Thailand Tannery

[Colemckeon]

Does anyone have experience with sourcing exotic leathers directly from thailand? I am looking to secure a big quantity of various skins and would love to source direct

[MavericKLeathers]

I lived in Bangkok for 6 months about 3 years ago. While I was there I bought some fish skin and two small pieces of stingray from one of the MANY retail leather shops in town. While I didn't pay wholesale, I did pay MUCH less than I would have here in Austria.

There is an entire street, whose name I forget, of JUST leather retailers. Most of whom would make a Tandy store manager turn green with envy at the qunatity and quality of the hides being offered. This street is surrounded by side streets that sell every leathercraft item you can imagine at riddiculously low prices. If I had had the money to spend on the leather and tools, I would have shipped several pallets to Austria when I returned.

As best I understand it, there are literally hundreds of tanneries in Thailand which either have their own stores, or who wholesale to retail outlets like the ones I bought from. These stores, in turn, supply thousands of cottage businesses who produce their goods in shophouses throughout the city / country, and then wholesale the finished products to retail stores.

Consequently, if I'm right, it is very unlikely that it will be easy to setup a supply chain without either going to Thailand and making the initial arrangements in person, OR having a trusted agent there who can make the purchases for you.

Since going there in person probably is not something you wish to do, I'll look to see if I still have some of the business cards I collected while I was there. If so, I'll post the contact info in another reply. Unfortunately, I have a LOT going on right now. So, it may take me several weeks before I can follow up on this.

If I forget, remind me at the end of April 2018. Hopefully, things will be a bit calmer by then. If so, I'll see what I can do then.

If you are interested in talking with him about it, I have a friend in BKK who is expecting his first child and who is, therefore, looking for ways to earn more money. I don't know if he would be interested in trying to be your purchasing agent or not. But will ask him if you want me to.

Just be aware that Dominik is NOT a leather crafter. So, if he agrees, he will need a lot of help via FB chat or Skype learning how to get what you want.

One way to do this might be to send him samples of what you are looking for, and have him take them to the shops for quotes on leather of the same or better quality. That way both he and they have a better idea of what you're looking for.

Meanwhile, there might be something in the search results below that could help you.

Good luck!

Larry

https://www.google.com/search?q=leather+tanneries+Bangkok&phttps:/ws=0&gl=us&gws_rd=cr

Edited April 2, 2018 by MavericKLeathers

[nrk]

On 3/27/2018 at 6:52 AM, Colemckeon said:

Does anyone have experience with sourcing exotic leathers directly from thailand? I am looking to secure a big quantity of various skins and would love to source direct

why wouldn't you get the top quality from US ?

[chrisash]

Nearly every country has a selection of tanneries all making slightly different tanned leather, some are low cost others have been running hundreds of years and very expensive, you just have to look with open mind and see what is best for your own purpose, no one country produces the best leather, in most cases they make what fits there market and if possible export as well

[nrk]

On 1/11/2019 at 12:36 AM, chrisash said:

Nearly every country has a selection of tanneries all making slightly different tanned leather, some are low cost others have been running hundreds of years and very expensive, you just have to look with open mind and see what is best for your own purpose, no one country produces the best leather, in most cases they make what fits there market and if possible export as well

on the example of tooling leather - personally, I think HermannOak and WIckettCraig leathers are the top. Despite of 'each' country having tannery doesn't mean they are competitive.

btw - the leather industry we use to create our goods is alive because of traditions and vision - otherwise mass market fitting would be the wrong way to go.

[Ed in Tx]

Perhaps the issue has nothing to do with the quality of the tanneries. Depending on what type of hides you are wanting they may not even be available in some countries for various reasons. Obviously the United States has an abundance of cattle hides available for tanning are a byproduct of the meat industry. Along those same line the US also has several tanneries that produce excellent quality alligator hides. Those hides are obtained either through farm raised gators or obtained from gator hunters who are governed by state and federal laws.

On the other hand some countries are more lax in regulations regarding not only the procurement of exotic hides but also less concerned about how a tannery processes those hides ie: environmental concerns.

Just a thought.

[nrk]

21 hours ago, Ed in Tx said:

Perhaps the issue has nothing to do with the quality of the tanneries. Depending on what type of hides you are wanting they may not even be available in some countries for various reasons. Obviously the United States has an abundance of cattle hides available for tanning are a byproduct of the meat industry. Along those same line the US also has several tanneries that produce excellent quality alligator hides. Those hides are obtained either through farm raised gators or obtained from gator hunters who are governed by state and federal laws.

On the other hand some countries are more lax in regulations regarding not only the procurement of exotic hides but also less concerned about how a tannery processes those hides ie: environmental concerns.

Just a thought.

true

[vipersbite]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:45 PM, nrk said:

why wouldn't you get the top quality from US ?

What I don't understand is ... why wouldn't I source other countries for MUCH CHEAPER LEATHER (veg. tan) in particular ... North America have more bovine that we can shake a stick at and the prices of leather in the US or Canada (where I live) is crazy expensive! ... I for one and others i'm sure would be VERY interested in sourcing out other tanneries other then North America. Thanks Larry! for the info. 

MavericKLeathers

and if you do find more info. on how to procure hides from Thailand or any other countries please post!

Kevin (Canada)

[DomsLeather]

One thing I don’t see mentioned here is import tax or duty. I have ordered lamb skin from Italy. Once the shipment comes the shipper may charge you the import tax and duty on the shipment. I think it’s a percentage of the value of the merchandise. You don’t know until the package reaches you how much if any they will charge. In my case it was about 10 US dollars per hide for lamb skin extra. I knew when I bought it that I may have to pay this. To me it was worth it. I got top quality hides in some finishes I couldn’t get here.