Photo of the Week: Delicate Soap Flowers from a Thai Market
While walking through the markets in Chiang Mai, I often see these hand-carved soaps for sale and couldn’t resist grabbing a shot. You’ll sometimes find the vendor carving them from small balls of colored soap between sales — well worth stopping a moment to watch. They’ll usually ask for 150-200 baht per piece, but a little friendly haggling will drop that price considerably.
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What stunning craftsmanship (and photography). These are so beautiful!
Ah, your pic dredged up a long-lost memory for me. Back in the early 90′s I too nabbed one of those dainty Thai carved soaps in Bangkok. It’s utterly amazing how intricate and delicate the carvings are! As I’m tentatively thinking of heading to Chiang Mai for a few days en route to Saigon come November – I can’t wait to see such incredible crafts again for myself.
Simply gorgeous tiny dissolvable works of art. Grab a couple for me and I’ll reimburse you when you return – seriously.
Those are gorgeous! I want some! I would buy a basketfull and then make a display in my bathroom. Death to anyone who actually uses them as soap for their toilety hands…
This picture is amazing gorgerous!! breathless !!Congratx!!
This is the sort of photo I always try and fail heinously to take. So thanks for making me jealous.
Hee hee — you’re funny T!!
I’m with T! I’d get the angle all wrong or half them out of focus. Gorgeous shot.
Thanks, Theodora — the camera did all the work on that one :)
very pretty! and an amazing craftsmanship. are they available in Bangkok too?
I’ve never spotted them in bangkok but I wasn’t really looking for them. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them in a market or two.
Great Shot Wes, it almost makes me want to wash… Almost ;-)
Those are WONDERFUL!
Just saw the same picture in Phuket, Thailand. What a beautiful country!
We are lucky enough to have a stallholder at our local market here in Pittsworth, Queensland, Australia, and they have the exact same soaps that their family makes in Thailand – they are amazing!