Traditionally the production of raw silk provided a supplemental source of income for many families in the northeast, most of whom were farmers. The raw silk was sent to Bangkok to supply weavers in the capital but by 1946, the hand weaving of Thai silk had become an ailing cottage industry. The use of silk was reserved for special or ceremonial occasions and so the demand for silk was small to start with.

Traditional handweaving of silk

Traditional silk weaving process is a slow and laborious process with the silk being used to make the traditional Thai style of dress. Despite its rich color, silk faded quickly with repeated washing as natural vegetable dyes were used in the dyeing process.

With the advent of industrialization in the early twentieth century, ever rising demand for cheaper machine-made textiles from factories in Europe and Japan, dealt a devastating blow to traditional silk weaving.

Families continued to weave silk but it was predominantly for their own use and little attention was paid to its quality. Even fewer families engaged in silk weaving, its further decline seemed inevitable and irreversible.

In spite of such a daunting scenario, Thompson was confident that the brilliance, and distinctive qualities of Thai silk would draw significant interest overseas.

To assess this potential, he had several lengths of silk in a range of colors woven to his specifications and set off in 1947 for New York to see if he could successfully market the silk and source sophisticated buyers for his extraordinary merchandise.