{"id":29520,"date":"2026-08-21T17:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/?p=29520"},"modified":"2026-08-23T20:56:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T13:56:01","slug":"friday-future-lister-changnoi-on-what-comes-next-for-thai-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2026\/08\/21\/friday-future-lister-changnoi-on-what-comes-next-for-thai-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Future Lister: Changnoi on What Comes Next for Thai Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can Thai coffee become a global name? Changnoi Kunjara na Ayudhya shares his ideas behind the Thailand Coffee Festival.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThai 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 caf\u00e9 culture.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ethiopia and Colombia are famous for growing coffee, while Japan and South Korea have some of the world\u2019s strongest caf\u00e9 scenes but cannot grow coffee in the same way. Thailand has both. It can grow coffee and has a growing caf\u00e9 culture, connecting farms, caf\u00e9s and coffee lovers in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s festival coming next month, it will be an exciting chapter for Thai coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Courtesy of Changnoi Kunjara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Building Thailand\u2019s Coffee Community<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Coffee was not part of Changnoi\u2019s plan at first. His background was in media and events. At A Day<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIf we only look at coffee as a cool caf\u00e9, that\u2019s 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\u2019t have to leave home for work. That\u2019s why we chose to work with coffee, to build a better supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Courtesy of Changnoi Kunjara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIf consumers understand what good coffee is, everyone in the supply chain has to improve. Coffee shouldn\u2019t be just a trend. It should be something that can last.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The festival became a place where those connections could link up. Coffee could be something people enjoy at a caf\u00e9 and also support the people and places behind the cup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The People Behind the Cup<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changnoi often comes back to a simple idea: \u201cGood coffee means good forests.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Courtesy of Changnoi Kunjara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\u201cCoffee 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Thailand Coffee Fest (@thailandcoffeefest)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n