Ma Té Sai

09/09/2026

Friday 11 September our Luang Prabang store is closed. It is Boat Racing Festival! Get down the Namkhan River, barrack for any boat and savour a BeerLao.

07/09/2026

Fortunately I met Gulnoz at a craft fair in Singapore, and she welcomed us so warmly when I arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She is a professor of sericulture and is researching new silk fabrics, and has a shop in the Islamic Civilization Centre where a new, amazing, museum has opened this year. The mosaics, marble carving, installations, along with silk robes from 900CE, and AI to dress yourself as an Uzbeki of old.

04/09/2026

Laos became the most bombed nation in history, largely due to the Raven FACs. Secretive CIA operative. Approximately the same tonnage of bombs were dropped on Laos as were dropped by the US in the entirety of World War II. Laos is still plagued by unexploded ordnance.
Groups, MAG and UXO Laos are still cleaning up, and the only bombs being made can be worn.
Available LuangPrabang and The Green Collective SG

28/08/2026

The secret war in Laos left a legacy everyone should know about. You can find out omore on our blog https://matesai.com/blogs/the-beat-a-pulse-on-our-findings-and-adventures/war-scraps-to-spoons-to-jewellery .

25/08/2026

Since our beginnings n 2010 we have worked with this couple in Phonesavan and if you have ever driven there you can definitely say "it's a journey". And still we sell creations cast from recyclded aluminium, with a history of upcycled metal from UXO left by the USA during the war in the 1960s.

21/08/2026

20/08/2026

Collin Cotterill's Dr Siri series is essential reading for anyone visiting Laos. The communist coroner cm shaman, his cohorts and antics are an insight and comedic relief to the real world at anytime. This is the 11th, and naturally my favourite involved a missing finger found woven into the hem of a Lao sinh "6 and a 1/2 Deadly Sins".

19/08/2026

Only 3 more days left of our sale .sg

14/08/2026

Sometimes it's just better to take a break from sightseeing and sit with crafty Bang (who speaks English) for a couple of hours enjoying crafting your own Dreamcatcher, Lao style. It's only a couple of hours and you never know what you might find out.

12/08/2026

When that everyday item is handmade…