Thailand Guide
Southern Thailand: the Gulf coast
The Shadow Puppet Workshop
Price: Puppet performance: around B100 per person
Address: Ban Nang Thalung Suchart Subsin, 110/18 Soi 3, Thanon Si Thammasok, ten minutes' walk east of Wat Mahathat
The best possible introduction to nang thalung,southern Thailand's shadow puppet theatre, is to head for Ban Nang Thalung Suchart Subsin. In this atmospheric compound, Suchart Subsin, one of the south's leading exponents of nang thalung, and his son, Wathee, have opened up their workshop to the public, including a small museum of puppets dating back as far as the eighteenth century, and, for a small fee, they'll usually be able to show you a few scenes from a shadow play in the small open-air theatre. You can also see the intricate process of making the leather puppets and can buy the finished products as souvenirs: puppets sold here are of much better quality and design than those usually found on southern Thailand's souvenir stalls.