King of Fiddle  , Samutsongkram

                                           Fiddle is a rare Thai musical instrument.
                                                      In Bang Khon Tee district, there is a skilled fiddle craftsman who has been making fiddles for over 20 years. His name is Somporn Katekaew.
 

Quality guaranteed	House number
Very beautiful pattern	In front of the house

                                                  To make a fiddle, one must be interested in music.
                                                      Moreover, a proper coconut shell and good cow skin are needed. Knowledge for lathe is important as well because a hard wood must be used to make a fiddle bow.
 

Entrance to the house	Inviting corner in front of the house
Moohin and Khun Somporn

Coconut shells for making fiddle	Working corner
Another corner in the house	One of his favourite fiddles

Another corner in the house	One of his favourite fiddles
Coconut shells	They are too small.

Fiddle carving tools	Many types of tools
On the process	Beautiful pattern

Cow skin	very beautiful fiddle
One of his favourite fiddles	He said he would never sell them!

Many kinds of fiddles

Treble fiddle

                                                      Khun Somporn makes several kinds of fiddles such as Saw Sam Sai (Three-Stringed Fiddle) and Saw-U which has its bow laid down on the body between the two strings.  A delicate process is needed to make a fiddle, and that is the reason why some of them cost 300,000 baht!

The ground floor is his working area.	The music corner is upstairs.
Old pictures	A beautiful craft piece

They are his favourite fiddles	Thep Panom on the head of the fiddle
A statue in the house