Parang Knife

[212traders]

Does anyone know where I can buy Thai-made parang knife in the Chiang Mai area? I have seen the ones made in China. But I heard the ones made in Thailand are better.

[FolkGuitar]

You can find the ones made from 1095 steel or jeep truck springs if you travel from Chiang Mai out towards Bo Sang. There is a cart set up on the south side of the road with a large selection. Or, if you stay in town and go down Chang Moi road, about 500 meters down on the left side of the street there is a shop selling lots of farming hand tools, parang included, also made from 1095 steel. Or... straight on into Warrarote market and you can find several shops that sell them, one being right on Chiang Moi, facing the river on the left side. Expect to pay at least $3-$5

[Jose]

Related:

Kyocera ceramic knives, about 2000 Baht each at selected CM stores.

[Dante99]

You can find the ones made from 1095 steel or jeep truck springs if you travel from Chiang Mai out towards Bo Sang. There is a cart set up on the south side of the road with a large selection. Or, if you stay in town and go down Chang Moi road, about 500 meters down on the left side of the street there is a shop selling lots of farming hand tools, parang included, also made from 1095 steel. Or... straight on into Warrarote market and you can find several shops that sell them, one being right on Chiang Moi, facing the river on the left side. Expect to pay at least $3-$5

My old radar says 500 meters down Chang Moi road would be in the river or on the other side. Do you perhaps mean about 50 meters where in the past there was, last time I needed a chopper, a nice shop of your description?

[FolkGuitar]

You can find the ones made from 1095 steel or jeep truck springs if you travel from Chiang Mai out towards Bo Sang. There is a cart set up on the south side of the road with a large selection. Or, if you stay in town and go down Chang Moi road, about 500 meters down on the left side of the street there is a shop selling lots of farming hand tools, parang included, also made from 1095 steel. Or... straight on into Warrarote market and you can find several shops that sell them, one being right on Chiang Moi, facing the river on the left side. Expect to pay at least $3-$5

My old radar says 500 meters down Chang Moi road would be in the river or on the other side. Do you perhaps mean about 50 meters where in the past there was, last time I needed a chopper, a nice shop of your description?

Measuring with GoogleMap, I see that the distance from the Moat to the river is about 950 meters, but my 500m estimation was waaay off too. The shop I had in mind was less that 75m from the Moat, on the left side. Prolly the same one you are thinking of. They have some well made, heavy-duty work tools at very good prices.

http://goo.gl/maps/Bl2Rt for a street view.

[FolkGuitar]

Related:

Kyocera ceramic knives, about 2000 Baht each at selected CM stores.

The Kyocera ceramic knives make excellent kitchen tools for anyone who doesn't know how to, or like to, sharpen knives. They are excellent slicing tools. Used properly, their edges will remain very sharp for a year or two, perhaps even three. But then then need to be re-sharpened. Easy enough to do if you have the right stones.

But... ceramic knives are extremely brittle. If used for any sort of heavy pounding such as with a cleaver, or if dropped on a hard floor, the edges will chip and break. Even using one on a glass cutting board will significantly reduce the cutting ability quickly.

They are not something one would use in the same way as a parang. Parangs are choppers, not slicers.

[Dante99]

You can find the ones made from 1095 steel or jeep truck springs if you travel from Chiang Mai out towards Bo Sang. There is a cart set up on the south side of the road with a large selection. Or, if you stay in town and go down Chang Moi road, about 500 meters down on the left side of the street there is a shop selling lots of farming hand tools, parang included, also made from 1095 steel. Or... straight on into Warrarote market and you can find several shops that sell them, one being right on Chiang Moi, facing the river on the left side. Expect to pay at least $3-$5

My old radar says 500 meters down Chang Moi road would be in the river or on the other side. Do you perhaps mean about 50 meters where in the past there was, last time I needed a chopper, a nice shop of your description?

Measuring with GoogleMap, I see that the distance from the Moat to the river is about 950 meters, but my 500m estimation was waaay off too. The shop I had in mind was less that 75m from the Moat, on the left side. Prolly the same one you are thinking of. They have some well made, heavy-duty work tools at very good prices.

http://goo.gl/maps/Bl2Rt for a street view.

Thanks, that is the shop, I need to try to recalibrate the old unreliable radar.

[CMHomeboy78]

Avoid the peddlars and temporary shops and vendors at fairs. You might get something good, but are more likely to get junk.

Sukko - the shop referred to in several posts but not named - is the place to go. On the north side of Chang Moi, opposite and a little up toward the moat from the intersection with Chang Moi Kao.

The shop is a bit of old Chiang Mai that still survives, albeit in smaller premises. Same location but much reduced in size from what it was.

It is the only place in Chiang Mai - to the best of my knowledge - that sells good quality woodcarving tools; gouges, chisels, V-tools, etc. They aren't as good as the best western tools, Frank Mittermeier for example, but they are good enough.

They have many things for sale and are very nice people to deal with.

[CMKiwi]

Also to add about the ceramic knives...they dont like hitting bones! Use them just for vegetables, fruit or boneless meat and they will last a lot longer. The shop mentioned down Chaing Moi is excellent.

[Frank James]

I met a guy in the street one time, near the Kasem store near Chinatown. He had a fine selection of parang type blades, and heavier choppers. He had a chunk of galvanized pipe that he whacked into to show how good his knives were. If I knew how good they were I'd have bought the whole lot. They were MUCH better than anything I've seen in the shops or at the roadside. Polished all over to a dull sheen, great edge, very heavy duty. Anybody know the ones I mean? They were all stamped "OTOP".

[212traders]

I met a guy in the street one time, near the Kasem store near Chinatown. He had a fine selection of parang type blades, and heavier choppers. He had a chunk of galvanized pipe that he whacked into to show how good his knives were. If I knew how good they were I'd have bought the whole lot. They were MUCH better than anything I've seen in the shops or at the roadside. Polished all over to a dull sheen, great edge, very heavy duty. Anybody know the ones I mean? They were all stamped "OTOP".

Sound like maybe his knives were made in Aranyik Village. Their OTOP product is knife.

[212traders]

You can find the ones made from 1095 steel or jeep truck springs if you travel from Chiang Mai out towards Bo Sang. There is a cart set up on the south side of the road with a large selection. Or, if you stay in town and go down Chang Moi road, about 500 meters down on the left side of the street there is a shop selling lots of farming hand tools, parang included, also made from 1095 steel. Or... straight on into Warrarote market and you can find several shops that sell them, one being right on Chiang Moi, facing the river on the left side. Expect to pay at least $3-$5

My old radar says 500 meters down Chang Moi road would be in the river or on the other side. Do you perhaps mean about 50 meters where in the past there was, last time I needed a chopper, a nice shop of your description?

Measuring with GoogleMap, I see that the distance from the Moat to the river is about 950 meters, but my 500m estimation was waaay off too. The shop I had in mind was less that 75m from the Moat, on the left side. Prolly the same one you are thinking of. They have some well made, heavy-duty work tools at very good prices.

http://goo.gl/maps/Bl2Rt for a street view.

Thanks, that is the shop, I need to try to recalibrate the old unreliable radar.

Thanks, guys. I'll pay the shop a visit. By the way, FolkGuitar, do you mean expect to pay at least US$3 to US$5 or US$30 to US$50?

[FolkGuitar]

Thanks, guys. I'll pay the shop a visit. By the way, FolkGuitar, do you mean expect to pay at least US$3 to US$5 or US$30 to US$50?

This is Thailand. Expect to pay $3.00 USD to $5.00 USD all the way up to $20.00 USD for something really fancy...

A lot depends upon the size you're buying, but no matter what size, you'll be paying less than a couple of McD's Happy Meals. I really don't know the price today, and haven't bought one in at least a year, but I wouldn't pay more than a few hundred baht for an 8" or 10" blade. If you're looking for a 'bush machete' size parang, the price might be as much as ten or fifteen dollars US.

[Frank James]

I've never paid more than 200 baht for any of these type knives. I can't go by a display of these without buying one, unless they are he very low quality ones. I ended up giving them all to my wife's people back in Maha Sarakham. Imagine packing a suitcase full of this iron to the US, or especially UK, where I hear the authorities freak at the very mention of "knife".

[FolkGuitar]

I've never paid more than 200 baht for any of these type knives. I can't go by a display of these without buying one, unless they are he very low quality ones. I ended up giving them all to my wife's people back in Maha Sarakham. Imagine packing a suitcase full of this iron to the US, or especially UK, where I hear the authorities freak at the very mention of "knife".

I've sent quite a few of them back to the States for fellow knifeknuts. Especially popular are the Karen-made Bowie-style blades with the wooden sheaths. Re-handled and re-sheathed, they make an excellent hunting/bushcraft knife. Some people braze on a larger tang to give them a bit more solidity, but on all of them, and the better made parang, the steel takes a beating yet holds its edge.