Page 76 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

group that collects trash along beaches and sells stainless steel bottles to local private sector
businesses for resale at a profit. In addition, a growing number of family-run and business-

affiliated charitable organizations now form part of a new generation of civil society networks
that mobilize social capital to drive change across various sectors (Krittiyaporn Wongsa, 2022, in
Anan Ganjanapan, 2022). Among the most notable initiatives is the carbon credit program
launched by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation (Box 2.4). Furthermore, the challenges arising from
rapid urban expansion and increasing waste generation have created demand for social
enterprises focused on urban waste management (Box 2.5).

Box 2.4: Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage was originally established in 1972 as the
“Thai Hill Tribe Product Promotion Foundation under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness the
Princess Mother.” It was founded under Her Royal Highness’s initiative to preserve traditional arts
and culture while promoting the marketing of hill tribe handicrafts, until they became widely
popular both domestically and internationally. The foundation also supported the education of
more than 400 hill tribe youth (Foundation website). Today, the majority of its revenue comes from
tourism and the sale of handicrafts produced by local communities.

With its leadership’s forward-looking vision and awareness that survival in a highly competitive
market requires constant innovation in products and services, the foundation has launched a
future-oriented initiative: a community forest management project for carbon credit trading.
Under this project, the foundation manages investment portfolios for private companies
interested in purchasing carbon credits. The foundation priced carbon credits based on the
opportunity cost of villagers not growing corn on one rai of land. Subscribing companies contribute
2,900 baht per rai per year to a forest conservation fund, for a commitment of three years. The
foundation guarantees a carbon credit yield of no less than 0.9 tons per rai per year over the three-
year period. Between 50 to 70 percent of the revenue is allocated to farmers for maintaining
community forests and supporting sustainable livelihood activities, such as stingless beekeeping,
forest mushroom cultivation, biodegradable plate production from teak leaves, and the creation
of community markets.
This initiative is made possible by the foundation’s forest growth database, which has been
maintained for over 30 years and is used to calculate carbon credit values.
Launched in 2021, the project currently manages 344,953 rai of community forest, benefiting
approximately 120,000 people. It has helped reduce forest fire damage from 10,358 rai during
2016–2021 to just 3,805 rai in 2023. The minimum viable size for a cost-effective community forest
that can begin generating returns is 500 rai. With more than 6 million rai of community forest
nationwide, there is still significant room for expansion. Over the past three years, the foundation
has received 47.93 million baht in private sector contributions to its forest conservation fund and
approximately 18.33 million baht to its sustainable community development fund. The project not
only fulfills the foundation’s original mission of enhancing livelihoods and generating income for
communities, but it also contributes to broader efforts to mitigate global climate change.

Source: Based on interview

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