BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is working to make the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai international centres for tea and coffee.

This article was originally found on The Star.

To achieve this, the bureau is implementing three major projects this year.

The first is to expand creative economy and local community products by sponsoring events like the “World Tea and Coffee Expo”, which has been held in Chiang Mai for two years running.

The second is to assist communities in the North with the potential of being marketed as destinations. The third will combine business travel marketing with creative MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) concepts to develop new routes and related products.

Puripan Bunnag, senior vice president of TCEB, told The Nation that the commission will sell the North as a MICE destination.

For instance, he said, the “Thailand Tea and Coffee Network Conference 2023”, held from July 6 to 8, is a major event and has been held two years in a row.

The event is organised in cooperation between TCEB, the Tea and Coffee Institute of Mae Fah Luang University, allied government organisations in Chiang Rai, and tea and coffee enterprises.

Puripan said the conference drew more than 350 attendees and earned more than 1.5 million baht in revenue.

“The conference has helped upgrade Chiang Rai’s tea and coffee businesses. It is also in line with TCEB’s five-year [2023-2027] strategic plan, which includes showcasing the city’s distinct character and potential for hosting MICE events,” he said.

TCEB’s ultimate goal is to turn Thailand’s North into a global MICE destination for tea and coffee businesses.

Chiang Rai is set to host the “4th Tea and Coffee International Symposium” in August with the goal of creating business networks to attract investment.

Capacity-building initiatives will also be implemented to link farmers in the North and producers from outside in a bid to make upper Thailand a centre of tea and coffee production, trade, investment and business travel.

“Tea and coffee routes from the North and South will be created and linked for MICE purposes, debuting in Songkhla province between Sept 7 and 10,” he said.

Asst Prof Dr Piyaporn Chueamchaitrakun, head of Mae Fah Luang University’s Tea and Coffee Institute, said the university held international conferences on tea and coffee from time to time before joining TCEB.

“Then we realised that we can potentially be a key piece of the jigsaw in this industry because we have strong business networks and academic research,” she said.

Pongsakorn Areesiripaisarn, president of the Chiang Rai Coffee Lovers Club and local coffee shop owner, said: “Farmers nowadays are more knowledgeable and they are backed by the power of the new generation, who have returned to develop their hometowns. This has helped bring this industry back to life.

“Now we can do everything, from farming to processing to roasting to being a barista.”

Piyaporn, meanwhile, said three keywords define the tea and coffee trends for 2023: function, health and experience.

“People like buying products that have a function, like chamomile tea, which aids in sleep,” she said.

As for health, she said, after the Covid-19 pandemic, people have started taking better care of themselves, opting for healthy drinks rather than sugary ones.

“Even though Thailand cannot compete with other large tea and coffee producers like China, Vietnam, India and Japan when it comes to volume and scale, we can make our products unique in taste and aroma, offering consumers an ‘experience’ instead,” she said.

Cherdchai Lachi, who hails from the Akha tribe and owns a tea plantation in Chiang Rai, said he has been a tea farmer for a long time now. He explained that in the past, tea grown in the northern province was not very popular, but after processing techniques were upgraded it has become a hit. Thai tea was even named one of the 10 best at a competition in Japan recently.

Citing this win, Piyaporn said Thailand may not be able to compete when it comes to volume, but it will definitely shine in flavour and aroma.