A handmade craze

If you pass Siam Square Soi 3 on the last Friday of a month (like today), don't be surprised to see hundreds of teenagers crowding the street.

It's not a free concert tha has drawn them there - they're shopping for DIY stuff created by kids of their own generation under a project called "One-2-Call Ideas Showcase".

The project aims to inspire freethinking in youngsters by getting them to create and sell handmade items. There's a wide variety of trendy stuff on sale, including tiny leather sacks, postcards, necklaces and T-shirts.

Great ideas

One of the cool products is a clock painting created by 22-year-old Porana Suwanpatra, an art student from

Srinakarinwirot University.

"A painting alone can only be looked at and appreciated for its beauty," she says. "But add a little idea - a clock dial - and it can be used to tell the time as well."

Another item to look for is a "recycled" postcard made by Papiroon Wattana from Kasetsart University.

"There are so many things in life that we use and just throw away - like cigarette packets," says the 23-year-old. "My idea is to provide a surround for card that would otherwise be garbage - that way you can write things on it."

With that simple thought, Papiroon sells up to 300 of his cards at Bt10 apiece each month.

By Watchara Saengsrisin