CHIANG RAI – Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn travelled by helicopter to Baan Pu Na in Mae Fah Luang district, where she visited residents and checked on the progress of a tea oil research and development project.
The initiative is supported by the Chaipattana Foundation and Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage. Together, they help 403 families in Baan Pu Na and Baan Pang Mahan grow tea oil trees on 2,010 rai of degraded forest.
Last year, efforts focused on selecting high-quality tea oil trees and trialling both red and white flower varieties.
Each family now looks after two rai of forest land and takes part in various development activities. These include farming upland rice, pumpkin and Assam tea, animal husbandry, and handicrafts.
Her Royal Highness also visited the local handicraft centre, where the Mae Fah Luang Foundation supports local people. The centre helps preserve traditional skills and creates extra income for the community. The Doi Tung social enterprise group trains villagers in sewing and product design, providing jobs for women in the area.
Later, Her Royal Highness visited Sangwan Wit 8 School in Mae Fah Luang district. The school was built using funds from the Princess Mother’s Charitable Fund, with a budget of 2,605,524 baht. Princess Srinagarindra opened the school on 27 February 1991 and gave it its name.
The school, now run by Border Patrol Police Division 32, serves children from preschool to Year 6 and has 132 pupils. On this visit, Her Royal Highness presented recognition pins, school supplies, and mango saplings to local representatives and staff.
She also spoke with village and school committee members, signed the visitor’s book, and viewed job training and community projects.
Her Royal Highness then went to Doi Tung Royal Villa, where she chaired the Mae Fah Luang Foundation board meeting and stayed overnight.
On 18 June 2025, Her Royal Highness visited the Doi Tung Development Project site, a Royal Initiative in Chiang Rai. She reviewed environmental and economic forest projects.
She also visited the community waste sorting centre, which the Mae Fah Luang Foundation set up with the local government and Thai Beverage PLC. This centre is a local model for waste management following the “Zero Waste to Landfill” approach.
The centre now sorts waste across 24 villages and 8 schools in the Doi Tung area. Villagers join in every step, starting with waste sorting at home. The local government manages the system, which has stopped landfill waste altogether.
About 40% of sorted waste is reused or recycled, supporting a circular economy and creating new products like paving blocks from glass and recycled cartons and bottles. The project has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 973 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the same as preserving 1,024 rai of forest.
Her Royal Highness then visited an economic forest area and observed macadamia trees planted by Princess Srinagarindra in 1989. This was the start of Doi Tung’s forest restoration 36 years ago.
The macadamia area, managed by Nawuti Company, is part of the Doi Tung Development Project. Nawuti Company, along with partners including Mitsui & Co. (Thailand), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, U Chu Liang Group, and the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, uses economic forests to create jobs and income for local people.
This work replaces former narcotic crops and helps restore the hillsides, following Princess Srinagarindra’s vision to “grow forests, grow people” and protect human dignity.
The economic forest model has become the backbone for about 10,000 people living on Doi Tung. It supports expansion to 90,000 rai of forest, strengthening the area’s economy, society, and environment over time.
The restored forests on Doi Tung are now rich in biodiversity and absorb 419,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The Mae Fah Luang Foundation has used its experience to support forest projects with government, private, and community partners across the country, now covering 536,169 rai.
