A brave fan
many of these swords are made for the trourist market. Some are not even hardened. But quality swords are still made for use in this region of the world. Its hard to say from a picture which this is ( a tourist sword or a use sword ) Some questions to ask yourself as you look at it:
How tight is the handle to the blade ?
What condition and quality are the wrappings on the handle?
Is the copper at the throat and pommel thick or thin ?
Lastly the thai smiths do have a technique to use a file or cut a nail to demonstrate a hardened well made blade but you may not be comfortable with either of these.
There are several people on this forum who may be able to give you much more information on these swords ( Ian is certainly one of them ) There are also some people who represent companies that make contemporary blades. Hopefully they can add much more to this
I hope this helps
|