Mo hom

The shirt is a short-sleeved and round-necked with no collar or lapel, usually dark blue or black.

The word mo hom comes from northern Thai language: mo means 'pot' and hom refers to the indigo plant, with its trunk and leaves placed water to produce the deep blue dye.

Dyeing with a black-navy colour in Phrae Province is thought to come from people who immigrated from Chiang Saen, Xishuangbanna, and Laos since the Thonburi Kingdom.

Mo hom shirts became popular throughout the country in 1953, when Mr. Kriengsri Nimmanhemin arranged a banquet for Mr. Sanya Thammasak and the US consul in Chiang Mai.

Lan Na people pronounce mo but some people misunderstand and pronounce it in a different tone and spoken more slowly than mo so it changes the meaning to 'pot' and the meaning of the phrase to 'dye in the pot' instead of 'black navy colour'.

Collect leaves and stems from plant hom, and soak in rain water for 72 hours.

After that, add calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and mix it and filter it with cheese cloth.

The places where you can buy mo hom cloth are areas around Phrae and traditional markets around Thailand.