Coffee picking

Mae Salong (Santikhiri) in northern Thailand was once a Kuomintang stronghold that depended heavily on opium, but from the 1970s the Thai state and royal projects pushed a shift toward legal highland crops. Today the area is known for high‑mountain Arabica coffee grown alongside oolong tea and temperate fruits at around 1 200–1 400 m, where the cool, humid climate suits these crops.

Coffee is farmed mainly by smallholders, usually in mixed agroforestry plots with fruit or timber trees that provide shade, protect the steep slopes, and give families additional income sources. The plantings are all Arabica, using locally adapted varieties that cope well with the altitude and local diseases. Farmers hand‑pick only fully ripe cherries and usually use washed processing, which yields clean, bright coffees with medium body and flavors often described as cherry, cocoa, dark chocolate, citrus, and sugarcane.

Mae Salong coffee is often sold as a single‑origin, light‑to‑medium roast that showcases the character of the place rather than heavy roast notes. Coffee now sits alongside tea and Chinese‑heritage tourism as a pillar of the local, post‑opium highland economy.