‘Second trade fair of Friends ‘N’ Stuff in Bangkok…our Stuff is reaching a bigger crowd!’
A guest post by Ann (Vuthaya Charoenpol), our Country Program Director for Friends Thailand (Peuan Peuan) on last week’s successful fair held in Bangkok which showcased our products and the story behind them.
‘I remember very well, back in August 2009, when the Peuan Peuan Program launched a Home-Based Production (HBP) project in our very first community, initially we provided handicraft skills in creating recycled paper beads jewelry, mainly bracelets and necklaces. Before the end of the year we had nine producers and had good quality (and quantities!) of paper bead jewelry to sell. Friends Thailand then joined the first ThaiCraft Fair in December 2009. Since then our HBP products have been displayed and sold to many customers, a majority being expats, but also tourists and regular handicraft shoppers.
This year, 2013, with special thanks to Ban Laesuan Mid Year Fair and Eco Design Thai Thai Group and to Khun Tao Hoo DIY guru, Friends ‘N’ Stuff had a great opportunity to display their products again and tell the stories behind them.
Last Thursday 27th June, on opening day, Friends ‘N’ Stuff was on stage demonstrating ‘rolling paper beads for futures’. 18 handicraft fans joined the workshop, and they experienced and enjoyed rolling a piece of paper to form a bead. As by products, they proudly created their own style paper beads jewelry. All the designs will be worked on and developed further in collaboration with Khun Tao Hoo, DIY guru and professional product designer. Soon, we will have new collection for our fans!
Friends ‘n’ Stuff and its products is fast gaining a great reputation amongst Bangkokians and ECO friendly product fans. This means more opportunities for us to work with more communities and of course more children can get into education with support from the local authorities, local Thais and of course Peuan Peuan, Friends Thailand.
Last but not least, I would like again to thank all our new supporters, and our partners and fans in Bangkok.
Stay tuned for our first shop in Sukhumvit 49 (BTS Thong Lo) by the end of August!
Oh, and a big THANK YOU to the Peuan Peuan team! Though you are not supermen, you make great salespersons… you made some pretty good sales!!’
