Building a social business economy

Yunus Thailand is a foundation and social business co-founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of microfinance and the social business movement, to build a social business economy in Thailand.

We provide global best practice social business expertise to deliver innovative, financially sustainable, and scalable solutions for the most pressing social and environmental problems in a Thai context.

Our Thai and international team has specialised methodologies based on Nobel Peace Prize winning approaches to deliver localised impact in nationally and globally replicable ways, while also ensuring our expertise is relevant across sectors through multidisciplinary partnership approaches.

Yunus Thailand is a foundation and social business co-founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of microfinance and the social business movement, to build a social business economy in Thailand.

Portrait of Professor Muhammad Yunus — Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate

Where we come from

In 1983, Prof. Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank, pioneering microfinance to empower the poor through access to small income generating loans. His work revolutionised financial inclusion, proving credit as a tool for poverty alleviation, earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Professor Yunus has also been recognised by Fortune Magazine as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time, establishing more than 50 social business companies across multiple impact areas, and has led the social business movement globally. As part of the global Yunus and Grameen Network, Yunus Thailand works to build a social business economy in Thailand, where social businesses are solving the most pressing social and environmental problems and those in poverty are enabled to improve their own livelihoods through the power of entrepreneurship.

Latest Updates

Cover image for blog titled "Yunus Thailand holds a workshop with the Thai NGO Coalition on HIV/AIDS to review capacity needs assessment support future planning"

Publications

Yunus Thailand holds a workshop with the Thai NGO Coalition on HIV/AIDS to review capacity needs assessment support future planning

The workshop convening the network of Community-led Organisations providing HIV/AIDS services across Thailand was held on September 26, 2024, at Century Park Hotel, Ratchaprarop, in collaboration with The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), USAID, The  Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project, the Committee of Thai NGO Coalition on AIDS (TNCA). The event gathered over 75 participants from across the country including international organisations.

Perspectives

Social Procurement: Driving Inclusive & Sustainable Supply Chains in Thailand

In 2024, Yunus Thailand, in partnership with Yunus Social Business, worked to strengthen Thailand’s social procurement framework—efforts proudly featured at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Perspectives

Inspiring Moments in Dhaka: Insights from the Social Business Youth Summit and Grameen Bank Visit

Reflection Blog by Paricha Duangtaweesub, Yunus Thailand Director of Ventures.

Case Studies

Empowering Women Through Feather Seaweed Farming: A Year of Growth and Transformation in Southern Thailand

In 2024, Yunus Thailand partnered with the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) from Embassy of Canada to Thailand | Ambassade du Canada en Thaïlande and Global Seaweed Coalition to kick start the transformative pilot project, "Seaweed Social Business," in Satun, Southern Thailand. This initiative has empowered local women, alleviated poverty, and fostered community resilience by equipping them with tools and knowledge to cultivate Caulerpa racemosa var corynephora, a lesser-known yet highly sustainable and nutritious feather seaweed species. Over the past 11 months, the project has achieved remarkable milestones, with 50 women-led enterprises officially registered as seaweed entrepreneurs—further cementing its role as a catalyst for change.

Perspectives

Transforming Coastal Communities through Seaweed Innovation at at the Albukhary International University

On June 25, 2024, at the Albukhary International SDG Conference in Kedah, Malaysia, Nittayapond Nipatsant, Seaweed Social Business Manager at Yunus Thailand, shared inspiring insights from our pioneering Seaweed Social Business Project.

Perspectives

Yunus Thailand joined the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion (OSEP)‘s the Social Enterprise Annual Assembly

The annual Thailand SE Assembly highlights the endless possibilities of private sector contributions in the panel discussion titled "Strengthening the Power of Private Sector Networks to Drive Social Business" (เวทีเสวนา สานพลังเครือข่ายภาคเอกชนในการขับเคลื่อนธุรกิจเพื่อสังคม), organized by the Office of Social Entreprise Promotion (OSEP). Dr.Tanawan Carraway joined as the guest speaker along with Mr. Paramate Poolsuk, Social Finance Lead of ChangeFusion, LLC and Mr. Phuree Smittinet, the head of the Café Amazon for Chance.