Among some Tai groups in Laos this type of long, ikat-patterned textiles is associated primarily with the funeral rites of people of high status or members of the Lao nobility. Described both as puum, a Khmer term meaning a long cloth worn below the waist, and phaa numg, or coffin cover, the name and hip wrapper dimensions suggest that this type of textiles was originally made to be worn. When used as a shroud or coffin cover, the coffin was placed on one end of the textile which was subsequently either buried or cremated with its owner to appease the spirits or purified by being waved back and forth above the bier.

The warp yarns that create the white framing borders for the guard strips have been dyed red where they enter the end zones. The white in the weft aligns with the white warp area to create the flanking white stripes.