The Kayan Fair Trade Market is a community-led architectural proposal located within Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, developed in response to the exploitation of Kayan communities within northern Thailand’s ethnic tourism industry. The project questions the ethics of staged authenticity and the commodification of cultural identity. Rather than reproducing the isolated conditions of tourist villages, it proposes a model of ethical tourism based on fair exchange, cultural understanding, and community empowerment.

Working alongside Fair Trade principles and organisations such as the Karen Hill Tribes Trust, the market provides a safe environment where Kayan families can temporarily live, work, teach and sell crafts on their own terms. The design combines markets, workshops, galleries, performance spaces, childcare, healthcare, communal gardens and housing within a carefully layered gradient of privacy. Drawing from Kayan vernacular architecture and textile traditions, the project reinterprets woven materials, raised structures and communal spaces to create a climate-responsive environment that celebrates cultural identity, supports livelihoods, and encourages meaningful cultural exchange.