Reclaimed Thai teak sells in California

Photo G Grant New York Times



AS Southeast Asia continues to modernize, many teak-wood homes and buildings are being torn down and replaced with Western-style brick or concrete ones. While this architectural turnover has been going on for decades, in recent years American companies like TerraMai have been buying up the old-growth teak wood and selling it to homeowners, writes Luke Kummer NYT.

This trade has raised concerns among US preservationists but not, it seems, those in Thailand who see it in a generally positive light.

"In the last three years, our sales of reclaimed teak have tripled," said Erika Carpenter, TerraMai's co-founder. "People are becoming aware, appreciating the material and designing their projects around it . . .

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