Thai Life Insurance Program Turns Local Ingredients Into Income

Local ingredients are being transformed into new dishes that add value and generate income through the Thai Life Insurance Opportunity and Career Creation program. The initiative, run by Thai Life Insurance Public Company Limited in partnership with Matichon Academy, operates under the concept "Learn for Sustainable Careers" and aims to create professional opportunities for people in areas around Thai Life Insurance branches nationwide.

Throughout 2025, the program has conducted professional training at 11 locations with over 700 participants across 10 provinces including Sisaket, Maha Sarakham, Roi Et, Phetchabun, Chainat, Kanchanaburi, Suphan Buri, Chumphon, Lampang, and Bangkok, also partnering with the Asia-Pacific Development Center for Persons with Disabilities to increase access to professional skills for vulnerable groups and enable them to apply their knowledge to generate income and achieve self-reliance.

In its fourth year, the program has focused on local specialties and community-specific raw materials as the basis for menu development. The approach highlights locally available ingredients that can be processed and value-added, transforming simple agricultural products into diverse products and menus that can generate additional income.

Thitimai Liangpanich, director of Communications and Organizational Sustainability at Thai Life Insurance, stated that creating sustainability for society should begin with creating opportunities for self-reliance, particularly by strengthening professional skills alongside financial literacy and planning, enabling people to increase income, plan their lives, and build security for themselves and their families.

Examples of value-added local ingredients include "Kluay Hom Thong La-Ae" (golden honey banana) from Chumphon province, developed into "Banoffee Thong La-Ae," and "Pattavia pineapple" from Lampang, combined with hibiscus flowers to create "Hibiscus Pineapple Mojito." At Thai Life Insurance headquarters, ginger was selected for its medicinal properties and transformed into "Cold Ginger and Honey Drink," a beverage that aligns with modern health-conscious consumer trends.

Beyond cooking skills training, the program also provides financial planning guidance to help participants manage income and plan their lives accordingly. This year's focus on transforming local specialties into new menus represents another way to add value to community ingredients while giving people the opportunity to apply their knowledge within their own community context or create marketing opportunities for ingredient exchange between regions, ultimately leading to stable family income and sustainable community economic growth.