Why Thailand, and what we've built there

On paper, Thailand has near-universal access to drinking water — 99.5% of households reached some form of clean water by 2019. The challenge isn't whether water is available, it's whether it's actually safe to drink. National studies have found that only about 41% of water available to households is appropriate for consumption straight from the tap or well, another 44% needs further treatment, and around 15% is contaminated by chemicals above recommended limits. The gap is widest in rural villages and the hill-tribe communities of the northern provinces, which often sit outside the service zones of Thailand's main water utilities. In 2019, we partnered with Compassion International to help two of those communities.

Our project funded water purification systems and storage tanks at Hauy Tong and Ban Nong Jet Nuay village, reaching roughly 1,357 children and their families. The intervention matched the problem: where water is technically available — from mountain springs, tube wells, or rainwater jars — but biologically or chemically unsafe, purifying it on-site and storing the clean output is the most direct fix. It turns a contaminated source into a daily, trusted supply.

Thailand isn't one of our coffee origins, but every bag we sell from Uganda, Nicaragua, and our World Wonders microlots helps fund work like this.