member  Doi Tung Development Project Sustainable Development doi tung coffee Chiang Rai Thailand Macadamia

Milestones

1987

  • HRH Srinagarindra visited Doi Tung for the first time. She made a stop at Thailand's 31st Watershed Conservation Unit, which is now the site of the Doi Tung Lodge.

1988

  • The Doi Tung Development Project was conceived with the aim to "help people help themselves" and to make it possible for "people and forest to coexist " in a sustainable way;
  • The construction of the Doi Tung Royal Villa was completed; the late Princess Mother called it "a home at Doi Tung."

1989

  • The Navuti Company was established to run the Economic Forestry Project, making it one of the first corporate social responsibility endeavours in Thailand;
  • A census survey was conducted and basic economic, social and environmental data of the people of Doi Tung was gathered from a total of 27 villages and two sub-villages. This provided the basis for a thorough annual performance evaluation;
  • The 3,960-acre Reforestation Project was launched to mark the 90th birthday anniversary of the late Princess Mother.

1990

  • The first Doi Tung Lifestyle Store was opened on Doi Tung;
  • Project ID cards were issued to local people. The move gave people, many who were not Thai citizens, a sense of security and belonging for the first time, promoting a sense of stewardship over their use of the land, among other things;
  • Vocational training centres for sewing, weaving and mulberry paper production were opened at the foot of Doi Tung. Skilfully trained, the villagers could produce high-quality products that could be marketed at home and abroad. Today this is called the Cottage Industry Centre and Outlet.

1991

  • The Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory was opened for plant propagation. Vetiver grass was propagated for use and sale both locally and overseas.

1992

  • The Vetiver Grass Development Project in Doi Tung Project was launched;
  • The first coffee crop was harvested at Doi Tung;
  • The Mae Fah Luang Garden was opened to tourists;
  • The Pha Mee Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was opened to provide a 1,000 day treatment and rehabilitation course to all of the drug addicts in the Doi Tung vicinity. As part of the programme, ex-addicts were offered continuing vocational training to give them the opportunity to rejoin society as active and productive citizens;

1993

  • The Mae Fah Luang Garden was named winner of the PATA Gold Award for Tourist Site Development.

1994

  • The Coffee Roasting Facility was opened, which began adding value to the coffee beans picked on the mountain;
  • The Mulberry Paper Factory was set up.

1995

  • The first macadamia crop was harvested in Doi Tung;
  • The Macadamia Processing Facility was opened on a hill at Navuti Site 1;
  • The first Doi Tung Coffee shop was opened on Doi Tung;
  • HRH the Princess Mother passed away.

1996

  • The Ceramics Production Facility was opened;

1998

  • The Mae Fah Luang Arboretum at Doi Chang Moob was opened to tourists.

1999

  • Following His Majesty the King's gracious permission, the royal bedroom at the Doi Tung Royal Villa was opened to tourist visits.

2000

2001

  • UNODC granted permission for products from the Doi Tung Development Project to use its logo, in recognition of the Project's role in providing sustainable alternative livelihoods for societies where drugs are grown.

2002

  • Doi Tung II in Yong Kha, the Union of Myanmar, was begun following the cooperation between the governments of Myanmar and Thailand. This marked the onset of extension projects whereby the SALD approach was adapted to use in overseas situations;
  • The Secretary General of Mae Fah Luang Foundation was invited by the British government to give an address at the first drug conference in Kabul, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The address generated a great deal of interest, resulting in visits by Afghan delegations to the site of Doi Tung Development Project;
  • The Doi Tung Coffee shop was opened at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar.

2003

  • The pilot school of Learner-Centred Learning was launched in the compound of the Doi Tung Development Project to give the children an opportunity to learn by doing, a child-centered alternative educational method that is characterized by an emphasis on self-directed activity;
  • The Commemorative Hall was opened to tourist visit;
  • The UNODC presented Doi Tung Development Project with a plaque commemorating the Foundation's design and implementation of Sustainable Alternative Livelihood Development in the Golden Triangle as an excellent example of multi-sectoral participatory rural economy, alleviating poverty where people can ultimately help themselves.

2005

  • The Hall of Opium, Golden Triangle Park, was officially opened.
  • Siam Commercial Bank Foundation began a CSR project in partner with the Mae Fah Luang Foundation to start the Pang Mahan Reforestation for Poverty Alleviation Project in the Terd Thai District, Chiang Rai. This was the first Thai outreach project that utilized and adapted the Foundation's SALD approach.

2006

  • The Belgian Government and Mae Fah Luang Foundation signed a contract whereby the working approach of Doi Tung Development Project would be adopted in Doi Tung III -- A4 Sheep Bank Project for the Province of Balkh in Afghanistan;
  • The Mae Fah Luang's Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) was established as the centre for cooperation with countries that require assistance;
  • A delegation from Naggroe Aceh Darussalam, Republic of Indonesia, paid a study visit to Doi Tung Development Project after the Secretary General of Mae Fah Luang Foundation was invited to Indonesia upon the invitation of the UNODC and the Government of Indonesia, in order to assist Aceh province in the study of its development approach;
  • Doi Tung IV began operation in Aceh, Indonesia;
  • A malaria preparedness programme was launched for the village of Lamteuba, Aceh.

2007

  • The Mae Fah Luang Foundation and the Prosthesis Foundation under Royal Patronage started the Prosthesis Production Centre at Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to help handicapped people who were victims of the tsunami and the 30 years of civil conflict.

2008

  • The Mae Fah Luang Foundation was granted to use GI (Geographic Indicators) logo as the producer/operator of Doi Tung Coffee.