Create handicrafts from vetiver grass, winning national championship

Ang Thong girl creates handicrafts from vetiver grass, enters national competition to win first prize, before developing into a learning center at the Community Enterprise Group of Vetiver Grass Palm Leaves, Bang Kaew Community, Mueang District, Ang Thong Province. Ms. Chawalee Thongkhanna, 36 years old or Nong Aom, and Ms. Natthaphat Chaiyanintu, 46 years old, helped to weave Vetiver grass into a cloth to be the main material for making various inventions, such as key chains, storage boxes, bracelets, handbags, and the thing that made the group famous throughout the country was Vetiver grass fans, which are beautiful, detailed, and have Buddhist principles embedded in them, using a lotus flower attached to the center of the fan to convey the meaning. There are 4 Vetiver grass fans, made into the shape of 4 types of lotus flowers, representing the symbols of birth, aging, illness, and death, which made Vetiver grass fans win the first prize. Nong Aom said that in addition to vetiver grass fans, vetiver gra ss is also used to create various products. There are orders from both domestic and international markets. In addition to helping conserve soil and water, preventing soil erosion, it also helps retain soil sediment and reduce the force of water runoff, reducing the loss of plant nutrients because it has roots as long as 4 meters and stems as long as 3 meters above the ground. It helps maintain water quality by absorbing and filtering waste, preventing erosion of banks or road shoulders. Vetiver grass leaves can be used to make many products, to the point that it has been promoted by the Ang Thong Non-Formal Education Center to be a learning center to pass on the method of making vetiver grass products to those who are interested. The whole set of palm leaf fans made from vetiver grass costs 3,800 baht. Other products start at only 35 baht. For those interested, visit the page: Palm leaf fans made from vetiver grass. Source: Thai News Agency