The event featured a two-day symposium, held on August 4 and 5, with lectures by distinguished scholars and textile experts from around the world.

Entitled Status, Myth and the Supernatural - Unraveling the Secrets of Southeast Asian Textiles, the symposium focused on the traditional role and function of textiles in countries such as Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand.

Other activities included an optional three-day excursion to visit weaving areas in northeastern Thailand. During the symposium, there were special textile displays and exhibitions.

The objective of the symposium was to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and new research on traditional Asian textiles. This was the second textile symposium organized by The James H. W. Thompson Foundation and Jim Thompson Thai Silk.

In August 1999, the first symposium, Southeast Asian Textiles through the Thread of Time, brought together twelve distinguished speakers with over two hundred participants.