THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Change of career blossoms into a thriving business for orchid farmer

Change of career blossoms into a thriving business for orchid farmer

WILAWAN AKATMEK, now 45, decided in 2008 that it was time to change career and become an orchid farmer, after working as an office employee for the previous 16 years.

Then, after patiently waiting for her plants to mature over the next few years, she suffered a net loss of more than Bt2 million as a result of the severe flooding in 2011, but the business has since recovered at a different location and now generates healthy monthly sales.
“I decided to resign from my job when I saw an opportunity to run my own business using my educational background, having gained a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Kasetsart University, at a time when export demand for Thai orchids was strong, even though other export sectors were facing a difficult period,” she explained.
Wilawan used her savings and some money from her family money, some Bt2 million in total, to rent 10 rai (1.6 hectares) of land and establish Wilawan Orchid Farm in Nonthaburi’s Sai Noi district, and started to grow orchid plants.
Before her first orchids were launched in the market, which took nearly four years as the plants needed plenty of time to mature, the farm faced a crisis after the late-2011 floods hit Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, including Nonthaburi, which meant her crop was ruined and the Bt2-million investment was lost.
Undeterred, Wilawan was determined do restart the farming business in a different location, and used more of her savings plus a bank loan – guaranteed by Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation – to buy a 15-rai plot in Ayutthaya’s Lat Bua Luang district.
She started growing orchids again in 2012 at an overall investment cost of Bt10 million. Her orchids were ready to be cut last year, and the business has since generated monthly sales of around Bt150,000, some 80 per cent of which comes from shipments to markets such as the UK, Italy and the US, with the products being sent via export firms.
Domestic sales are also good, accounting for about 20 per cent of the farm’s revenue.
“Although our sales did not cover all of our 2012 investment, they were enough to cover our variable costs and for expanding our investment to grow the next crop this year,” she said.
 Wilawan added that her business as a farmer was sufficient to generate sustainable income for her family, while at the same time providing a better quality of life for her than working in an office.
“Thailand’s orchids are well known around the world, and it is a welcome challenge to grow them to meet this demand,” she added.
 

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