The Doi Kham Company (Thai : ดอยคำ ) was founded in 1994 by the

Crown Property Bureau The Crown Property Bureau (CPB) ( th, สำนักงานทรัพย์สินพระมหากษัตริย์; ) is legally the administrative agency responsible for managing the property of the King of Thailand. It has no ...

at the request of

King Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

to set up a business to buy products from royal projects and farmers at fair prices and sell quality products to the Thai population.

Origin

The Doi Kham Royal Project was begun when King Bhumibol Adulyadej visited Chiang Mai during the cool season in 1964. He had the opportunity to observe the problems of rural villagers. In the hilly northern region, farming was of the

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

variety and was causing the forests to be reduced to ashes. Also, the number of people growing

opium poppies Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

was increasing. At the king's command, the royal project was created to provide alternative sources of income for

hill tribe Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

villages that formerly relied on opium production and

swidden agriculture Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an ar ...

Name

The meaning of the words "Doi Kham" comes from two northern Thai words. The word "doi" means 'mountain' or 'hill' while the word "kham" is a shortened word for "thongkham" which means 'gold'.

Operations

The

Royal Project Foundation The Royal Project Foundation is a Thai non-profit organisation based in north Thailand. It was founded by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as an umbrella organization for his charitable initiatives and research.

operates four research stations and thirty-five development centres that work with 295 villages containing 14,109 families. Involved are approximately 85,000 rural Thais and hill tribe peoples. Doi Kham Royal Project, in

Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province (''changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lam ...

, is a wealth of flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables that are produced in order to increase the value of agricultural products and help the farmer gain more income. The company produces a wide variety of agricultural products including ready-to-drink

fruit juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

s, fruit

juice concentrate A concentrate is a form of substance that has had the majority of its base component (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed. Typically, this will be the removal of water from a solution or suspension, such as the removal of water from f ...

dehydrate In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

d fruits,

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, and flowers. Doi Kham exports 30 percent its output to the Asia Pacific region. The company objective is to support the development of Thai agricultural products and to produce goods which have a high nutritional value with no chemical additives. Their products do not contain preservatives or artificial flavors. Doi Kham Food Products is a private limited company. In recent years it has been profitable. In 2016, the firm had revenues of 1.82 billion baht. Projections for 2017 and 2018 are 2.07 billion baht and 2.4 billion baht. Doi Kham employs total of 200 persons including five engineers and five quality assurance staff. Doi Kham has processing plants in Fang District,

; Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai Province; and

Tao Ngoi District Tao Ngoi ( th, เต่างอย, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Sakon Nakhon province, northeast Thailand. History The minor district (''king amphoe'') was created on 1 September 1978, when the two ''tambons'', Tao Ngoi and Bueng Thawai, w ...

, Sakon Nakhon Province. The company has 34 retail shops nationwide.

References

{{reflist

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222219/http://www.doikham.co.th/aboutus_en.php * http://www.travelfish.org/blogs/thailand/2011/05/27/the-kings-project-doi-kham-shop/ Food and drink companies of Thailand Companies based in Bangkok Royal Initiative Projects

Origin

Name

Operations

See also

References

External links