The Working Group on Local Economic and Social Enterprise Development has introduced His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great’s (Rama IX) Sufficiency Economy and philosophy on the development of “Understanding, Accessing, Developing,”. The ultimate goal is to drive and develop the country towards stability, prosperity, and sustainability. The working group also adheres to the first Royal Command of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua (Rama X), “I shall continue, preserve, and build upon the royal legacy and shall reign with righteousness for the benefit of the people forever,” as a framework for creating concepts and principles of operation focused on three areas, namely agriculture, value-added products, and community-based tourism.

The working group has jointly established a company in the form of a social enterprise under the name Pracharath Rak Samakkee (Social Enterprise) Co., Ltd. in 76 provinces nationwide. It has also established a company called Pracharath Rak Samakkee Project Social Enterprise (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to team up with 20 private companies for them to be a central unit for successful linkage between different sectors. Through this integration, the company has achieved results and generated revenue for communities comprising more than 60,000 households, with a total revenue of 543 million baht. The project has also led community products (OTOP) sales to grow from 109,000 million baht in 2015 to 125,208 million baht in 2017 to 154,000 million baht and 190,000 million baht in 2018 and 2019 at a rate of 15 percent, 23 percent and 24 percent respectively.

• The rate is considered high when compared to the country’s gross domestic product which grows at three-to-four percent per year. This success has driven the government to create the Social Enterprise Promotion Act of 2019. This collaboration to move forward in the form of social enterprise has allowed the government to see the importance of this type of business as a forum for cooperation that will lead to sustainability in accordance with all 17 United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDGs).

	Know-how 1. Creating Professions 2. Giving Knowledge to Youth
	Environment 1. Environmental Conservation including Forest, Soil, Water, and Ocean 2. Creating Discipline in Waste Management 3. Effluent Management Campaign

This project commenced its activities on August 12, 2016. The project aims to develop their quality and improve production techniques, the project also aims to make the processing of hand-made Pakaoma to become more diverse and meet the needs of consumers. As a result, the value of these traditional products that have been produced in the Thai countryside for a long time is increased and local communities are able to gain a more sustainable income.

In addition, the project is focused on finding Pakaoma that reflect the distinctive identities of various communities around the country, as well as providing opportunities for students and the general public to have a creative platform for expression through a design contest of hand-woven Pakaoma in various categories. In the past year, the project has initiated a cooperation with the Thai Pakaoma community to create innovations for Thai Pakaoma by producing garlands of Pakaoma. The project also sponsored the winners of the Pakaoma design contest “Nava-atalak” (innovative identity) to travel to observe activities at Bunka Fashion College, a world class design and fashion institute, and IFF Magic, a fashion event in Japan. Furthermore, the project also led to the organization of the Pakaoma Design and Development Contest for the third consecutive year under the concept of “Pakaoma, the Precious Identity of ASEAN METROPOLIS” with 282 individual design submissions. The contest was divided into four categories, namely fashion design, jewelry design, home textile design and fabric design. Over the past three years, the Thai Handicraft Pakaoma Project has increased the income for 15 Pakaoma-producing communities participating in the project threefold, with a total income of over 51 million baht.

“Yaam,” a type of colorful shoulder bag, has been with the Thai people for a long time. It is a reflection of their ethnic identity and the way of life of the community. So that the Thai-style shoulder bag will not be forgotten, especially among the new generation, ThaiBev has supported the “Sapai Sainaew Project” since April 2018. The project focuses on improving their design and production so that they meet the needs of consumers and increase revenue for the community. The project receives cooperation from partners such as the Textile Industry Development Institute which helps develop weaving techniques, colors, and patterns, and offers volunteer designers to help create beautiful and interesting products. Furthermore, ThaiBev works with Pracharath Rak Samakkee Social Enterprise (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to help promote marketing and sales support at various events, including sales via online channels such as Facebook and Instagram under the account name Sapai Sainaew. Moreover, they also take the community products to sell at various local events such as Baanlaesuan Fair and OTOP Fair, and also to overseas markets. That make the villagers’ income has increased.

Currently, the Sapai Sainaew Project has a membership of more than 2,932 people in more than 20 provinces, generating a combined revenue (at all sale events supported by ThaiBev) of almost ten million baht in the last 16 months (April 2018-September 2019). In addition to improving the products, another important aspect of the project is that many of the young people in the communities who might otherwise leave their hometowns come back to help their parents to develop the products. Thus this project helps keep families together.

This project has been in operation since mid-2017. It is an integrated collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Commerce and universities, with the Pracharath Rak Samakkee network acting as the community liaison. The aim of the project is to find safe production areas for raw food materials both within the province and nearby provinces, to organize farmer groups, to gather the raw materials, and to provide delivery service/transportation of them to hospitals in the participating provinces. Another important goal is to generate income for farmers and community enterprise groups in the area so that they have a market for their safe and sustainable vegetables and fruits. In the end, people in the country will be healthier and happier as a result of the project. Today, the Pracharath Rak Samakkee network in 29 provinces can deliver safe agricultural products to 41 hospitals nationwide, and more than 63 million baht in revenue has been generated for communities.

Pracharath Rak Samakkee Social Enterprise (Thailand) Co., Ltd. jointly developed a compact rice miller suitable for household rice milling. It is able to produce a sufficient amount of rice for household needs and thus maximize the benefits households receive from the rice they grow. The milling process takes no more than five minutes to complete. One of the important goals is making new marketing channel for farmers, one that allows them to sell native rice varieties directly to consumers at a higher price than through traditional sales. The innovation also helps to encourage farmers to develop their production skills, whether it is through rice drying, selection, packaging or transportation, in order to ensure quality before delivering directly to consumers. Currently, more than 100 “Ready-to-Mill” household rice millers have been ordered.

Supports the budget for producing “Cheunjai Thailand,” a creative travel documentary TV program. The goal is to promote community-based tourism and community products nationwide under the operation of the Pracharath Rak Samakkee network. The program has been continuously broadcasting and has featured 144 episodes until now. Since its first broadcast on July 3, 2016, the program has received positive audience feedback and helped the general public to learn about new tourist attractions operated by communities. The program has also helped bring the communities that have been featured to various fairs and events, enabling them to generate income of over 30 million baht.

• Since its implementation, the nationwide network Pracharath Rak Samakkee has driven more than 930 projects, divided into three areas, namely agriculture, value-added products and community-based tourism, covering more than 68,000 households with more than 545 million baht generated in income. In addition, since January 2019, more than 41 million baht has already been generated for the community.
• Many community products received support for distribution to various public and private organizations, including sales at Pracharath stores and through online media. This has already generated more than nine million baht of income for the communities.
• Network partners are linked together in order to provide space for communities to sell the products of the Pracharath Rak Samakkee network. This year, these events have generated more than 500,000 baht in revenue for the communities, totaling 15 million baht since the project started operating.