NocNoc, the Thai home platform, is actively supporting the Home & Living market by embracing design trends and creativity with the strategy of 'Creating Demand through Design.' They are organizing the 'NocNoc Awards 2025' in collaboration with nine government agencies, associations, and leading educational institutions across Thailand, unveiling two new awards: the Design Awards for outstanding design in the hospitality sector, which showcases unique identity and enhances visitor experiences, and the Craft Awards for exceptional craftsmanship aimed at community entrepreneurs or SMEs. This initiative aims to promote opportunities in business, manufacturing, and services, leveraging creativity to gain a competitive edge and drive progress.

Thai Creative Economy

Mr. Anupong Tasadwok, CEO of Betterbee Marketplace Co., Ltd. or NocNoc, stated that NocNoc is committed to improving the quality of life for everyone in the ecosystem, including buyers, sellers, and partners, by focusing on technology to enhance user experience for maximum convenience and quality. At the same time, they emphasize inspiring creativity and design that meets modern lifestyle needs, especially considering consumer trends and demands.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people's perceptions and behaviors towards homes have evolved; homes are no longer just living spaces but reflections of lifestyles. There is a growing interest in design, functionality, and novelty. Insights from NocNoc indicate that Home & Living products, particularly furniture, home decor, and distinctive lifestyle items, have seen a 1.5-fold increase in views and purchase interest, with the top five most sought-after products being ergonomic office desks and chairs, sofas, pet products, mother and child items, and household goods.

NocNoc Home Solution services for customers and entrepreneurs looking to improve their residences and storefronts (NocNoc for Business) have also seen an 80% increase in requests for consultations on repairs, design, and decoration styles. The five most popular home decoration styles among over 14 million NocNoc users include Scandinavian, Japandi, Transitional, Mid-Century Modern, and Glamorous.

“NocNoc sees an opportunity to drive creativity and design to create tangible added value, especially among various capable and distinctive entrepreneurs. This is a crucial factor for NocNoc to support entrepreneurs' growth and act as a driving force for the country's creative economy through the strategy of 'Creating Demand through Design.' By leveraging creativity and design as a catalyst for purchasing demand on the platform, whether through home decoration ideas tailored to individual styles for inspiration, creating content that sparks ideas, or using AI to analyze and suggest products that align with customer styles and needs, generating demand will also help generate income for entrepreneurs on the platform,” Mr. Anupong added.

He further stated that to make this strategy effective, NocNoc is continuing to organize the 'NocNoc Awards' for the third consecutive year under the theme HOUSE OF MASTERY, aiming to elevate both small and large entrepreneurs in the Home & Living industry with outstanding work to gain international recognition. This year is particularly special as, in addition to the annual Seller Awards for entrepreneurs, NocNoc has introduced two major new awards: the 'Design Awards' for outstanding design in the hospitality sector for businesses such as hotels, cafes, restaurants, and spas with distinctive decoration and design that can add value to locations and attract customers, and the 'Craft Awards' for exceptional craftsmanship aimed at community entrepreneurs or SMEs, focusing on developing and elevating product design to compete in the market in terms of functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability, reinforcing NocNoc's key goal of promoting Thai Soft Power and creating a competitive advantage for the Thai economy through creative power.

NocNoc collaborates with nine government agencies, including the Community Development Department, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Ministry of Culture, the Department of Business Development, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Industrial Promotion, the Thai Handicraft Promotion Institute (SACIT), the Creative Economy Agency (CEA), the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP), and the Association of Siamese Architects under the Royal Patronage, along with representatives from the Thai Hotel Association and leading educational institutions across Thailand, such as the Faculty of Architecture at Kasetsart University, the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at Thammasat University, the Faculty of Architecture, Art, and Design at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, the Faculty of Architecture and Design at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, the Faculty of Decorative Arts and the Faculty of Architecture at Silpakorn University, the Faculty of Architecture at Khon Kaen University, and the Faculty of Architecture at Chiang Mai University, to drive Thai entrepreneurs to use creativity as a tool to propel their businesses, create differentiation, and achieve sustainable growth in the ASEAN arena.

“NocNoc believes that introducing two new awards at the NocNoc Awards 2025 will help increase the visibility of creative entrepreneurs in Thailand and open up market opportunities both domestically and internationally, significantly enhancing both brand building and sales. Furthermore, NocNoc plans to leverage the success from the awards stage to share knowledge and inspiration from winners as role models, disseminating ideas and knowledge through content creation and opportunities for collaboration with government agencies such as the Community Development Department or the Tourism Authority of Thailand to organize workshops with local businesses to enhance knowledge dissemination,” Mr. Anupong concluded.

Mr. Siam Sirimongkol, Director-General of the Community Development Department, stated that OTOP products, known for their wisdom, are facing significant challenges in the rapidly changing Home & Living market. The Community Development Department recognizes that empowering community entrepreneurs requires a focus on elevating design, creativity, and functionality to attract the new generation to OTOP products in the Home & Living sector. Therefore, the department is participating in promoting the Craft Awards to create space and inspire community enterprises to use this platform as a starting point to push crafts into both domestic and international markets, creating added value in both economic and cultural aspects sustainably.

Moreover, the Community Development Department believes that collaboration with the private sector, such as NocNoc, will be a crucial starting point for elevating OTOP products from 'local goods' to 'international creative products,' further enhancing Thai Soft Power in a new dimension driven by cultural values and innovation to truly position Thailand as a leader in the creative economy.

Mr. Nithi Si Pae, Deputy Governor for Marketing Communication at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), stated that the service and tourism business situation in Thailand, such as hotels, restaurants, and spas, is showing a positive trend this year. TAT is ready to support entrepreneurs in jointly developing new strategies to deliver excellent experiences to tourists, including creative design that helps create memorable experiences, functional designs that emphasize convenience, and designs that promote energy efficiency while preserving the environment for sustainable tourism. These are examples of the importance of design as a key factor in attracting customers and tourists.

The collaboration between TAT and NocNoc to promote the Design Awards category will encourage entrepreneurs to develop their venues with creative designs that meet modern lifestyle needs, raising the standards of the Thai tourism industry to achieve both beauty and functional harmony, which will help drive demand and enhance competitive potential in both domestic and international markets sustainably.

Interested entrepreneurs can follow details and apply to submit their works for the NocNoc Awards 2025 in the Design Awards and Craft Awards categories at https://tinyurl.com/578b3knn or on Facebook NocNoc: https://tinyurl.com/28y9wj3y