What is OTOP?

[Big Boy]

I've no idea if this is the right area for this question because I have no idea what it is. There are several signs in Hua Hin quoting OTOP, and in recent weeks I've seen it mentioned in Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya.

Somebody put me out of my misery please. What is OTOP?

[buksida]

One Tambon One Product.

http://otopthailand.com/

[sateeb]

Off the top of my head..OTOP stands for One Tambon One Product. The stuff they sell is produced in small rural villages and the profits made are supposed to benefit these villages.

I will now Google it ans see if I was anywhere near

[JD]

One Tambon One Product

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Tambon_One_Product

[sateeb]

One Tambon One Product (OTOP) is a local entrepreneurship stimulus program designed by Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his 2001-2006 Thai Rak Thai government. The program aimed to support the locally made and marketed products of each Thai tambon (subdistrict). Drawing its inspiration from Japan's successful One Village One Product (OVOP) program,[1] the OTOP program encourages village communities to improve the local products' quality and marketing, selecting one superior product from each tambon to receive formal branding as its "starred OTOP product". It provides both a local and national stage to the promote these products. OTOP products include a large array of local products, including traditional handicrafts, cotton and silk garments, pottery, fashion accessories, household items and food. After a military junta overthrew Thaksin's government in 2006 following an election cancelled for irregularities, the OTOP program was cancelled. However, it was soon revived and rebranded.


From Wikepedia

[STEVE G]

Yes, I've been to a village in Buriram where they specialised in hand-weaving floor mats. Nearly every house had a wooden weaving frame on the porch and it gave a small income for the mainly older ladies that weaved and was obviously less strain for them than farming. It seems to work in that they have a way of selling these mats for which there wouldn't be such a large demand locally.

[Ratsima]

Most shopping malls have an "OTOP Fair" periodically at which OTOP products from all over the country are featured. It's a good way to find products you might not know existed.

I discovered the coffee beans I buy now at an OTOP Fair. We've also purchaes some beautiful fabrics and other craft products at OTOP Fairs.

There are permanent OTOP shops at airports and in many larger communities.

[dtaai-maai]

There is a fairly regular OTOP market in the park/square next to the Red Cross clinic and along the street. Certainly a couple of times a year. Worth a visit.

[Big Boy]

Thanks guys - very informative. When I started reading through the responses, my mind was trying to guess what Hua Hin's product would be, but then it became clear that an OTOP here, might be selling crafts from all over Thailand.

We will have a look.

[Don East Stand]

I have also noticed the OTOP signs in many places, and never knew what it was all about until now.

My question would be why is it in English? It's not even a rough transliteration of the Thai equivalent.

Is it aimed at farang tourists, and if not would the non- English speaking Thais know what it's all about?

Curious and confused, not for the first time, and yes I know T.I.T.

[Big Boy]

And assuming it is aimed at Farangs, why not give a bit more information in English?

[Bamboo Grove]

Big Boy wrote:

And assuming it is aimed at Farangs, why not give a bit more information in English?

It's not aimed only at Farangs but also to Thais themselves. When you went to Ayutthaya, I gave some links to the surrounding villages, those have OTOP-products and you can actually watch how the make these things. These near Ayutthaya are very old local products, produced even before the OTOP was started. The aim of OTOP was as the name says - one tambon-one product. There are numerous tambons in the country and we can't expect all of them to be able to make English language information, although, I agree we with you that would help them a lot.

There used to be (and I assume there still is) a series of books in Thai about every province in Thailand and they describe the various tambons and their otops and villages where you can find these things. They also have plenty of local advise for sightseeing and are valuable if you can read Thai or have someone to do it for you. I found all these great things and places to visit from these books, for example the Khao Bin cave in Ratchaburi. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the name of this series is but you were able to find them in some Thai language bookshops in Hua Hin. If I remember correctly, I used to buy mine from the bookshop, which is on the Night Market road.

[STEVE G]

A couple of years ago we went to visit a friends wives family up near Nangrung where the mother was making raffia work handbags for one of these projects. She gave me one as a present for my mother as I was going back to the UK and when she got it, the first thing she noticed was that it had a small tag written in English and I then had to explain about OTOP to convince her that it had been hand made in a Thai village!

[Big Boy]

Funilly enough, we were in the Pranburi Tesco complex this afternoon, and I spotted an OTOP shop. I made a beeline for it. All they were selling was some sort of cracker (buscuit) with what I think was a pineapple filling. Is that our Tambon's one product?

[STEVE G]

....a pineapple filling. Is that our Tambon's one product?

There are a lot of pineapples around Pranburi!