Ke Ne Mue / เก่อเนอ หมื่อ

Language: Pga K'Nyaw (Thailand)
Contributors: Interview by Alisa Santikarn
Also known as: women's forest, ป่าของสตรี, ป่าสตรี, ป่าผู้หญิง

Description

Pga K’Nyaw people have different words for different types of forest: Du Ta – sacred forest, Du Tawo – ancestral forest, Ke Ne Mue – women’s forest, Ke Ne Pa – mountain forest or men’s forest, Ko Bree – watershed or headwater forest.

The women’s forest, or Ke Nue Mue, in Huai E Khang village, was started about seven or eight years ago. Before this, the Ke Nue Mue used to be quite far away. In the past, women had to go very far into the forest to gather food, firewood, or plants. That left them with little time to take care of themselves, and when they returned, they still had to cook and care for the family. In those times, women’s main role was to provide for the household – they had to get food, cook, and do everything.

But we – and this isn’t about being a new generation or the middle generation – we began to think: how can we create a space for women? How can we create a green economy space – that’s what we call the Ker Nue Mue, a green economy space – allowing women to collect colours and peels to dye fabric, and to find food close to home. So that it would be more convenient for women. So that’s how we started the Ke Ne Mue. When you enter, you feel happy, there’s lots of things for us to use: the dyes we use for our fabrics come from the Ke Ne Mue.

Read more

Click on ‘oral story’ to hear Mae Luang Noraeri describe the Ke Ne Mue in Thai.

Date of entry: September 9, 2025
A bright blue bucket is placed on a concrete floor. Two spools of thread are on the ground next to it – one white, one brown. In the basket are more spools of various colours.
Natural dyes from the Ke Ne Mue used by CHE SU MO women's collective at Huai E Khang village, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photograph by Alisa Santikarn.
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