Other lands
The Thai chong kraben
A rectangular cloth wrapped round the hips with the ends pulled between the legs and tucked at the back, giving a trouser shape, worn with a chest cloth.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for wearers, makers and the curious.
The chong kraben is a Thai way of wearing a rectangle of cloth, the pha nung, by wrapping it and passing the ends between the legs to make a trouser-like garment. It is related to the Cambodian sampot chang kben. Women today wear it for traditional and ceremonial dress, with a fitted top and a cloth across the chest.
Wrapped step by step
Each drawing shows the cloth so far, with the newest step outlined in gold. The figure is a front view; the wearer's left is on your right.
Step 1 Wrap the rectangle of cloth round the hips so that the two ends meet at the front. Step 2 Hold the ends together and fold or twist them into a single pleat. Step 3 Pull the pleat back between the legs. Step 4 Tuck it at the back of the waist. Step 5 Fasten a belt or sash at the waist over the cloth. Step 6 Lay the chest cloth, the sabai, diagonally across the chest. Finished The Thai chong kraben, seen from the front.
Where it comes from
The chong kraben comes from the old court dress of the Khmer and Thai kingdoms, where both men and women wore a wrapped cloth drawn between the legs. In Cambodia the matching garment is the sampot chang kben, and in Laos it is known as pha hang. In Thailand it was the usual wrapped dress in earlier centuries. Western style trousers and skirts replaced it for daily wear, and today women wear it mainly as formal Thai dress. Court records and old paintings show it in several forms.
How it looks
The cloth is wrapped round the hips and the ends are brought together at the front. These are twisted or folded, pulled back between the legs and tucked in at the back of the waist. The result has a loose pouch at the hips and fits the leg to about the calf or knee. Silk is the usual fabric, often with woven patterns, and the cloth is worn with a fitted top, a sash or a chest cloth, with jewellery and a decorated belt.
Who wears it and when
Women wear it at weddings, at court and state functions, and in traditional dance and drama. It also appears in school and historical performances. Modern Thai formal dress uses it in several set styles. Most Thai women do not wear it daily, since dresses, skirts and trousers are normal. Getting the folds right takes practice, and a dresser will usually help at formal events. Some wearers use pins to help the pleat hold. This guide gives the general form, and a maker, dresser or family may do it a little differently.
Sarees worn this way
Also part of it, and being written: Sompot chong kben (The article on this wrapped garment.).
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryPallu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The drawings are simplified diagrams of the order of wrapping, not a lesson: how a drape is worn differs from family to family. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ikat: Midori, CC BY 3.0, source
- Panung: เอบ บุนนาก, Public domain, source