How the Doi Tung project is changing lives in Isaan

The model was displayed during a seminar as part of the first sustainable innovation expo ever held in Thailand's Northeast in mid-December 2022.

The central idea behind this model is to simply provide tactical incentives, opportunities, and jobs for locals to truly access equal prosperity.

The model, according to ML Dispanadda Diskul (Duke), Chief Executive Officer of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage, is part of an inclusive economy concept that aims to increase people participation, reduce income gaps, increase natural resources, and improve sharing.

Doi Tung has always believed in the good power in people since its inception, he said, adding that in addition to eradicating opium and poverty in northern Thailand, where the majority of stateless people reside, the Doi Tung Foundation has always prioritised empowering people.

He said that if people are strong, they will be able to live and protect their own local economy and natural forests.

"Our Princess Grandmother, Doi Tung's founder, always said that nobody wants to be a bad person. It's just that they don't have the opportunity to do good.”

All Doi Tung does is educate people and provide them with tools to manage and exploit their local resources and forest in a sustainable manner.

"If people can live, then forests can survive," he said.

As actions speak louder than words, Dispanadda showed some examples of how Doi Tung had transformed into an inclusive social enterprise that genuinely spread prosperity to local communities over several decades.

One of the undertakings is a forest preservation project in which locals will take the lead in protecting their own forest. Doi Tung would share knowledge with them as part of a business partnership.

"We teach them how to develop eco-friendly processes and products so that they can be self-sufficient in the long run. We'll then help them with marketing and distribution. Meanwhile, we provide some incentive programmes through which they can earn extra income from nature's carbon footprint by caring for their trees," Dispanadda noted.

He added that the number of forest fires in a month is a good indicator of forest care quality. Doi Tung will assist the community in conducting audits twice a year so that locals can feel confident and be inspired to do better in developing their own green business and lifestyle.

Dispanadda stated that Doi Tung is currently a 100% zero-waste landfill social enterprise that is transitioning to a circular economy with the goal of increasing the proportion of renewable energy used as much as possible.

The project also intends to increase forest area under their territory from 100,000 rai (16,000 hectares) to 200,000 rai over the next 2-3 years.

"I hope our Doi Tung model will inspire you [Isaan people], and I hope I will have the opportunity to work with you to make Isaan a leading innovative bio-circular-green [BCG] economy region of Thailand," Dispanadda concluded.

Doi Tung is a development project of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation. The brand was created to aid in the advancement of development efforts.

This social enterprise has five business units: handicrafts, processed food, a café, agriculture, and tourism. 

Since 2000, the brand has been self-sustaining and is regarded as a model business for assisting villagers in achieving self-sufficiency.

A portion of the profits from the Doi Tung social enterprise are returned to the villagers, while the remainder is used to improve public health, education, and the environment on Doi Tung.
 

The demonstration is part of Isaan BCG Expo 2022 which was a collaboration between the Khon Kaen Innovation Centre, Mitr Phol Group, and 50 alliance networks from the public and private sectors. The expo is yet another effort to transform Thailand's least economically developed region into a hub for bringing Thai economics to Asean through the BCG model.