the real thing, flip it over and check the back before you decide.

🎟️

Book the activities in your Amnat Charoen trip ahead

Booking online ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide is usually cheaper than the gate and skips the queue. Pick only the experiences you actually want — prices and availability are shown live on each site.

🎟️ Top tours in Amnat CharoenHighlights, guided Klook 🎟️ Amnat Charoen attractions & ticketsSkip-the-line entry tickets Klook 🚐 Day trips from Amnat CharoenOut and back in a day Klook 🌎 Amnat Charoen activities (GetYourGuide)Global tour marketplace GetYourGuide

🎟️ See all Amnat Charoen tours & activities (Klook)

Day 2 — Pathum Ratchawongsa weavers + town markets

Day 2

Silk and khit in Pathum Ratchawongsa, then souvenirs in town

09:00

Head out to Pathum Ratchawongsa district, on the eastern side of the provinceAbout 40 km from town. The Kham Phon subdistrict area is home to women's groups weaving silk, khit and cotton, scattered across the villages.

10:00

Stop at the weaving group around Kham Phon subdistrict (Ban Khong Aram)This is a villagers' silk-and-khit weaving group — they weave at home and pool their work to sell. It's worth calling ahead through the district community development office or the local subdistrict administration (SAO), since some homes weave on a rotation rather than running a permanent shop.

11:30

Compare silk against cottonSilk is glossy and smooth to the touch and costs more; khit cotton is comfortable to wear and easier on the wallet, good if you want to buy several pieces as gifts.

12:30

Back into town for lunchIn town there are plenty of Isan restaurants and rice-and-curry shops around the City Pillar Shrine area.

14:00

Wednesday walking street, Wan Suk Mitr Town market (if it's a Wednesday)The Wednesday walking street runs 14:00–20:00 inside a mixed-use complex in the middle of town, with food, everyday goods and local souvenirs all mixed together. If you come on a Friday you'll catch the 'Friday market' instead, which has been part of town life for over 20 years.

16:30

Last round of souvenirs + photos at the clock towerThe Phuk Pinto Khao walking street near the town clock tower is a spot for photos and picking up small souvenirs to close out the trip before you head home.

Handwoven souvenirs worth taking home

1

Khit cloth in the takho slap uea pattern

Signature souvenir · low hundreds to low thousands THB per length

Amnat Charoen's signature provincial pattern, drawn from the hooked water dipper combined with the 'uea' motif — a souvenir that tells the town's story in a single piece. Good as a length to display or to have tailored into a shirt.

Khit clothSignature

2

Khit pillows

Home goods · from the low hundreds THB

Triangle cushions and back pillows woven in khit patterns, a specialty of the Kham Phra women's group. Genuinely usable, and easy to carry home since they're packed firm with kapok but stay light.

Khit clothHome goods

3

Cotton shawls / scarves

Wearable souvenir · from the low hundreds THB

Soft handwoven pieces you'll actually wear day to day, at an affordable price — good to buy several to hand out back home.

CottonWearable

4

Khit / cotton bags and finished goods

OTOP finished goods · from the low hundreds THB

Craft groups around the province turn cotton and khit cloth into bags, shoulder bags, skirts and shirts at easy prices — souvenirs you can use any day.

Finished goodsOTOP

5

Local silk from Pathum Ratchawongsa

Special-occasion souvenir · from the low thousands THB

Silk from the women's weaving groups around Kham Phon, glossy and smooth to the touch — a special souvenir for anyone who appreciates fine work.

SilkFine work

Town markets where you can shop for souvenirs

Town centre

Wan Suk Mitr Town market

A mixed-use complex in the middle of town that pulls shops, a market and the Wednesday walking street (14:00–20:00) together in one spot. Easy to walk, with food, everyday goods and local souvenirs all in the mix.

Every Friday

Friday market

A long-running market that's been part of Amnat Charoen for more than 20 years, buzzing on Fridays only — good for grazing on local food and finding edible souvenirs.

Downtown

Phuk Pinto Khao walking street (clock tower area)

A downtown walking street themed around the 'living clock tower', with food, souvenirs and nice photo spots — a good way to wrap up the trip in the evening.

Check before heading to the villages

Many of the weaving groups are gatherings of local women rather than full-time shops, so they aren't always open. Before you drive a long way out, it's worth calling the district community development office (Hua Taphan / Pathum Ratchawongsa) or the local subdistrict administration (SAO) to check that someone's around that day and has cloth ready to sell — that way you don't waste the trip.

Best time of year for a weaving trip

After the rice harvest (roughly Dec–Apr) — this is when the village women are free from the fields and weaving in earnest, so you have a much better chance of catching weavers at work with cloth ready to sell.
During the province's OTOP fairs — the province often holds OTOP product fairs along the road in front of the City Pillar Shrine, bringing together handwoven cloth and souvenirs from across the districts in one place. Check the schedule before you travel.
Wednesday or Friday — if you want the town markets at their liveliest, time it for a Wednesday (walking street) or a Friday (the market).

Want a different Amnat Charoen itinerary? Check the full city guide to where to stay, eat and go.

See the Amnat Charoen guide →

FAQ

Where's the best place to buy handwoven cloth in Amnat Charoen?

The main spot is the Ban Kham Phra Handicraft Centre in Kham Phra subdistrict, Hua Taphan district, which gathers the women's group's khit cloth in one place, plus the weaving groups around Kham Phon subdistrict in Pathum Ratchawongsa district, which have both silk and khit. In town itself you can find cloth at the markets and at the OTOP fairs in front of the City Pillar Shrine.

How is Amnat Charoen khit cloth different from mudmee cloth?

Khit is woven by picking up the warp threads one at a time to build raised, textured patterns, usually geometric. Mudmee gets its patterns from tie-dyeing the threads before weaving, so the designs look softer and more blurred. Amnat Charoen is especially known for khit.

What is Amnat Charoen's signature provincial cloth pattern?

It's the takho slap uea pattern, inspired by the hooked dipper villagers used to draw water from a well, combined with the 'uea' motif that stands for sharing and generosity. It's used as the province's signature design.

Can I reach the weaving villages without my own car?

You can, but it's harder, since the weaving villages sit outside town and public transport barely reaches them. Your best bet is to hire a car or rent a motorbike in town and head out — or, if you're short on time, focus on buying in town at the markets and OTOP fairs instead.

Roughly how much does Amnat Charoen handwoven cloth cost?

Small pieces like scarves or short lengths start in the low hundreds of THB. Shawls and khit pillows go up with size, while finely woven lengths or local silk usually run into the low thousands and up. Prices depend on how intricate the pattern is and whether it's handwoven.

Copyright & Image Takedown Policy

Thailandaddict is created to review and share travel experiences. Where an image is sourced from elsewhere, we credit the source. If you are the copyright owner and prefer that your image not appear on this site, please contact us and we will gladly remove the image or correct the information.