Talum (Thai Footed Offering Tray) — a Round-Strip Woven Bamboo Tray on a Foot, 20-30 cm High, 30-50 cm Across, Phrai Yak Khio Weave, Rattan Rim

"The mouth of the talum is woven in the phrai yak khio pattern, with a formula villagers remember: lift two, press four; come back again, the fourth lifts two." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Split bamboo into round strips.

Weave the base in plain weave, as a foot like a phan.

Weave the wide, round, flared mouth in phrai yak khio by the formula "lift two, press four; come back again, the fourth lifts two", with a tray 10-20 cm deep, 20-30 cm high overall and 30-50 cm across, in 1 or 2 tiers. Finish the rim with rattan in the snakehead-spine (san pla chon) pattern.

Photos of a real talum with its lid (tiap), Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum, Phitsanulok (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0).

Set cups or bowls of food on it to offer to monks; for fruit, line it first with banana leaf. With a lid, as a tiap, it holds the betel offering at weddings.

The talum was once reserved for monks; hosts of an ordination often wove talum as the monks' trays. Later came lacquered teak, mother-of-pearl and gilded talum. Woven bamboo talum are no longer in use. Take care with the knife when splitting strips. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "ตะลุ่ม", author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum, Phitsanulok (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source gives no strip size, no method for the foot and no way of joining a second tier, and there is no listing for rattan, so it is named in the text.