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Can Thai coffee become a global name? Changnoi Kunjara na Ayudhya shares his ideas behind the Thailand Coffee Festival.
Put Thailand on the map of coffee-producing countries and it may not be the first place that comes to mind. But there is something about its position that is quite rare.
“Thai coffee is still a newcomer that the world is starting to notice. If you know coffee, you know Ethiopia, Colombia and Kenya. If foreigners come to Thailand, they might not know Thai coffee yet. But what makes Thailand special is that we have something those countries do not have in the same way: a café culture.”
Ethiopia and Colombia are famous for growing coffee, while Japan and South Korea have some of the world’s strongest café scenes but cannot grow coffee in the same way. Thailand has both. It can grow coffee and has a growing café culture, connecting farms, cafés and coffee lovers in one place.
That is one of the things I learned from Changnoi Kunjara na Ayudhya, Managing Director of Cloud and Ground and one of the people behind the Thailand Coffee Festival. With this year’s festival coming next month, it will be an exciting chapter for Thai coffee.
Building Thailand’s Coffee Community
Coffee was not part of Changnoi’s plan at first. His background was in media and events. At A Day magazine, he worked as an advertising director and helped organise events such as A Day Bike Fest, where he learned how to bring people together around a shared interest.
When he and his partners started The Cloud around nine years ago, they were still figuring out what it could become. Through their connection with the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand, coffee slowly became part of the picture.
“If we only look at coffee as a cool café, that’s all it becomes. But we wanted to look deeper. Coffee can help increase forests and give small farmers a chance to build a good life in their hometowns. If being a coffee farmer can become something people feel proud of, they don’t have to leave home for work. That’s why we chose to work with coffee, to build a better supply chain.”
That thinking became part of the Thailand Coffee Festival. The event brings different parts of the industry together, from Thai coffee bean and barista competitions to talks and activities that help consumers understand coffee better.
“If consumers understand what good coffee is, everyone in the supply chain has to improve. Coffee shouldn’t be just a trend. It should be something that can last.”
The festival became a place where those connections could link up. Coffee could be something people enjoy at a café and also support the people and places behind the cup.
The People Behind the Cup
Coffee can be more than the thing that gets you through your first meeting or keeps you going through a late night. But what sits beyond the caffeine and the benefits? The people, the land and the communities behind it.
Changnoi often comes back to a simple idea: “Good coffee means good forests.” Coffee grows best under shade, so in parts of northern Thailand, planting coffee can also help restore forest cover in areas where the hills have been cleared.
“Coffee is an under-shade crop, so it grows best under the trees. There are areas that have become bare hills and if we support coffee-growing there, the forest can return. That is another benefit.”
That creates a wider chain of value. Better coffee can mean better income for farmers, more opportunities for local communities and more reasons for people to stay and work in their home regions. It can also bring visitors to the farms and connect coffee with local tourism.
“Coffee has a beautiful supply chain. The more you look at it, the more you see that what is in the cup is only one part of the story.”
The same idea runs through the coffee community he has worked with. Farmers, café owners and businesses may compete with one another, yet they still find ways to work together because they see the value in building the industry as a whole.
“Everyone is a competitor, whether you are a business owner or a farmer. But they put that aside and work together because they know that if the industry improves, everyone benefits.”
That spirit runs through the Thailand Coffee Festival too. Across 10 editions, Changnoi has helped bring farmers, baristas, businesses and coffee drinkers into the same space, creating room for competitions, ideas, conversations and new connections.
He has also watched plenty of trends come and go. Coffee keeps finding its way back.
What Makes Good Coffee
This year’s Thailand Coffee Festival takes the connection further with its theme, Made by All of Us. A good cup starts long before it reaches the barista.
“It starts with the farmer, then moves through careful picking, processing, drying and roasting. Even the packaging, transport and the barista’s preparation matter. Every step has its own details and everyone involved should benefit from the work they put in. Good coffee should be coffee that benefits everyone.”
Changnoi sees this as more than a story about making better coffee. Everyone involved should also benefit from the value they help create.
“Good coffee should be coffee that everyone benefits from. If everyone benefits, they can keep doing their work with care, earn a fair price and make a living.”
The idea will come to life at the upcoming edition of the Thailand Coffee Festival, one of two festival editions held each year. This edition focuses more on the coffee industry and B2B connections, with coffee competitions, new Thai coffee experiences and activities that highlight the people behind each cup. It will take place from 17 – 19 September at IMPACT Exhibition Center, Halls 5–8, with Changnoi hoping to make Thai coffee easier for international visitors to discover, from the beans to the cafés that serve them.
“When we talk about building a strong coffee supply chain, we have to develop everyone together – the farmers, processors, roasters, baristas and consumers. And there’s one more part we often forget: the forests and nature around the coffee. If all of these parts grow together, we can take Thai coffee further onto the global stage.”
Creating Value Around Thai Produce
The work does not stop with coffee. The same thinking extends to other Thai products, linking what the country grows and makes with tourism and new business opportunities.
“People can come for good coffee but they can also experience where it comes from. The farms in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai are beautiful and good cafés can be found across the country. All of this can make the café culture in Thailand more valuable – and give people a reason to return home and build something in their own communities.”
Changnoi is now applying the same idea to other Thai products, looking for ways to connect what Thailand grows and makes with tourism and new business opportunities. That idea has led to the Thailand Rice Festival, which will be held alongside the Thailand Coffee Fest Year End this December.
“Because if coffee is the star of a café, rice is the star of a restaurant.”
The Thailand Coffee Fest Year End will take place from 24-27 December 2026 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), bringing coffee, rice and food together in a more consumer-focused and celebratory setting.
“We want to increase the value of Thai coffee and everything around it: ice cream, bakery and other businesses connected to coffee. When their value grows, it also supports one of the country’s main pillars: tourism. The next thing I’m working on is rice. We only started a few years ago but if we can raise the value of Thai rice and food, it can create a much wider positive impact for Thai businesses.”
The idea is simple: coffee can bring people into cafés, while rice and Thai food can do the same for restaurants, with the impact reaching hotels, tourism and local businesses.
