Remembering Wicha Promyong of Doi Chaang Coffee Company

Wicha Promyong, president of Doi Chaang Original Coffee Company, died suddenly last week after years spent helping improve the lives of farming families in Northern Thailand.

Wicha help developed the Doi Chaang, which remains 50 percent farmer-owned and maintains a distribution relationship with Vancouver-based Doi Chaang Coffee Company. He was known for his deep commitment to helping improve the quality of life among the coffee farming Akha tribal community in mountainous Northern Thailand, where he worked and lived.

Doi Chaang current president and CEO John Darch shared the following memories with Daily Coffee News:

Wicha had no desire to become rich or famous, and never spoke about owning fancy cars or homes. His world revolved around cultivating the best coffee possible to sustain improvements in the lives of the farmers and villagers of Doi Chang. All he needed every day was the hugs he received from the many village children he helped to shelter, and clothes at the Doi Chang daycare center.

Over the last eight years I had the pleasure of spending many hours traveling and staying with Khun Wicha. We went through good times as well as periods where things were tough, always managing to pull through due to Wicha’s strong belief that anything could be done if we put our minds to it. Despite our struggles, he was always happy with a heart full of love for anyone willing to sit and talk with him for a while.

One of Wicha’s fundamental beliefs was to go through life helping others as much as he could. To him life was not about having a big bank account, luxuries or consuming. He was not interested in living his life through social media, but spent his time sitting for hours with people talking, eating with a couple of his favorite green teas. Getting to really know a person is what Wicha most valued.