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Tea

Story and Photos by Coffee t&i Thailand

Choui Fong Tea

The Pride of Thai Tea Industry

The story of Choui FongTea began at Doi Payaprai in Fong tea is handpicked and the trees are pruned by machine to
Mae Fah Luang district, Chiangrai. Mr. Tawee Wanaspitaksakul get all tree to grow at the same height after the harvest.
established coffee and tea plantations as well as variety of veg-
etable and fruit plantations, on his 600 rai of land in 1977. Un- Once the leaves are harvested, they will be delivered
like tea which can be processed and safely stored, vegetables to the processing plant where dedicated teams are assigned to
and fruits usually just rot away if they weren’t sold in time. For each step of the processing. The withering team takes care of
this reason, Tawee encouraged villagers to grow tea. Originally, the withering process, the firing team controls the temperature
Assam was the only tea they produce, but Oolong was added not during firing process and evaluates the tea flavour and fra-
long after, which proved to be the right move as the demand for grance, the rolling team rolls the tea into small ball and green
Oolong increased 7-8 years after the plantation was established. tea into strings, and the drying team manages the temperature
With the increase in demand, the dedicated plantation for Oolong and frequency of the drying process.
tea was established in Maechan and the famous Choui Fong Tea
plantation we know today was born. Thanks to Tawee, Choui Fong Tea plantation is now
known for its beautiful, huge tea field and impressive management
Different tea variety yields different tea character. system. Excellent field planning has paid off in the form of spec-
Assam has bigger leaves and more intense flavour, but it lacks tacular field of lush tea cascading down the slope of Maechan. The
fragrance. Assam is great for green and black tea that usually experience from his first plantation in Doi Payaprai also helped
have milk and sugar added, while Oolong has smaller leaves and him plan the field efficiently. He knew the best spot to plant the
is great on its own because of its unique fragrance. tea and where to put walkways to make management as efficient
as possible. In addition to field planning, Maechan is close to Chi-
All tea tree starts at the nursery. The saplings are nur- angrai city and it can be easily accessed. This makes the location
tured for around 6 months for them to be ready for the field. Be- an excellent spot for tea plantation as most tea plantations are
fore any new trees are planted, the field layout has to be planned deep in the mountain with poor accessibility.
beforehand in order for the tea to be harvested efficiently. Then
the soil is prepared with organic fertilizer 6 weeks in advance. Af- Choui Fong Tea focused heavily on manufacturing and
ter the new trees are planted, they have to be continuously cared exporting, but with the next generation of management stepping
for 2 years before they can be harvested. These young trees will into the business, Chanya Wanaspitaksakul, Tawee’s grand-
give low yield until they reach their full maturity, which could be daughter, is taking the plantation into its next evolution. Chanya
as long as 5 years. Assam could be harvested every 15 days while has been involved with plantation management and taking care
Oolong requires around 45 days between each harvest. All Choui of visitors who were commenting on the lack of souvenirs and

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