We recently welcomed a group of 9-10 year-old pupils from a local international school for a half-day field trip to our jewellery crafting facility in Chiang Mai. The visit formed part of the school’s new ‘real-world learning programme,’ which offers its students first-hand exposure to responsible businesses operating sustainably in their local community.
With both of our sons attending the school, we’ve been involved in its Parents’ Association since we relocated to Thailand from the UK three years ago. Community-building is an integral aspect of our ethos here at Thai Design, so when the school asked if we’d consider opening our doors to the students – many of whom were already familiar faces – we were of course honoured to say “Yes.”
Watch the YouTube video
A Complete Tour of the Jewellery Crafting Process
Split into two smaller groups, the children were taken on a guided tour of our crafting facility, touching on every stage of jewellery production: from early design development through to casting, stamping, filing, assembly, polishing, plating, lasering and stone setting. No stone was left unturned.
The stamping room proved a particular highlight; the children really enjoyed our stamping teams’ live demonstration of their thunderous industrial machinery in action. Likewise, they loved getting hands-on with our wealth of sustainable packaging options, learning through touch and conversation why we’ve chosen to work with certain materials and suppliers and how small decisions like these can contribute to real impact over time.
As a souvenir to remember their visit by, we gifted each child a sample wax model from our in-house collection.
Curious Minds, Real Questions
Beyond the production process, the students were especially interested to learn how we look after our people; what it means to work at Thai Design.
As such, we introduced them to the LEAN philosophy - a management approach focused on maximising value whilst minimising waste - and showed them how it's inextricably woven into daily life at Thai Design, from department whiteboards to colour-coded systems and shared continuous improvement discussions.
The field trip was wrapped up with fresh fruit on arrival and ice cream on departure, plus a special appearance from staff favourite, Bella).
It was the ultimate privilege to share what we do with a group of such curious young people - some of whom may very well go on to become the business owners of tomorrow. It’s one thing discussing our commitment to environmental restoration, responsible sourcing and a people-first workplace online – it’s another practice entirely to answer candidly to a room full of 9 year-olds and feel proud of what you’re sharing. A huge thank you to the school for creating this opportunity, and to the students for bringing their curiosity and positive energy through our doors.
A detailed reflection on the visit is now live on our YouTube channel. If you'd like to learn more about our LEAN philosophy, you can always check out our dedicated LEAN video series too.
Head to our YouTube channel