CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2025
Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization) or CEA, a public organization under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office, is tasked with advancing Thailand’s creative economy. This mission centers on recognizing the transformative potential of “creativity” — as applied by creators, entrepreneurs, businesses, communities, institutions, and organizations — in designing products, services, and projects that generate both value and positive impact. These impacts — whether economic, social, or environmental — are key to driving sustainable economic growth and life quality enhancement. Guided by this vision, the CEA has launched the Creative Excellence Awards 2025 to celebrate and encourage individuals and organizations whose work exemplifies creative distinction. The award ceremony took place on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, at EMSKYE, Fl. 14, EM Tower, Emsphere.
First introduced in 2023, the Creative Excellence Awards returns for its third edition in 2025. This initiative serves as a platform for visionary individuals and organizations across Thailand to showcase their work and share forward-thinking perspectives. These contributions help drive the momentum of creative innovation — transforming it into a powerful force that inspires, improves quality of life, and addresses pressing economic and social challenges. At its core, the Awards exist not only to recognize outstanding creative achievements, but also to foster a vibrant and resilient national creative ecosystem. This ecosystem acts as a catalyst for sustainable development and reinforces Thailand’s expanding role as a leading creative hub within the ASEAN region.
The Creative Excellence Awards 2025 honors outstanding achievements across a wide spectrum of the creative industries — including crafts, music, performing arts, visual arts, film, broadcasting, publishing, software, advertising, design, fashion, and more. Aiming to become an international platform that showcases the potential and creativity of Thai creators, the awards seek to inspire the development of new ideas while promoting global recognition. Through a systematic and standardized selection process, the initiative is designed to elevate Thailand’s creative excellence onto the world stage.
3 Major Categories
The Creative Excellence Awards 2025 are presented across three major categories, each comprising five distinct subcategories, totaling 15 awards. These categories include the Creative City Awards, the Creative Business Awards, and the Creative Social Impact Awards.
Category 1 Creative City Awards
5 Awards
This category recognizes cities or areas that creatively revitalize, preserve, and celebrate their unique assets — such as traditions, culture, cuisine, and architecture — through storytelling, innovation, and creative thinking, enhancing local economies and fostering sustainable employment.
1.1 Creative Festival Award
An award that honors events or festivals which creatively incorporate local cultural assets — including arts, traditions, and cuisine — to generate a positive impact on neighborhoods, communities, or districts.
Work: UNFEST
By: UNFORMAT STUDIO CO., LTD.
About:
UNFEST is a festival where creativity meets real-time technology to drive the entertainment industry across diverse forms. It offers a space for learning, innovation, and inspiration with experts from Thailand and abroad. The goal is to build a creative community that connects generations and disciplines, empowering Thai creators while extending their reach globally. Designed to be accessible, the festival presents Thai works alongside international talents — spanning film, music, art, technology, and education in one shared experience. UNFEST is truly a festival of the future, advancing creativity, collaboration, and sustainable growth in the entertainment industry.
1.2 Creative Branding Award
An award for a city or area that leverages its unique identity to establish a clear and distinct positioning, creating memorable images and widespread recognition.
Work: Baan Kang Wat: Community of Living Art Family
By: Baan Kang Wat
About:
Baan Kang Wat was founded on the idea of being a community nurtured by creative art and craftsmanship, emphasizing creative living and sharing. More than a marketplace, it is a vibrant hub that supports entrepreneurs and gives artists a space to express their identities. It serves as both a place of learning and a source of inspiration, modeling a lifestyle that blends simplicity with modernity. Visitors are charmed by its serene and welcoming atmosphere and leave with inspiration, knowledge, and a deeper appreciation of craft. This makes Baan Kang Wat a creative destination filled with joy, insight, and truly meaningful experiences.
1.3 Creative Cultural Asset Award
An award that recognizes a city or area for effectively promoting and preserving its cultural assets while seamlessly integrating them with creative practices.
Work: Kalm Village
By: Kalm Village Co., Ltd.
About:
Kalm Village is a vibrant contemporary hub of art, craft, and culture designed as a true “living space,” linking traditional wisdom with modern life through learning, dialogue, and hands-on practice. Nine houses surround a central courtyard — home to a gallery, café, restaurant, library, craft shop, museum, and workshops — where people across generations and cultures exchange knowledge and inspiration. Its mission goes beyond preservation: to keep art and craft alive as a sustainable business, reinvesting income into artisans, artists, and the community, balancing cultural heritage with economic opportunity.
1.4 Creative Regeneration Award
An award for outstanding initiatives or projects that revitalize and transform spaces — breathing new life into them, creating fresh atmospheres, and fostering change that supports the development of creative economy districts.
Work: Talat Noi Heritage Walkway
By: City Planning and Urban Development Department, Public Work Department, Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, Drainage and Sewerage Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), Samphanthawong District Office, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Marine Department, National Treasure Promotion and Development Division, and PUN MUANG CO., LTD.
About:
The Talat Noi Heritage Walkway project preserves local lifestyles and cultural heritage while adapting to modern urban life. Using creative economy tools, it links local wisdom with urban development through architecture. The pilot plan transformed the route from Rong Kuak Shrine to Phanurangsi Pier with heritage building restoration, riverside green spaces, walkable streets, and accessible piers, complemented by cultural activities such as exhibitions, workshops, and contemporary festivals. These efforts have sparked over 29 new businesses, strengthened community networks, and passed cultural heritage to younger generations, positioning Talat Noi as a model creative district where the past and future progress together.
1.5 Creative Advocacy Award
An award for public or private sector organizations that support and provide resources to drive the development of creative economy spaces.
Work: The Collaboration Between the Department of Internal Trade and Thai AirAsia Co., Ltd. Aims to Facilitate the Distribution of Agricultural Products in Support of Thai Farmers
By: Department of Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, and Mr. Wittayakorn Maneenetr, Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade
About:
The Ministry of Commerce, through the Department of Internal Trade (DIT), partners with AirAsia under the collaborative project “DIT x AirAsia: Supporting Thai Farmers” to expand market opportunities for agricultural and livestock products. AirAsia purchases surplus produce directly from farmers and transforms it into food and beverage menus served on AirAsia flights, both domestic and international. This model absorbs excess surplus, stabilizes prices, adds value to products, and offers passengers premium Thai products while fostering pride in supporting local farmers. It exemplifies a “Win-Win Situation Model” that benefits farmers, the private sector, consumers, and the Thai economy toward sustainable growth.
For more details and interviews with the winners in the Creative City Awards category of the Creative Excellence Awards 2025, visit:
www.facebook.com/share/p/1B1YVN7uku
Category 2 Creative Business Awards
5 Awards
This category celebrates businesses, alongside organizations and groups of individuals, that integrate creativity with sustainability in design and production, enhancing commercial value while prioritizing environmental responsibility through products, services, or projects.
2.1 Creative Sustainability Award
An award that recognizes a business for an outstanding product, service, or project that applies creative design and processes to maximize resource efficiency and minimize environmental impact.
Work: Biocement for Saline Soil Regeneration and Sustainable Value Creation in Thai Rice
By: Bio-Smart Materials and Technology Research Group, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Thidarat Bunsri
About:
From once-barren saline soils to premium, high-quality rice fields — this is the power of innovative biocement, a pioneering green technology derived from fish sauce residue, eggshells, and processed mineral tailings. Using microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP), it becomes sulfate-resistant, self-healing, and enhances soil with organic matter. In a detailed one-year pilot program with multiple farmers in Nakhon Ratchasima, the project has integrated crop monitoring, reliable carbon credits, and yield insurance. Results were outstanding: rice with 300 times more GABA, a glycemic index lowered by around 30%, and increased farmer incomes. Biocement thus goes beyond soil restoration to show lasting value creation under the BCG Economy-driving Thailand’s future.
2.2 Creative Transformation Award
An award that honors a business for a distinctive, competitive product or service that has a wide-reaching positive impact, resulting from the integration of creativity across its operations.
Work: LC Collection
By: HENG HENG INDUSTRY CO., LTD. and SLAP STUDIO CO., LTD.
About:
LC Collection marks LEECO’s rebranding journey from steel desks and cabinets to furniture designed for modern living. It preserves the core values of steel — durability, simplicity, and practicality — while redefining proportions, forms, and processes to suit compact homes, coworking spaces, and clinics seeking both resilience and aesthetics. More than just a new product line, it is a design-led transformation that honors its legacy, embraces flexibility, and proves that “steel can be designed” and “Thai brands can shine,” confidently stepping onto the global stage.
2.3 Creative Social Responsibility Award
An award for a public or private organization with a community-focused project that demonstrates strong commitment to social and environmental responsibility.
Work: MHA - Charoen Rat
By: MHA Art & Craft Leather Work School and Mr. Boonchai Boonnoppornkul
About:
Founded in 2013 by Teacher Bank-Boonchai Boonnoppornkul, the MHA Art & Craft Leather Work School set out to revive Charoen Rat, once a thriving leather hub in decline. By teaching leather bag making from basic to professional levels, it has nurtured new craftsmen and designers, sustaining both skills and livelihoods while revitalizing the local community. MHA expanded with The Kafe (2016) as a community space, and the documentary “Back Home, Build Home” (2017) to inspire local pride, becoming a platform that connects universities, government, and the private sector. Since 2019, MHA has stood at the heart of transforming Charoen Rat into a true creative district.
2.4 Creative Collaboration Award
An award that celebrates individuals, organizations, or institutions from different industries who collaborate to create innovative, value-added products, services, or projects through shared knowledge and approaches.
Work: Kak-Christ-Mud: The Pride of Khonkaen Christmas Tree 2025
By: Central Khon Kaen and Kanchana Shnatepaporn, Founder of BWILD ISAN, Phongsakorn Onpradit and Borritat Sawantrat, Co-Founders of ATTA STUDIO
About:
“Kak-Christ-Mud” is a collaboration between BWILD ISAN and ATTA STUDIO, entrepreneurs from the Por Laew Dee program, who applied the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy to create a new kind of festival. The Christmas tree was transformed into a symbol of collaboration and local income distribution, engaging housewives, artisans, and students in the community. The design reflects Isan wisdom in a contemporary form, with a strong focus on sustainability by using locally sourced materials that can be reused and given extended value. “Kak-Christ-Mud” stands as a model of how business events can spark collaboration, empower small people, and prove that thoughtful design can generate sustainability rooted in local communities.
2.5 Creative Technology Award
An award recognizing a business with a pioneering process or approach that creatively integrates technology or innovation, amplifies Thailand’s cultural influence, and demonstrates transformative potential for the creative industries.
Work: Community Fermented Liquor Distillation System (Non-Alcoholic) Using Dealcoholization Process
By: ONE PHITSANULOK CO., LTD. (Social Enterprise) and Supat Phaotanyalak
About:
Phitsanulok’s 50,000 rai of Nam Dok Mai mango orchards yield nearly 49,000 tons a year, yet prices often plunge to just 5-10 baht/kg. During COVID-19, oversupply hit farmers hard. The “Community Fermented Liquor Distillation System (Non-Alcoholic)
Using Dealcoholization Process” project applies low-temperature vacuum distillation (Dealcoholization) to turn surplus mangoes into legal non-alcoholic fruit wines that preserve natural flavor and antioxidants. This energy-efficient process carefully reduces waste, avoids harmful byproducts, and generates 2,000-4,000 baht in daily income for farmers. With plans to expand to Lamphun and Lampang, it sets a sustainable BCG Economy model for Thailand.
For more details and interviews with the winners in the Creative Business Awards category of the Creative Excellence Awards 2025, visit:
www.facebook.com/share/p/19kRfybZ3k
Category 3 Creative Social Impact Awards
5 Awards
This category honors endeavors — whether products, services, or projects — of individuals or organizations that creatively address social challenges with measurable, sustainable outcomes at the community, provincial, or national level.
3.1 Creative Community Inclusivity Award
An award for individuals, agencies, organizations, or institutions that creatively address social issues by promoting inclusive participation, broad accessibility for diverse groups, and fostering strong community relationships.
Work: Wisdom Has Fallen
By: WISDOMATIVE and Saksit Pattarapragrit
About:
“Wisdom Has Fallen” is more than an exhibition — it is a process of co-creating new wisdom with communities. Led by WISDOMATIVE, it uses design as a medium to reflect the fragile state of local traditions and to question their fading value. The showcase juxtaposes living crafts such as Pha Ta Pong from Chiang Mai and Batik Cap from Nakhon Si Thammarat with lost traditions like the original Hom Auon fabric from Mae Chaem and Khan Mak Mai (wooden pedestal trays) from Ubon Ratchathani. By pairing artisans with nine design brands to create five new collections, the project repositions craftspeople as co-designers, generates direct income for communities, and engages more than 15,000 visitors nationwide in a critical question: “If Thailand loses its wisdom, what remains of being Thai?”
3.2 Creative Well-Being Award
An award recognizing a product, service, activity, or project that promotes holistic well-being — physical, mental, and social — and improving quality of life.
Work: POP PARK BKK
By: Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), Thai Association of Landscape Architects (TALA), and we!park
About:
POP PARK BKK transforms vacant urban lots into green public parks under Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s “15-Minute Park” policy, with residents engaged from design and development to long-term care. Pre-renovation workshops and trial activities ensured each park met local needs. Development focused on six pillars: health, mobility, waterway connectivity, urban biodiversity, community agriculture, and a wide range of creative activities. The visible results include safer neighborhoods, stronger and more resilient communities, thriving local economies, and restored urban ecosystems — proving that shared responsibility can create sustainable parks for all.
3.3 Creative Equality Award
An award recognizing an initiative that promotes equal opportunities and helps reduce social disparities related to gender, age, socioeconomic status, family background, physical ability, access to information, and more.
Work: Girl Big Eye Die Yesterday (Theatre)
By: Moradokmai Community Theatre Thailand & Friends
About:
The play “Girl Big Eye Die Yesterday” is created under the philosophy of “Winyan Sakana” (Spirit Ensemble), envisioning theater as a space where deaf, blind, and non-disabled audiences can share the experience equally. Without subtitles or audio descriptions, it develops a new “grammar of storytelling” co-created with artists of diverse abilities — blending sign language, body movement, Thai dance, sound, music, and symbols that invite personal interpretation. Some scenes are intentionally left ambiguous, affirming the equal right to both understanding and unknowing. More than a performance, it fosters empathy, reflection, and sustainable coexistence, transforming theater into a true meeting ground of diverse senses, identities, and shared humanity.
3.4 Creative Education Award
An award recognizing a product, service, or project that harnesses creativity as a tool for education — enhancing skills, raising educational standards, and expanding access to knowledge and learning opportunities for all.
Work: ER-VIPE (Emergency Room Virtual Interprofessional Education)
By: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Khuansiri Narajeenron
About:
In emergencies where every second counts, communication failures are preventable causes of loss. ER-VIPE, a patented VR platform, was developed to train essential non-technical skills such as clear communication, confident leadership, and effective teamwork in highly realistic emergency room scenarios. It integrates experiential learning with automated assessments and a Flipped Classroom model, where learners study theory online before hands-on practice. Extensive research confirms that ER-VIPE effectively enhances communication skills, reduces stress levels, and helps prevent burnout among emergency care providers and frontline medical staff. The next goal is nationwide adoption, supporting the UN SDGs in Health, Education, and Innovation.
3.5 Creative Green Award
An award recognizing a product, service, activity, or project that demonstrates environmental responsibility — through carbon reduction, zero-waste practices, or energy efficiency — integrated throughout design, production, and waste management processes.
Work: Grom: From Ocean Waste to Environmental Art Toy
By: THAIVETRO CO., LTD. (Reborn Studio) and Jin Sthaponstidsuk
About:
“Grom” began when a designer was struck by a plastic bottle while surfing in the warm Andaman Sea. Collected waste was turned into the Grom Art Toy, made entirely from ocean waste, and advanced into Grom Reborn Prism Embed™, a new materialized innovation that transforms all waste into colorful flakes embedded in clear bio-resin without sorting.
Shaped as a “sea child with octopus tentacle hair,” Grom symbolizes the living spirit of the ocean, tracing the origins of debris and voicing coastal communities. Winner of the Demark Award 2025, it has been showcased in Thailand and abroad, while connecting with local communities through workshops and campaigns — becoming both a collectible and a voice for the ocean.
For more details and interviews with the winners in the Creative Social Impact Awards category of the Creative Excellence Awards 2025, visit:
www.facebook.com/share/p/1Deux4TdRX
Highlights of the Creative Excellence Awards 2025: Celebrating Outstanding 15 Works Showcasing the Power of Thai Creativity