Here in Thailand OTOP usually stands for ‘One Tambon (meaning sub-district) One Product’. It is a local entrepreneurship stimulus program which aims to support unique small scale, locally made and marketed products of rural Thai villages  all over Thailand.

However for us OTOP means ONE THAI ONE PRODUCT, because our online store is not limited to those products registered just under the OTOP scheme. Instead, we travel the country seeking out useful and skillfully made products of ANY Thai individual or village.

This allows this store to offer vast array of everyday items, which when purchased here ensure the consumer is only buying from village/cottage industries, and NEVER from large manufacturers  in turn supporting thelivelihoods of rural Thailand directly as clear alternative from buying from a big online store such as Amazon, Lazada, Shoppee etc.

OTOP’s products cover a large array of local products, including handicrafts, cotton and silk garments, pottery, fashion accessories, household items, and foods.

So far our store includes the following product groups. Food items and beverages, sports and recreation goods, textiles and clothing, woven handicrafts, artistry items, gifts, household and decorative items, herbal products. These groups cover a wide variety of locally produced goods from as far south as Hat Yai, all the way to the Hill Tribes of Chaing Mai, so there is plenty of interesting products to be discovered in our store.

Different regions are noted for specific types of products. Highlights of products from different regions in Thailand include:

NORTHERN THAILAND
Superb handicrafts, particularly carved wood, silverware, specialty paper products, ceramics, bamboo baskets, cotton fabrics and silver jewellery from hill-tribe minorities.

NORTHEASTERN THAILAND OR I-SAN
It is a tradition in the Northeast for villagers to make two sets of clothes – everyday work clothes and high quality silk items created with outstanding skill for special occasions like weddings and festivals. These latter items are being selected as OTOP products. Silk and cotton fabrics, especially tie-dyed mudmee designs. The most famous are Lai Khid and Phrae Wa silks. Other items include reed mats, baskets woven from water hyacinth and triangular pillows.

CENTRAL THAILAND
Traditional handicrafts of bamboo and bai lan, great earthen pots, Dan Kwian and Koh Kred pottery and terra cotta items.

EASTERN THAILAND
Famed for its fruits, fresh and processed, as well as bamboo and rattan baskets, reed mats and mudmee fabrics.

SOUTHERN THAILAND
Batik fabrics, woven products from lipao, bulrush and panan pandanus, mother-of-pearl inlays and carved wood products.

OTOP QUALITY

Village-made OTOP products are selected for promotion because of their quality or simply thier usefulness. Many of the silks and Benjarong ceramics, for instance, are works of art, intricately and lovingly crafted by hand.

The project has strong government support on many levels — identifying potential OTOP products, providing advice on production, quality control, packaging and designs that make them even more attractive to domestic and export markets. The entire OTOP product cycle comes under the supervision of a National OTOP Committee, with regional and provincial level committees to assist in identifying, developing and grading OTOP products.

OTOP CHALLENGES

By its very nature, the OTOP project comes with its own set of challenges. In traditional societies, villagers would make products either for their own use or to be exchanged, bartered or sold to neighbours. These grassroots products are made during spare time, when farming or housework has been completed. Hence, production capacity and the ability to supply the volume of products required by buyers instantly becomes an issue.

With the introduction of OTOP, village communities are faced with the complex realities of trading beyond borders — the issues of meeting deadlines, quality control, production capacity, design preferences and marketing challenges. Not all OTOP products in the past were of export quality.

Fortunately, many government agencies have been providing these village communities the necessary support. For instance, the OTOP Task Force of the Department of Export Promotion (DEP), Ministry of Commerce, develops activities that will assist in exporting OTOP products, such as the display of selected products at trade fairs in Thailand and overseas, as well as participating in in-store promotions and Thailand Exhibitions in other countries.

While the OTOP project aims to increase village incomes, the government is also offering a choice — to go into OTOP production full time with plenty of government assistance. Major government agencies provide support: the Interior Ministry’s Department of Community Development works directly with the villages to fine tune their products; the Industry’s Ministry’s Department of Industrial Promotion plays a key role in product development, skills training and quality control; the DEP’s Product Development Centre employs teams of designers to work with villagers to create marketable designs and packages for their products.

Text courtesy of Tourism Authority of Thailand e-Magazine and Thai Depart of Export and Promotion