Thailand abounds with indigenous plants that can be used to weave various kinds of wickerwork, furniture, baskets and other wares. Well-known materials include bamboo, rattan, palm leaf, jute, water hyacinth, rush, sedge and bulrush. Bamboo grows wild throughout Thailand, and for centuries its tough, pliable stalks have been deftly woven into a wide variety of objects that combine utility with remarkable artistic expression.

Some materials are exclusive to certain areas such as a species of vine that grows abundantly in the wild in southern Thailand whose strength and durability of its fiber makes it an ideal material for basketry. The vine is called "Yan Lipao" and Yan Lipao basketry is an old and traditional art of Thailand.