Steel Art in Thailand

Thailand has industrialized an international prestige for its steel art creations. You may have seen examples of Thai craftmanship online in the form of Life-sized Alien, Predator and Star Wars characters, freestanding and made entirely from scrap metal.

The commerce began over 15 years ago when independent artists began to create small and basic models from wire, nuts and bolts. Typical examples consist of stickmen, motorcycles and very basic animal models. Nothing was made commercially and the creation of these statues were merely a hobby practiced by a group of about 12 craftsmen.

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The commerce changed significantly after the first Predator movie appeared in 1987. By this time, the artists who'd created small statues were in need of a challenge and decided to work together to furnish the world's first scrap metal Predator was created.

The manufacturing commerce in Thailand had industrialized sufficiently so that there was an abundance of cheap scrap metal from manufacturers such as Ford Thailand, boat manufacturers, scrapyards and Thai military suppliers.

A group of 5 artists cooperated to furnish the first design. It was 1.5 meters tall, took four months to make and required the aid of 20 other workers who volunteered their time.

At the time there was no Internet, computer originate programs, resin model collectibles or digital photography. There was only one picture used when completing the whole originate - this was a 1-meter tall poster that was imported from America.

Artists did not sketch originate ideas or create detailed building plans. Instead the building work became a social activity. A wire frame 'scaffolding' was created to show a three-dimensional framework. Artists would rummage through the scrap metal resources they had ready and discuss in their group how they believed single Predator features could be created.

Thais are reputed to avoid friction and the building process was fun, social and there was as much drinking as there was constructing. If a single artist felt that he could heighten upon an existing feature, it would be put to a vote within the group.

The completed Predator statue was never sold. It was passed between the various workmen for three years until it was donated to charity.

The Predator heritage lives on. Since the first completed statue there have been 5 scholar artists throughout Thailand who've industrialized the art of scrap metal model-making.

Our own full-time artist, Khun Phairote has been developing his skills for over 10 years. An challenging and skillful man, Phairote explains to us how the most difficult aspect of his work is in selecting workers with both skill and an quality to work with others.

"We've been lucky that the 12 full-time artists we now employ all have a great sense of family spirit. They take social pride in their work and are always happy to support colleagues and to suggest improvements."

The most rewarding aspect of this work, agreeing to Khun Boom - one of the lead artists at the workshop is looking how statues originate over time.

"Every statue is unique although if we seek a great way of creating a feature, we look to bring it into our hereafter work as well. Having worked at the workshop now for over 8 years, it's been great to see how our skills, concentration to detail and originate details have progressed. If you compare our work today with the work we created in the past you'll see just how far we've come."

Steel Art in Thailand

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