Visiting the manufacturer in northern Thailand

Hong Thai's manufacturer invited our team to its northern Thailand headquarters. No foreign partner had visited them before. We flew from Bangkok's Don Mueang airport up to Chiang Mai for three days.

The northern headquarters

The company's northern base looks more like an arboretum with a small zoo attached, complete with ostriches and even a peacock. The owner welcomed us personally, we met the management and many of the people who work there, and we ended the day with the locals over long conversations, mostly in Thai.

Finish line at 2,565 metres

The next morning we left at five for the international Inthanon Challenge cycling race, with Hong Thai as its main sponsor. A Thai dance performance opened the event at the start line, and we watched it from beside the gate.

The course is 48 kilometres: the start sits at roughly 300 metres, the finish on Thailand's highest point, Doi Inthanon, at 2,565 metres, which means close to 2,300 metres of climbing. We followed the field up by car; the winner finished in 2 hours 3 minutes. Children in traditional local dress took part in the award ceremony, and in the evening we had dinner together with the team back at the headquarters.

The official route from the inside

The jars in our shop come from this same relationship: we buy our stock directly from the manufacturer, and every batch can be traced with a manufacturer's invoice. We wrote a separate article on how to tell an original from the label.

You can watch the videos of the trip on TikTok: part one, part two, and on Instagram: part one, part two.

Does the Hungarian stock really come from the manufacturer?

Yes. We buy directly from the manufacturer, the origin of every batch can be proven with a manufacturer's invoice, and the two teams know each other in person.

What is the Inthanon Challenge?

An international cycling race in northern Thailand that finishes on the 2,565-metre summit of Doi Inthanon. Hong Thai was the race's main sponsor.