All the ladies from the Bangkok Womens Co-operative hand make and market two product ranges, "Hot Chilli Concepts and Yonjai Spa" The first products arrived from Bangkok in mid-September 2005.  We are very pleased to report that all these products, without exception, have been extremely well received by our customers, due to the popularity of these well made products, many of these customers have re-ordered a number of times already.


When you are out shopping, have you ever stopped to consider who made what you are about to buy ?

Many of the things that we buy are made by women in developing countries, that's a good thing, as these women need employments and they are worth investing in.

Very Happy in their work

They may be poor but they work very hard, they may be uneducated but they have a world of experience, their environment can be quite unpredictable but they are often the most loyal people you could hope to meet.  If they can raise a family on $1 per day, you can safely bet, that they can manage just about anything.  Give these women the hint of an opportunity to improve their lives and they will grab it with both hands.  Fair trade organisations exist to provide links between women like these and the global market place, ensuring that they receive a fair price for there products and a just return for their labour and is just the kind of opportunity they need




Five years ago the Bangkok Women's Co-operative was established in a inner city slum community in Bangkok, the aim of this co-operative, is to provide a fair wage and give job security and control to the women involved.  

The co-operative makes high quality spa and paper products for the local and international market selling under the labels, Hot Chilli Concepts and Yonjai Spa.  
Much of the marketing and product development is done through ex-pat partners but all aspects of management and production are handled by the women themselves, giving them self control over their time and more predictability in their income.


On the 23rd April, 2004, a fire destroyed the slum community where the co-operative was based, leaving the women and 7000 people homeless.  Thankfully that there was no loss of life but the fire destroyed all of their stock and equipment, however the women were determined to start over again as they desperately needed their jobs.

 
 With a little help from their loyal customers, equipment was purchased and 10 days after the fire, the women were back at work.  While the project currently employs 17 women, there are so many more who lost their jobs because of the fire and the women running the project want to want to be able to employ others.
Most of the women involved in the project are principle income earners for their family and their wages go along way in supporting their extended family members too.  As one the women said, "I have been working in Bangkok for 12 years, but it was only since I started working at Hot Chilli that I was able to start saving money".  This is because no other job has given her the flexibility that she has needed as a mother to have time off when children are sick and to work from her home around a schedule that suits her, while at the same time paying her a fair wage.
Tu is 35 years old.  

Working in the project meant she could save money for the first time in her life.  She purchased a house in the slum community and then used it as collateral to buy a pick up truck which her husband uses to sell plastics in a large mobile market.  Tu lost her house in the fire, but income from the plastic sales is going towards a new home in the rebuilt community.

Jumpi is 55 years old.  
She used her earnings to rebuild her home, buy another as a rental property and send her son to a better school.  Jumpi also lost her homes but, like Tu, she has a reliable source of income to put towards a new home.

Ung has two small children
Thus, she couldn't go outside the community to work.  The children are welcome in the project work room and she takes extra work home to do in the evenings when they are sleeping.  She has doubled her family income.

The co-op has been running profitably for five years, doubling in size each year.  It is the linking of these high quality products with other like-minded groups/retailers overseas groups like yourself, that ensures that these women will continue to profit from their skill and labour for many years to come.  By buying the Hot Chilli Concepts and Yonjai Spa products, you are playing a vital role in helping these women fight poverty.

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