Central teams up with filmmaker to highlight social responsibility

Central Group has underlined its commitment to sustainable social development through the “Central Tham Better Together” project — which now helps some 100,000 families generate 1.5 billion baht in income — by purchasing their local products to sell in Central’s retail spaces.

This year, the project collaborates with renowned filmmaker and screenplay writer Nottapon Boonprakob to create the documentary film Cycle Of Action in order to raise awareness about the significance of social responsibility and the power of actions that may lead to greater improvement and a better world. It’s available on youtube.com/watch?v=Nj0ML9DnLYs or Facebook Central Tham.

“Over the past 75 years, Central Group has been strongly committed to social responsibility and development through Central Tham ‘Better Together’ in partnership with many parties, either internally through our employees and management, the public, the government, and the private sector, as well as our network,” said Pichai Chirathivat, executive director of Central Group.

“Our projects are based on our belief that sustainability comes from genuine commitment to take action, and it’s not something one person can do alone. It requires collective efforts and serious actions.”

The project focuses on sustainability endto-end, covering different areas such as education, quality of life, equality, opportunities for those with disabilities, environment conservation and green areas, and local product development through many initiatives such as product improvement, distribution channel expansion, direct purchase from farmers to increase income for communities, and local heritage conservation through cultural tourism.

“The structure of this film is centred around the word ‘Tham’ [action in Thai]. It starts with taking action where convenient, without commitment, and gradually advances to collaboration, commitment, and following your belief. The end of the film is not any particular product. We want the audience to be inspired by real stories from people and communities, and believe in the power of taking action,” director Nottapon said.

“Personally, what I got from this project is beyond a movie, but opportunities to get to know passionate people who take action seriously. I can really see the value of doing something you’re passionate about and committed to. Every project mentioned in this movie is a great and valuable lesson for me.”

“Central Group has offered knowledge and expertise to help local farmers in Mae Tha to better understand what we can improve. The team has worked closely with our community, resulting in quick and sustainable development such as the Smart Farm method, packaging, processing and packing methods that meet standards, chilled transport to retain the freshness of our produce, and promoting and selling it at Tops,” said Sarawut Wongkawin, a young farmer from Mae Tha Organic Community in Chiang Mai, one of the communities that Central Tham has continued to support.