Phuket’s Yayee Peranakan Clothing Brand Advances in Thailand’s National SME Awards

Phuket-based Peranakan clothing brand Yayee is continuing its bid for national recognition in Thailand’s annual small and medium enterprise awards. The local company has already made it into the shortlist of top contenders, while last week an Industry Ministry evaluation team visited its production facility as part of the on-site inspections for businesses competing for the award.

The official name of the award is the Prime Minister’s Small and Medium Industry Award 2026. Yayee is representing Phuket in the Creative Product Development category.

According to the Phuket office of the Ministry of Industry, the on-site inspection took place on September 3. The visiting team from Bangkok was led by Nant Boonyachat, Director of the Creative Industry Development Division at the Department of Industrial Promotion.

Ministry materials indicate that the evaluation covers more than the quality of the product itself. Judges also consider how businesses work with local communities, their environmental practices, ability to create added value and contribute to the local economy, as well as their capacity to turn a creative concept into a sustainable commercial model.

Yayee is not a mass-market brand and is not widely known even among all Phuket residents. However, its business model corresponds closely with the criteria highlighted by the ministry. The brand draws on Phuket's Peranakan heritage, traditional textiles and local visual identity, adapting them into contemporary clothing and accessories positioned in the premium segment.

Commenting on the current stage of the competition, Yayee director Pum Tuatraipop said the Phuket-based traditional clothing producer had already succeeded in reaching the national top tier of small and medium-sized businesses.

According to his statement, several hundred companies from across Thailand initially entered the competition. Following the first selection, 18 businesses remained, with the field expected to be reduced to five finalists before a single national SME award winner is chosen.

Yayee is currently the only Phuket company among the final 18 contenders.

The director thanked supporters and acknowledged that the next stages would be increasingly competitive, while stressing that the company would continue doing its best throughout the selection process.

Open materials released by the Ministry of Industry can currently confirm Phuket's presence at an even narrower stage of the competition. In the Creative Product Development category, nine companies were selected to undergo on-site inspections, and Siphatthara Co., Ltd., the registered legal entity behind Yayee, was among them.

It may still be too early to predict whether Yayee will ultimately win the national award. For now, however, Phuket's Peranakan clothing brand remains in contention and continues its bid to bring national recognition to the province.