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Thai National Costume Exhibition Opens at Tokyo National Museum as Princess Sirivannavari Presides Over Fashion Show Backing UNESCO Bid
Reporter 欧亚时报编辑部
Thailand's Department of Cultural Promotion, under the Ministry of Culture, is holding a special exhibition titled "Chud Thai: The Knowledge, Craftsmanship and Practices of the Thai National Costume" at the Hyokeikan building of the Tokyo National Museum on September 17-18, 2026, introducing the history and craftsmanship behind Thailand's traditional "Chud Thai" attire to Japanese and international audiences. As one of the exhibition's centerpiece events, a dedicated fashion show will be held on September 18, presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and herself a fashion designer. The event forms part of a series of international promotional activities supporting Thailand's bid to inscribe "Chud Thai" on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The exhibition will display all eight styles of the royally-endorsed "Chud Thai Phra Ratchaniyom" established under the initiative of Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother — Ruean Ton, Chitralada, Amarin, Boromphiman, Dusit, Chakri, Siwalai and Chakraphat — alongside three styles of royal-design men's shirts known as Suea Phraratchathan. The program also features live demonstrations of traditional Thai craftsmanship, including ancient thread work, traditional frame embroidery and silver-and-goldsmithing, giving visitors a direct view of the full process behind a traditional garment, from spinning and weaving to embroidery and tailoring.
Two special lectures will be held during the exhibition, delivered respectively by Assistant Professor Dr. Anucha Thirakanont, director of the Sustainable Arts and Crafts Institute of Thailand (SACIT), and Piyavara Teekara Netnoi, director of the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles. The two speakers will address the historical development, textile craftsmanship, and contemporary continuation and innovation of Chud Thai from academic and museum-curatorial perspectives respectively. Admission to both the exhibition and the lectures is free, though capacity for each session is limited and separate registration is required on a first-come, first-served basis.
The September 18 fashion show will present all eight styles of the royal Chud Thai alongside the three men's shirt styles, presided over in person by Princess Sirivannavari. A graduate in fashion design from the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris, the princess runs her own eponymous fashion label and has presented collections at Milan and Paris fashion weeks, making her one of the few members of the Thai royal family with a professional design background. In recent years she has appeared in an official capacity at events such as Thailand's Silk Festival and the founding of the Federation of Thai Fashion Designers, working to promote Thai textile and costume heritage; her presiding over the Tokyo fashion show is seen as a further concrete step by a member of the Thai royal family to support the international promotion of Chud Thai and its UNESCO bid.
Thailand's effort to nominate Chud Thai for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status has been underway for several years. The item was placed on Thailand's national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2023, and the Thai cabinet approved its formal submission to UNESCO on March 26, 2024, under the full title "Chud Thai: The Knowledge, Craftsmanship and Practices of the Thai National Costume." According to UNESCO's schedule, the nomination will be reviewed at the 21st session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, to be held in Xiamen, China, from November 30 to December 5, 2026, when the Committee will make a final decision on whether to inscribe it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, with results expected in early December.
The history of Chud Thai dates back to the 1960s. During overseas visits to Europe and the United States alongside the King in 1960, then-Queen Sirikit — now Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother — observed that Thailand lacked a distinctly recognizable national dress for women comparable to India's sari or Japan's kimono. She subsequently organized scholars to research the forms of Thai royal costume through history and invited experts to take part in the design process. After several years of research, eight styles of "Chud Thai Phra Ratchaniyom" were formally established in 1964, and have since become the recognized representative national costume for official and public occasions in Thailand, still commonly worn today at national celebrations, royal ceremonies and diplomatic events.
The bid to inscribe Chud Thai is regarded as an important part of Thailand's recent cultural "soft power" strategy. Since 2009, Thailand's Ministry of Culture has continuously pushed for various local cultural elements to be inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list; six elements have already been successfully inscribed on the Representative List, including Khon masked dance drama (2018), Nuad Thai traditional massage (2019), Nora dance drama (2021), Songkran (2023), Tom Yum Kung (2024), and Kebaya (2024, a joint multinational nomination). Thai officials say such successful inscriptions not only help protect traditional culture but also boost related industries in textiles, fashion design and tourism.
The Tokyo exhibition comes just ahead of the 139th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Thailand (the two countries signed the Declaration of Amity and Commerce between Japan and Siam in 1887, with the anniversary marked on September 26), and against the backdrop of deepening cultural exchange between the two nations as they prepare for a series of events marking the 140th anniversary of relations in 2027. Observers note that by holding a dedicated exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum, one of Japan's foremost cultural institutions, Thailand aims to draw on Japanese society's broad appreciation for traditional costume and craftsmanship culture to build greater international, and particularly East Asian, awareness and support for the Chud Thai UNESCO nomination.
