The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) has joined hands with the Su-ngai Kolok Municipality and the Narathiwat Young Entrepreneur Chamber of Commerce (YEC) in organizing a Border Coffee Carnival to create economic value for local coffee of the deep South of Thailand, which shares a border with Malaysia.

The carnival takes place at the public park in front of the Su-ngai Kolok Hospital in Su-ngai Kolok District, Narathiwat Province, on 21-23 June 2024.

It aims to promote the consumption of native coffee along the Thai-Malaysian border and to boost halal products and local tourism in the southern border provinces. The carnival also provides an opportunity for participants and interested persons to exchange knowledge and the coffee culture between Thailand and Malaysia.

The Southern Border Provinces Development Strategy Committee on 23 November 2023 approved a framework for the development of twin cities near the border of Thailand and Malaysia. It assigned the SBPAC to work with relevant agencies in carrying out this project. Under the framework, various activities will be held to promote border cooperation, especially in trade and tourism, in order to seek production networks, new markets, and advanced technology.

The Border Coffee Carnival is considered the first activity under the framework for the development of twin cities. Apart from stimulating the local economy along the Thai-Malaysian border, the activity will also open up opportunities for young entrepreneurs in the deep South to upgrade coffee production and trade and expand their markets internationally.

More than 40 shops are participating in the carnival. There are two coffee competition programs; one is the Border Es Yen (Kopi Susu) Competition 2024 and the other is Brewing Border. Contestants are from the border provinces of both Thailand and Malaysia.

The SBPAC hopes that the Border Coffee Carnival will be the starting point to build on the coffee industry and related activities in the deep South, such as training and the standard setting for coffee in ASEAN.