วารสารปี-40-ฉบับที่-3-resize

23 ศาสตราจารย์กิ ตติ คุณ ดร.ปิยนาถ บุนนาค วารสารราชบัณฑิตยสภา ปีที่ ๔๐ ฉบับที่ ๓ ก.ค.-ก.ย. ๒๕๕๘ Abstract Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and the Isan Handicraft Weaving under the Royal Patronage Piyanart Bunnag Fellow of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, The Royal Society of Thailand. Her Majesty Queen Sirikit has preserved and restored the long renowned art of textile weaving in the Northeastern, or “Isan” Region to its former glory before it would cease to exist from the rural areas of the region. Her Majesty the Queen has played a great part in the promotion during her royal duties in the area including giving suggestions for quality improvement of the weaving textiles and supporting of local wisdom by encouraging the rural people in the region to apply the local wisdom to their daily life as the way to promote their pride and bond with the creation of weaving textile art and handicraft. Moreover, Her Majesty the Queen has also assisted in market promotion for the products and in constantly giving encouragement to the craftsmen and members of the weaving groups in the area. With Her Majesty the Queen’s support, the art of textile weaving has gradually become a part-time occupation, which has helped increasing a significant amount of family income for the population in the Northeastern Region, most of which are poor farmers. Such incomes have fundamentally helped alleviating the problems of living of Her Majesty’s subjects in Isan. Therefore, her royal duties in the area have been a vitally important factor in encouraging her royal subjects in the region to maintain their pride in the art of textile weaving. It can also be concluded that the royal duties of Her Majesty the Queen in the preservation of art and handicraft of Isan textile weaving include both the maintenance and development types of activities. Such a mixed strategy has proved to be a very successful way to promote the art and handicraft of Isan textile weaving to continue to exist as a renowned cultural heritage of the Isan population and the Thai nation today and in the future. Keywords:  Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Isan Handicraft