Coffee in Thailand

Thailand drinks far more coffee than it grows. Its arabica comes from the hills of the far north, around Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, where the Royal Project brought coffee to former opium-growing villages from the 1970s; its robusta comes from the south. Production has fallen steeply since 2001, but the northern highlands have two EU-protected origins, Doi Tung and Doi Chaang, and a lively speciality scene. Here’s how much, where and why.

The short version

• 16,020 tonnes in 2025, by Thai figures; far less than in 2001.
• Arabica in the north (over 70% of the crop), robusta in the south.
• Chiang Rai grows about a third of Thailand’s coffee.
• Coffee instead of opium, through the Royal Project from the 1970s.
• Two EU-protected origins: Kafae Doi Tung and Kafae Doi Chaang.
• Imports cover more than 80% of what Thais drink.

How much coffee does Thailand grow?

The figures disagree sharply:

Measure	Figure	Source
Production, crop year 2025	16,020 t	Office of Agricultural Economics, via Chiang Rai Times
Production, 2023	16,575 t (48.2% arabica, 51.8% robusta)	Bangkok Post
Production, 2001	86,000 t	Chiang Rai Times
Production, annual	40,000–50,000 t on more than 220,000 rai	Department of Business Development, via The Nation
Production, 2025/26	900,000 bags of robusta (about 54,000 t, by our calculation)	USDA

The fall since 2001 is blamed on a changing climate, which has made some arabica areas less suitable, and on farmers switching to quicker-paying crops such as durian, the Chiang Rai Times reports. The number of coffee-growing households fell from 29,761 in 2020 to 24,949 in 2025, though in the north it rose.

Where is coffee grown in Thailand?

Arabica grows in the northern highlands and robusta in the south, in provinces such as Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Phang Nga and Ranong, Wikipedia says. In 2025 the north grew 11,390 tonnes on 138,574 rai, more than 70% of the country’s coffee and 93% of it arabica. The leading provinces:

Province	Production, 2025	Planted area
Chiang Rai	4,850 t (99.25% arabica)	55,415 rai
Chiang Mai	3,203 t	35,615 rai
Nan	936 t	12,677 rai
Mae Hong Son	921 t
Lampang	517 t
Tak	396 t

Source: Office of Agricultural Economics, via Chiang Rai Times. A rai is 1,600 m².

Within Chiang Rai, two mountain origins are protected: Doi Chaang, at 1,100–1,700 metres, and Doi Tung, at 800–1,200 metres.

The coffee

Northern arabica is mostly Catimor, Caturra and Catuaí, the varieties named in both EU registrations; both protected origins are washed. The northern highlands average only about 1,000–1,200 metres, lower than arabica’s homeland, and many former opium fields were bare of shade, the Heinrich Böll Foundation notes; growers have been moving to shade, and to newer fermentation methods to improve quality. In 2019 a Chiang Mai farmer who dried his beans in a new low-temperature drying system won the Thai Specialty Coffee Awards.

When is coffee harvested in Thailand?

In the north, the trees flower in about February and the cherries are picked from November to March at Doi Chaang; Doi Tung’s season runs from October to February, according to their EU registrations. Rain that now often lingers into November makes drying harder and can cut prices by 30–70% when beans go mouldy, the Böll Foundation reports.

Who grows Thai coffee?

In the north, largely the hill peoples, the Akha, Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, Yao and Karen, who once grew opium in the Golden Triangle. Many also grow tea for miang, fermented tea leaves, and planted coffee among their tea trees, picking whichever paid better. Northern coffee households rose from 13,067 in 2020 to 15,685 in 2025, while many southern growers left coffee, the Chiang Rai Times reports.

Where does Thai coffee go?

Mostly into Thai cups. Thailand needs about 90,000 tonnes a year, so local beans cover only about 17% of demand; in 2023 it imported coffee worth US$338 million, including 62,171 tonnes of raw coffee, the Bangkok Post reported. It exports mainly instant coffee, made partly from imported beans, with Cambodia its top market, followed by Laos and the Philippines. USDA puts Thai soluble exports at about 500,000–650,000 bags a year.

A short history

• 1970s: King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Royal Project promotes coffee and other crops to replace opium in the northern hills.
• 1976: Thailand becomes a coffee exporter, Wikipedia says.
• 1988: the Doi Tung Development Project begins, a royal initiative for reforestation and against drugs.
• 2001: production reaches 86,000 tonnes.
• 2006: Thailand registers Doi Tung coffee as a geographical indication.
• 2015: the EU registers Kafae Doi Tung and Kafae Doi Chaang as PGIs.
• 2025: production is 16,020 tonnes.

How do Thais drink their coffee?

More and more. The domestic coffee market was worth about 65 billion baht in 2025, and Thais drink over 340 cups a person a year, The Nation reports. Instant coffee still makes up most of the market by value, but fresh coffee and speciality cafés are growing fastest.

Thai coffee and other origins

• Coffee in Laos: the neighbour across the Mekong, and a market for Thai instant coffee.
• Coffee in Vietnam: South-east Asia’s robusta giant.
• The atlas: Thailand’s growing areas on the map.