This pipe represents a fraction of the wide repertoire of silver items made by highland communities in northern Thailand. This pipe is used by the Karen.Silver was the currency most valued by the hilltribes in northern Thailand. It was usually obtained through trade in the form of Indian and Burmese silver coins. Yao and Hmong metalsmiths were known to melt these down to make silver jewellery. The Karen people, who live in Burma and northern Thailand, used a range of Shan silver items including betel boxes, smoking pipes and knives, which they sometimes traded with other hilltribe communities.
