After school, on his way home, Solae would stop by the pier nearby to draw pictures of the Kolae boats that were moored there.
Solae loved the beautiful colours and patterns of Kolae boats.
Grandpa was a Kolae boat builder, and Papa was his assistant. Grandpa had passed on the skills and knowledge of building a sturdy and gorgeous Kolae boat to Papa.
After being built, the boat was passed to painters. The painters spent months to paint the boat because the patterns had to be fine and beautiful.
After the boat was completed, on the first day of its sailing, Grandpa took Papa and Solae to the pier, and they all looked at the boat proudly.
Grandpa always observed Solae closely when he was drawing a Kolae boat.
Grandpa was proud of Solae and was certain that he would become a skilled Kolae boat painter.
One day, Grandpa fell ill.
Papa needed to work alone.
When the boat was completely built, Grandpa asked Solae to paint it. Solae was very excited. He did his very best.
When Solae finished painting the boat, the owner of the boat was very satisfied with his beautiful work.
On the day the boat was sailed, only Papa and Solae came to admire their work. Solae thought that he would grow up to be as skillful as Grandpa and Papa and determined to become a good Kolae boat painter.
Kolae is a type of boat decorated with vibrant colours and beautiful patterns. Its patterns include curves, traditional Thai pattern, zigzag pattern, and geometric pattern. Some boats feature landscape pictures, including mountains, trees, rivers and aquatic animals such as crabs, fish, shrimps and octopuses, which tell us what kind of animals that the boat sails to hunt for. Besides, there are images of Himavanta animals such as Singh, Naga, mermaids and other imaginary animals, for example, the bird of paradise in Islamic beliefs, or dragons and qilins in Chinese beliefs. All of these patterns are the combination of the local Thai-Muslim and Chinese art and cultures.
