Recognised by the international community as a leader in the field of local development, the Mae Fah Luang Foundation is being tasked with spearheading rural development under the government-initiated Pracha Rat public-private collaborative scheme.
The foundation has been teaming up with private companies, public organisations, non-governmental organisations and local communities to rev up the local development model achieved by the foundation for decades.
The Mae Fah Luang Foundation was launched in 1972 by the late Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness.
After visits to remote areas of the country, the Princess Mother discovered that ethnic minorities in northern Thailand were disenfranchised: poor, and lacking citizenship and the right to live on the land they farmed. They were often preyed upon by opportunists and caught in a vicious circle of sickness, poverty and ignorance.
The Princess Mother was aware of their skilled craftsmanship and wanted to help market their work to supplement their income. Her initiative was successful, with northern handicrafts becoming popular at home and abroad.
In 1979, the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation initiated an eight-month training course for hill tribe youth at Rai Mae Fah Luang (today known as the Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park), instilling the skills and discipline necessary for daily living, such as literacy, basic maths, health education, honesty and independence.
This training then expanded into the Hill Tribe Youth Leadership scheme in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development.
In 1985, as the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation began to incorporate rural development into its activities, the Princess Mother granted permission for the foundation to be renamed the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother.
It was not until 1988 that the Mae Fah Luang Foundation undertook a comprehensive development project in the Doi Tung area to tackle opium cultivation at its root causes: poverty and lack of opportunity.
The foundation was also designed to increase local employment by helping farmers grow coffee beans and macadamia nuts instead of opium, improving and stabilising the local standards of living.
Coffee beans from Doi Tung are known for their high quality, while the Doi Tung coffee shop chain was introduced to help distribute coffee to Thais.
This project has become a recognised model for sustainable alternative livelihood development in Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Indonesia.
The Doi Tung project now runs four businesses -- food, crafts, agriculture and tourism -- and employs 1,700 people, including younger workers who are highly educated in international languages and computer skills. They hail from 29 villages of six ethnic minorities: Akha, Lahu, Thai Lue, Lawa, Shan and Chinese descendants of the Kuomintang 3rd Army.
The project, which generates 400-500 million baht in revenue a year, has been self-reliant since 2000. It runs two coffee shops in Japan and supplies coffee products to Japanese retailer Muji. In 2011, it started supplying woven products to Swedish furniture giant Ikea.
Villagers have also gained experience in developing standards from Ikea, which worked with the project for nine years before becoming a partner.
MR Disnadda Diskul, chairman of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, said the partnership with various sectors under the Pracha Rat public-private collaborative scheme will reinforce the efficiency of rural development, which will eventually help raise villagers' income.
He said the foundation has worked with the Pid Thong Lang Phra (doing good without expecting any returns) project, the Thailand Sustainable Development Foundation (TSDF), the Rakkaew Foundation and several private companies: Mitr Phol Group, Thai Beverage Plc, Siam Cement Group, Bangchak Petroleum Plc, True Corporation Plc, Charoen Pokphand Group, Tesco Lotus, Unilever and Thai Oil Plc.
The partnership spans forest rehabilitation, water development, agricultural management, production technology enhancement, productivity development and projects to upgrade income and water development in the three southernmost provinces.
MR Disnadda said Mitr Phol Group is a leader in the development of large-scale farm projects on 15,000 rai of farmland in Ubon Ratana district, Khon Kaen province, in a bid to cut farmers' production costs.
The development uses the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's sufficiency philosophy as guidelines for the development. The lessons learned will be applied later to the development model in other areas.
"This collaborative project includes water supply development, productivity development, fund establishment for farmers, production technology improvements and market assessment," MR Disnadda said.
He said water supply development for 9,000 rai of farmland has been completed, under which farmers are encouraged to group together in order to save costs. A fund will also be established by private companies to extend to the villagers to develop their farming.
Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation, said the collaborative project sponsored by his company helps support technology and low-interest loans, while the Pid Thong Lang Phra foundation takes care of water supply development.
Sufficient water supply helps increase productivity of sugar cane to 15-20 tonnes per rai from seven tonnes per rai. Farmers can also grow other normal crops during the whole year, even in the dry season.
Technology helps prolong the sugar cane's lifespan from the normal 2-3 years.
Mr Isara said the company aims to expand the project to cover 15,000 rai of farmland over the next few years, up from 3,000-4,000 rai in the first phase, and to other areas as suggested by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation and Pid Thong Lang Phra.
According to Mr Isara, Mitr Phol has supported farmers in growing sugar cane on about 2 million rai a year for the past 20 years, while demand for sugar cane is expected to increase significantly because of the government's bioeconomy promotion policy.
Mr Isara, in his capacity as co-chairman of the Pracha Rat committee on smart farming development, said the first-ever bioeconomy development plan aimed at promoting more private investment in biotech-related businesses and adding value to farm products is expected to be proposed soon by the Industry Ministry to the cabinet for approval.
A bio-based economy or bioeconomy refers to all economic activities derived from scientific and research activity focused on biotechnology.
Twenty-three organisations spanning state agencies, the private sector, universities and research centres signed a memorandum of understanding last year to drive bioeconomy development.
The bioeconomy includes five sectors: bioenergy, biochemicals, food, animal feed and biopharmaceuticals.
The first development will focus on tapioca and sugar cane, now used as raw materials for many industries such as ethanol, bioplastics, food, bioenergy and biopharmaceuticals.
One of the proposals from the private sector was a special economic zone (SEZ) for the bioeconomy, possibly in sugar-cane hubs Nakhon Sawan and Khon Kaen.
Private investment in the 10-year bioeconomy development plan is expected to hit 400 billion baht, with added value reaching 300 billion for sugar cane and 100 billion for tapioca.
MR Disnadda said Mae Fah Luang Foundation is committed to keeping the Princess Mother's rural development legacy alive to benefit as many people as possible and to inspire new generations to be responsible, engaged citizens for the next 30 years.
MR Disnadda said the foundation also pledges to continue supporting rural development projects abroad.
The foundation has run two "alternative development" projects in Shan State and Tha Khi Lek in Myanmar, involving eight villages with 324,188 in population and tending 1.07 million rai of farmland, as a measure to tackle narcotics in those areas.
Farmers in Ubon Ratana district, Khon Kaen register to join a large-scale farm project.
