The Mae Fah Luang Foundation (; ) (MFLF) is a private, non‐profit organization established to improve the quality of life of people in poverty and deprived of opportunities. It manages numerous projects in Thailand as well as other countries in Asia. The foundation's mission focuses on three main areas: “improving social and economic development, preserving the environment, and supporting local art and culture.”"Origin", Mae Fah Luang Foundation Under Royal Patronage, Retrieved 2012-06-21.
In 1972, Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra (Princess Mother), grandmother of the present King of Thailand, Vajiralongkorn, founded the Hill Crafts Foundation to offer market access for craft-making villages in the northern highlands. It was renamed the Mae Fah Luang Foundation in 1985, after the name given to the princess mother by the ethnic minorities, 'royal mother from the sky'. The new name indicated the growing scope of social development efforts the foundation was assuming based on the ideas and philosophy of the princess mother.
In 1988, the MFLF initiated its flagship project, the Doi Tung Development Project, on Doi Tung in Chiang Rai, with the goal of providing people with sustainable livelihoods. The MFLF developed the Sustainable Alternative Livelihood Development (SALD) model, which emphasizes understanding the needs of the local people and their socio-geographical realities, as well as integration and involvement of all levels. This model has been replicated in its projects in Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Indonesia.
History The Mae Fah Luang Foundation (MFLF) was founded in 1972 by Princess Srinagarindra as the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness. The Hill Crafts Foundation addressed the problem of poverty and poor living conditions faced by the ethnic minority groups in northern Thailand by promoting and marketing their handicrafts to supplement their income, as well as teaching them skills and disciplines such as Thai language, basic math, and health education at Rai Mae Fah Luang in Chiang Rai (today known as the Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park). In 1985, the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation was renamed the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, as it initiated more extensive rural development projects.
The MFLF undertook its first comprehensive development project, the Doi Tung Development Project, in 1988 at Doi Tung to tackle opium cultivation at its root: poverty and lack of opportunity. The project aimed to create self-sufficient communities that would become independent of external support and well equipped to adapt to the changing environment. Today, this work is known as the SALD model.
The Hall of Opium, an exhibition hall, was established in 2003 to educate people about illicit drugs, especially opiates, in order to reduce drug abuse. With the development of the Doi Tung area and easier access to schooling opportunities, the Rai Mae Fah Luang, which previously offered boarding and education facilities to ethnic children, was transformed into the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park in 2008, in line with its mission to preserve and support local art and culture.
The MFLF has continued to expand its efforts in supporting vulnerable communities in Thailand and internationally, playing an important role as an intermediary between state and private organizations. The subsequent projects target the root causes of poverty by addressing areas of health, livelihood, and education based on the identified best practices from the Doi Tung Development Project, as well as the development philosophy of the princess mother.
Flagship projects Doi Tung Development Project (1988-2017)
The Doi Tung Development Project (DTDP) started in 1988, covering approximately 15,000 hectares of the Doi Tung area, in the Golden Triangle, a major region of opium production, impacting 11,000 people in 29 villages. This mountainous watershed area had been subject to slash-and-burn cultivation, opium cultivation, and trafficking of both human and arms. The project aimed to resolve problems faced by locals, from lack of health care, education, and governmental support, over a span of 30 years (1988–2017), in three phases:
Phase I (1988–1993): This phase ensured the basic necessities of life, providing basic health care, including drug rehabilitation, developing infrastructures such as roads and reservoirs, and reforesting the area. Schools, health care centers, and a cottage industry training center were built. New crops, such as coffee and macadamia, were introduced to replace opium.
Phase II (1994–2002): The second phase focused on creating a sustainable model through which the locals could generate income and become self-sufficient by establishing occupational development centers for agriculture, agro-processing, handicrafts, and tourism. The Doi Tung brand was created to serve as the main channel of income to finance social activities of the DTDP. It includes four business units: food, handicrafts, horticulture, and tourism. The DTDP became financially self-sustainable by 2001 through the Doi Tung brand. It has now established over 20 cafes and stores throughout Thailand. Its products range from coffee and macadamia to clothes, housewares, and stationery.
Phase III (2003–2017): This phase is about strengthening the business units and to make sure that income-generating entities are stabilized. This final phase prepares to transfer the management of the DTDP from the MFLF to the local people by emphasizing the training of human resources
In 2003, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recognized the DTDP as one of the world's best examples of alternative development.
In 2009, the Secretary General of the MFLF received the Schwab Foundation's "Social Entrepreneur of the Year for the Region of East Asia" for the MFLF's efforts in combating social problems and improving people's quality of life while restoring the natural environment.
In 2012, the DTDP partnered with the housewares company, IKEA, to create the Allvarlig tableware collection. In 2013, Ikea entered into a partnership with Doi Tung to produce ceramics, tableware, and mulberry paper sold in the limited edition collections Annanstans and Hantverk.
Accomplishments A 1,000-day Rehabilitation Program was carried out from 1991 to 1994, to assist the nearly 500 residents addicted to opiates. It had a relapse rate of about 15%. After the program ended, drug rehabilitation became the responsibility of the local communities, with assistance from the project. Forest coverage has increased from 42% of total project area of about 15,000 hectares to over 90%. Opium is no longer grown. In 1989, the average local income was US$120 per person per year. In 2011, the number had increased to almost US$1,400 per person per year. On average, each household earns about US$9,150 a year. Total income from agricultural land has increased about three-fold from US$388,889 in 1988 to about US$1.2 million in 2007, although the total agricultural area was reduced from 58% to approximately 11% (replaced mainly by reforestation). Thai citizenship has been granted to 76% of the population, up from only 38% in 1992. In 1992, 56% of the population was illiterate and only 0.2% had college degrees. Today, the number of college or university graduates has increased from 18 to 528 people. The majority of the new generation goes to schools in the project area.Schwab Foundation Application 2009
Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park In 1979, the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation, with cooperation from various international organizations including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), established a youth leadership program to equip ethnic minority children with basic education and social skills, training them in agriculture, craftsmanship, and leadership. The training program was conducted at Rai Mae Fah Luang, which is now the Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park.
The Rai Mae Fah Luang became a home to hundreds of youths from rural areas with no access to education so that they could attend schools in the city. The role of the Rai Mae Fah Luang as an educational institution came to an end when the DTDP established schools in the vicinity of their villages.
Today, the area has been transformed into the Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park, housing the region's largest collection of Lan Na arts, including the teak wood exhibition, a botanical collection, and the Golden Pavilion that the people of Chiang Rai built and presented to the princess mother in honor of her 84th birthday.
Hall of Opium The Hall of Opium was created to reduce the demand for drugs through knowledge and education. While the DTDP tackles the drug problems from the supply side, this centre tries to solve drug problems from the demand side. A result of almost 10 years of research, the exhibition at the Hall of Opium conveys the history of opium and its trade across the globe, as well as provides a comprehensive source of knowledge on opium, opiates, and other narcotics. The exhibition also presents current issues regarding the efforts to control drugs and the impacts of drug abuse, with the belief that education can deter drug abuse.
The SALD Model The Sustainable Alternative Livelihood Development (SALD) model of MFLF emerged from the experience of the Doi Tung Development Project. It places the local community at the center of their own development, promoting economic, environmental, and social growth by building a strong community driven by local wisdom. The people-centric model uses a holistic approach that addresses health, livelihood, and education needs. It emphasizes local ownership and leadership to nurture independence to prepare the locals to continue on their own development regardless of external assistance.
The model follows four general stages:
Initial preparation of the development team Gain support from all the parties of interest—government officials, the private sector and the community—ensuring that they agree on the goals, and are committed. Build a facilitation team that will coordinate the resources, such as fundings, among relevant parties, as well as make sure that the ideas generated will be the basis for discussions with the communities. Preparation of the community This step is geared toward building trust through communication and implementation of programs addressing immediate needs, known as the “Quick Hit”, usually concerning healthcare and food. The foundation seeks to ensure that the community members are prepared and eager to get involved with the projects by getting them to understand their own problems and needs, how to address them, and the benefits of doing so. Implementation The implementation process continues building confidence and motivating people by working hand-in-hand with them, often creating incentives (such as improved livestock, access to irrigation and value-added products) for them. Here, the ideas are carried out through a learning-by-doing process and incorporating local wisdom. In the next phase, the MFLF aims to create market driven value-chains by employing practices used in professional business, building on local capacity. Exit (this stage focuses on the following objectives to make sure that the community is self-sufficient and can continue with their own development) The establishment of rules and regulations within the community Allocate duties and responsibilities among locals to address future needs Provide additional knowledge if needed
Domestic Outreach
Pang Mahan Reforestation Project (2005-2008) Key partners: Siam Commercial Bank PLC, Chaipattana Foundation