Pla Taphian (Thai Woven Leaf Fish) — Two 30-35 cm Coconut-Leaf Strips Looped round the Fingers and Interlaced into a Barb with Fins and Tail, Hung as a Mobile

"Cut coconut leaf into strips about 30-35 centimetres long, 2 of them. Wrap strip 1 twice round the forefinger and middle finger of the left hand; slide the hand out and you have 2 loops." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, CC BY 4.0)

Cut coconut leaf into 2 strips about 30-35 cm long. Wrap strip 1 twice round the forefinger and middle finger of the left hand, slide it off to get 2 loops, and hold them.

Take the back end of strip 2 across to the front and thread it through the first loop of strip 1; then take the front end of strip 2 across and thread it through the other gap at the back. Pull it into shape: half a fish.

Hold the fish facing left and count the strands 1-4 from the top. Cross strand 4 (bottom) behind the tail section of strand 3; cross strand 1 (top) over tail strand 2 and fin strand 4. Lay the end of 4 over 1 and 3. Cross 3 over 4, thread it behind 2 and over 1 again. Lay 4 over 1 and thread it into the gap behind 3. Pull and shape the fish, with a pair of fins top and bottom. Trim the fins with scissors, and cut leftover leaf pieces to insert at the tail, top and bottom.

Drawing of a pla taphian mobile (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, CC BY 4.0).

Hang it for decoration. Fish woven from fresh leaves are usually made singly and hung from a leaf stalk or string and swung like fishing; mobiles of dried lan-leaf fish hang over a baby's cradle to train its eyes.

The silver barb is a symbol of plenty, as in the saying khao man pla man (rich rice, rich fish), and its name sounds like phak phian, perseverance. The Phanom subdistrict child-development centre, Maha Sarakham, invited Grandma Songsamai to teach children to weave them. Today they are adapted into ornaments and useful things. Beware of cuts from leaf edges. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "ปลาตะเพียน" (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source gives no strip width, and there is no listing for coconut leaf, so it is named in the text.