Maliwan Nakrobphai, 47, had never thought that one day she would play a vital role in the development of her village, Ban Huai Hom, home to the Pakakayor ethnic group in Mae Hong Son province.
When Maliwan was a little girl, her community did not have electricity or asphalt roads. It was a remote part of a remote, mountainous province that felt far away from the centre, or from everything. Ban Huai Hom was also part of the "red zone" where ethnic groups in the North widely grew opium.
Over the years, Maliwan has been instrumental in her village's robust coffee plantations, while the village's homemade wool yarn made from its sheep farm has become a major source of income -- and of pride.
In 1970, Their Majesties the King and the Queen visited the village and expressed concern over the quality of life and extensive deforestation. Later, the Mae La Noi Royal Project was founded to encourage the hill people, including those in Ban Huai Hom, to grow highland crops instead of opium. The Royal Project helps transfer knowledge and distribute these agricultural products. Among them were Arabica coffee and woven wool cloth from Ban Huai Hom, which is also available for export. Ban Huai Hom is also known as one of the tourist destinations in the North.
The transformation surprised even Maliwan. "I had never thought we would come this far," said Maliwan, president of Ban Huai Hom Weaving Group and Coffee Processing Group of Ban Huai Hom.
Smell the coffee
Situated about 1,000m above sea level, Ban Huai Hom is surrounded by rolling mountains and trees. According to the Mae La Noi Royal Project, the village location and pleasant weather, which is about 20C on average all-year round, are suitable factors for growing coffee and rearing sheep.
Maliwan recalled the story told by her father, Taloe now 85, that the idea to grow coffee and rear sheep was initiated by a group of American missionaries who visited the village in 1957. To gain acceptance, they also helped the villagers with medical care, education and farming.
"Our village was poor. Some families did not have enough rice to eat although we grew rice for a living," she said. The missionaries wanted to find a way to increase the income of the ethnic group. After five years of living with the villagers, the missionaries brought Arabica coffee seedlings, and four ewes and a ram.
The cool weather helped flourish the growth of coffee and soon it became a major source of income for the village. With support from local authorities, Maliwan founded the Coffee Processing Group of Ban Huai Hom to control the quality of harvested coffee beans and processed milled coffee. Currently, about 60 families are members and they produce around 17 tonnes of coffee beans annually, generating about 5 million baht a year.
These chemical-free beans are mostly exported, with a major buyer being the international coffee chain Starbucks, which has being sourcing green coffee beans from the village since 2002.
The village also has their own coffee roasting facility. The roasted coffee is sold under the Huay Hom brand. The coffee has been certified as a four-star One Tambon One Product (Otop) of Huai Hom and received the Thailand Quality Coffee Award in 2014. The product is available at Maliwan's home, which also serves as a coffee warehouse, and at some outlets of the Royal Project.
Maliwan wants to add more value to the coffee and is learning how to produce civet coffee. About eight civets are being raised in the village. Maliwan also offers a cup of hot civet coffee at her homestay. One cup is priced at 100 baht, compared to 25 baht for an Arabica espresso. One kilogramme of civet costs 5,000 baht compared to 350 baht of Arabica.
"The civet coffee project is still new. If it is popular, we plan to recruit more members in the future," she said.
Counting sheep
When the five sheep were brought to the village by the missionaries, five families, including Maliwan's, volunteered to raise them.
"Many people thought we were crazy when we started rearing sheep in the 60s," said Maliwan. The villagers were more familiar with buffaloes and oxen for farm work than animals with a thick, wool coat.
Her mother had to learn how to shear the coat using a method of trial and error for a couple of years. The sheep can only be sheared once a year, in May. The wool is then cleaned several times to remove dirt and grease before being processed into yarn.
"Making yarn takes patience. The hardest process is to spin the wool into yarn. It needs practice to make sure the thread is not too thick nor too thin as it will reflect on the quality of woven cloth," Maliwan said.
Many people gave up, but not Maliwan. During the early years of producing woollen cloth, the products were not widely accepted, especially in a tropical country like Thailand. Some customers also complained that the texture was not soft, resulting in itchiness when used.
However, when Their Majesties visited the village, "my family and I had a chance to present woven wool cloth to the Queen. Their Majesties also visited our village three times during the 70s and we were able to offer our woven cloth every time", she said.
Her Majesty was interested in the unique woven cloth of the village and to improve its quality, the Queen gave 70 Bond-breed sheep from Australia to Ban Huai Hom. The villagers then learned to mix the breed with Corriedale from New Zealand to make the wool softer.
In 1987, Huai Hom Traditional Weaving Group was founded and Maliwan was chosen as its leader due to her experience in rearing sheep and her weaving skills.
Gradually group members grew from 25 to 64. They rear about 30 sheep at a farm not far from Maliwan's house, which doubles as a weaving and learning centre.
"Woven wool cloth has been produced here for more than 40 years. We are pioneers in producing woven wool cloth in Thailand," said Maliwan.
The group has also enhanced a variety of their products. They produce woollen scarves, small and large-size shawls, knit caps, tablecloth and bedsheet covers. They also mix cotton with wool to create more patterns and colours. They use natural materials found in the village to dye the yarn, mostly ground coffee, leaves of mango trees, mango skins, turmeric and indigo.
Their woven wool cloth has been certified as a five-star Otop product of Mae Hong Son and has been exported to many countries, including Japan, Canada, China and the United States. This has increased the villagers incomes by at least 1 million baht a year.
The villagers also use byproducts of sheep and coffee to produce sheep placenta body lotion and coffee soap.
Maliwan also shares her knowledge and weaving skills. She is a guest teacher at several ethnic villages in the North, as well as at the arts and crafts centre of the Queen's project in Bangkok.
"I am very happy that women in our village can earn a living by producing woollen cloth and coffee. They do not have to leave their homes to find work in the city. Their happiness has made me proud," she said.
The logo of Huai Hom Coffee is a sketch of Maliwan's father.
Maliwan feeds the sheep with soybean husk.
Fresh Arabica coffee beans being washed before being dried under the sun.
Civets being raised by Maliwan's family.
Fresh civet coffee beans.
