Ruea Mat (Thai Dugout Boat) — Hollowed from a Whole Log, Round-Bottomed and Flat-Ended, Fire-Opened with Rice Husk and Spread with a Kong Dit

"Rice husk is put into the groove and set alight to heat the hull and open the mouth ... When the husk has burnt out, the builder puts out the fire with water and hews away the charred wood with an axe, repeating this until the hull is as deep as wanted. This stage is called boek fai." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, authors ศรสวรรค์ แนบเนื้อ (Sonsawan Naepnuea) and รุ้งตะวัน อ่วมอินทร์ (Rungtawan Uam-in), CC BY 4.0)

Choose a tall, straight teak or takhian log of a girth suited to the boat. Decide which end is bow and which stern, lay the log on blocks (mon) and fix it firmly with wedges. Find the centre, set the width and length of the mouth, then hew it into a rough boat shape, called klon ruea.

Saw open the mouth and trim the stern left and right into a rough boat shape, called mat. Turn the boat over and hew along the mat line with an adze or axe. Turn it upright and gouge a groove inside with the adze from the ends to the middle, leaving about two sok, or some 60 cm, at bow and stern.

Put rice husk in the groove and set it alight to heat the hull, or turn the boat over to roast it, driving out moisture and softening the wood. Judge the amount of husk. When it has burnt out, put out the fire with water and hew away the charred wood with the axe. Repeat until the hull is deep enough. Do not let the fire eat into the hull walls; always keep water ready to put it out; take care with the adze and axe when hewing.

Turn the boat and use a kong dit to grip both gunwales and spread them apart together, with props inside the hull so the heat-softened sides open into the boat's shape. Leave it 2-3 days to set, then remove the props. Spreading can be repeated until the width is right.

Once finished, the boat must be tested several times to see that it works as wanted. Large ruea mat carry paddy or fruit to market with several jaeo (standing oars); medium ones use two jaeo or a pole; small ones a paddle. The photo shows a small ruea mat with a canopy at the Khlong Lat Mayom floating market (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, authors ศรสวรรค์ แนบเนื้อ (Sonsawan Naepnuea) and รุ้งตะวัน อ่วมอินทร์ (Rungtawan Uam-in), CC BY 4.0).

La Loubère recorded that the Siamese hollowed boats from a single log 16-20 wa long and opened the mouth outward with heat. The ruea mat was a key vehicle for the people of Khlong Lat Mayom; later, plank-built and motor boats took over because they were handier and lighter. Hollowing a boat takes practice to master. Do not let the fire eat into the hull walls; always keep water ready to put it out; take care with the adze and axe when hewing. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "เรือมาด", authors ศรสวรรค์ แนบเนื้อ (Sonsawan Naepnuea) and รุ้งตะวัน อ่วมอินทร์ (Rungtawan Uam-in), Khlong Lat Mayom floating market, Bangkok (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source gives no log or boat size, and there is no listing for rice husk or the kong dit, so they are named in the text.