Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra
established the Mae Fah Luang Foundation
under Royal Patronage

 

With a strong belief in human potential and innate goodness, Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother, was devoted to creating opportunities and providing alternatives for all people—regardless of ethnicity, religion, race, or political belief.

Starting since the 1960s, when she herself was in her 60s, the Princess Mother worked to improve the lives of rural Thais in remote regions. She travelled with teams of volunteer doctors, dentists and nurses, who provided basic medical and dental care, along with donations of food and clothing for the poor.

Among those she visited were the ethnic minorities in the mountains of Northern Thailand who lived in areas easily accessible only by helicopter. This image of the Princess Mother descending from the skies gave rise to the name “Mae Fah Luang” (meaning Royal Mother from the Sky) and the affectionate title used by the hill tribes to address Her Royal Highness.

The Princess Mother established foundations in numerous fields to improve people’s quality of life: many of them in health, as well as in education and livelihood development. Her emphasis was on “helping people to help themselves,” so they could become independent without relying on handouts.

In 2000, the centenary year of her birth, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO honored the Princess Mother as a “great personality in public service in the fields of education, applied science, and human, social, and environmental development”.

Awards and Achievements

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

recognized Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother as the world’s “Great Personality in Education, Applied Science, Human, Social, and Environmental Development”. 2000

The Doi Tung Development Project (DTDP) became financially independent,

with profits from its social enterprise sufficient to cover operational costs without the need for donations. 2000

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) awarded

DTDP a label with its logo recognizing that income from DoiTung products “contributes to the achievement of a drug free world”.2002

Mom Rajawongse Disnadda Diskul, then-CEO of DTDP,

was recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2009” for the region of East Asia and Southeast Asia. 2009

The Doi Tung Development Project was awarded “Model Town of Creative Economy”

from the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce. 2011

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received an assessment of A (Very Good Performance Building)

for energy performance, office building category, from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy.2011

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation’s head office was recognized with the Outstanding Energy Conservation Award

for Creative Design Building, New and Existing Building Category.2013

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received the Green Office Award

for Environmentally-friendly Office from the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 2014

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received the 19th Nikkei Asia Prize awarded

by Nikkei Inc media corporation of Japan as an “Outstanding Organization for Culture and Community”. 2014

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received an Honorable Mention for Zero Waste Building

(Medium-Sized Building) from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.2015

The DoiTung brand received the Award of Excellence for Thai Products

from the Ministry of Industry.2015

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received a plaque of honor for participating

in the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Program (T-VER) in two outreach program areas – the Nan Reforestation Project, and the Tea Oil and Other Oilseed Crops Research and Development Project. 2017

The DoiTung brand received the Design Excellence Award (DEmark)

for fashion and lifestyle products from the Thailand Institute of Design and Promotion, Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce. 2018

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation successfully reduced its emission of greenhouse gases

through reducing the use of energy by 36% and increasing the use of alternative fuel by 45% within 5 years, with the goal of zero emissions by 2020.2014 – 2018

The Ministry of Culture named the Doi Tung Development Project as one of the ten top culture travel destinations in Thailand,

not only as a knowledge center, but also as an interactive destination for the sharing of cultural heritage for educational purposes. 2019

The DoiTung brand received the Design Excellence Award (DEmark)

for fashion and lifestyle products from the Thailand Institute of Design and Promotion, Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce. 2011
2019
2020

The DoiTung brand was awarded the Good Design Award (G-mark)

from the partnership between the Ministry of Commerce, Thailand, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP).2011
2018
2019
2020

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation received the G Green Production Award

from the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, for Best Textiles and Best Ceramics categories. This guarantees that handicrafts from the DoiTung brand – both textiles and ceramics – are manufactured through environmentally-friendly practices. 2019
2020

The DoiTung brand received the Prime Minister’s Export Award (PM Award)

for Best Design, Creative & Innovative Fashion and Apparel category, from the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce.2020