Turning local crafts into prosperity

A Thai businessman aims to serve communities by connecting local producers in rural areas with urban markets, Yang Wanli reports in Bangkok.

Imagine a lively store that incorporates elements like handicrafts, snack vendors, Thai music and coffee tastings, which engage all five senses and create a lively, market-like atmosphere.

Thai businessman Pichai Chirathivat is attempting to use this model to ease rural poverty in local communities, an ambitious vision for many entrepreneurs. Amid various pathways to improve the lives of fellow citizens, the route that Pichai has taken is connecting goods produced in rural areas with urban consumers in Thailand and beyond.

As executive director of Central Group, a leading Thai retail and wholesale business, Pichai says he believes in the traditional Chinese saying that it is better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish.