At 36, Watchara Yawirach is leading a quiet revolution in Mae Chedi. The mountainous subdistrict of Chiang Rai has been tea country for generations – that distinctive north-western microclimate where mist clings to the hillsides and the morning air tastes clean and sharp. Tea's always been the main cash crop here. Coffee was an afterthought, something grown almost reluctantly since the 1970s when King Rama IX's opium replacement programme introduced the first arabica trees to the hill tribes.
But things are shifting. Watchara's rallying a cooperative of 19 members who've recognised something the previous generation couldn't: coffee's potential to be more than just a secondary income stream. They're part of Thailand's young farming movement – entrepreneurs in their twenties and thirties who've chosen agriculture over white-collar careers because they can see a future in it.
Tea Knowledge, Coffee Innovation
Here's where it gets interesting. The Mae Chedi cooperative aren't trying to import processing methods wholesale from Colombia or Kenya. Instead, they're drawing on generations of local tea fermentation expertise and adapting it for coffee. It's an approach that makes complete sense when you think about it – why abandon knowledge that's been refined over decades? – but it's also genuinely innovative.
Working alongside Beanspire, the export company founded by Fuadi Pitsuwan and Jane Kittiratanapaiboon, Watchara's been experimenting with processing techniques that bridge tradition and modernity. Beanspire brings technical knowledge and market access; the cooperative brings agricultural skill and willingness to push boundaries. This marks the cooperative's fourth year producing specialty coffee and its second year exporting – a significant milestone for a group operating in a region better known for its oolong than its arabica.
Growing at Altitude
The cooperative's farms sit at 1,250 metres above sea level in the Hua Chang area, where the Chiang Mai varietal thrives. This isn't your standard heirloom cultivar – it's a locally developed hybrid that crosses SL28, Caturra, and Híbrido de Timor. Essentially a Catimor variant (think Colombia or Castillo), it's been backcrossed with SL28 to boost cup quality whilst maintaining resistance to coffee leaf rust. Practical breeding for real-world conditions.
The varietal was developed under the late King's agricultural initiative specifically to help hill tribe communities transition away from opium cultivation. What started as a social programme has evolved into something economically significant, though it's taken the better part of four decades to get there.
A New Generation
Watchara represents Thailand's emerging coffee identity. The country's unusual in the coffee world – it's got a thriving domestic specialty scene that regularly outpaces production. Only about 5% of Thai specialty coffee gets exported; the rest stays home, enjoyed by a cafe culture as developed as anywhere in Melbourne or San Francisco. This means producers like Watchara aren't just farming for foreign markets. They're growing for discerning local roasters who know quality when they taste it.
That domestic demand creates an interesting dynamic. It means the coffees Beanspire selects for export – including this Mae Chedi lot – have already proven themselves in a competitive home market. They're not just good enough for international specialty roasters; they're coffees that Thai coffee professionals have chosen to champion.
Coffee farming in Mae Chedi is still finding its rhythm. Tea remains dominant, as it should – there's decades of expertise there. But Watchara and his cooperative are carving out space for coffee to become something more substantial. Not replacing tea, but standing alongside it as a crop that deserves serious attention and thoughtful processing.
It's early days for Thai coffee on the global stage, but the foundations look solid. Accessible farms close to cities. A generation of educated young farmers. Export partners like Beanspire who understand both quality and logistics. And producers like Watchara who've got the technical knowledge and experimental mindset to produce genuinely distinctive coffees.
Mae Chedi's still primarily tea country. But ask Watchara where things are headed, and you'll probably get a different answer.
