Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia

San Sai (Ban Mae Tao Hai) kilns

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The small group of San Sai kilns lies north of Chiang Mai and northwest of the kilns of San Kamphaeng. Their products, using celadon glaze and brown glaze, are closely related to those of San Kamphaeng and perhaps represent a branch of the larger, long-lived site.

John Shaw proposed that the San Sai kilns should more specifically be called Wat Tao Hai, after the monastery (wat) in the village of Mae Tao Hai ("jar kiln village"), rather than after the district town of San Sai, because another kiln had been identified at a different site (Huay Ma Leo) within the same district (Shaw 1989, 94). Sayan Prishanchit refers to the kilns as Ban Mae Tao Hai, although he does not suggest a date for their operation (Sayan 1999, 160). He does not mention Huay Ma Leo.