Brand Story
Khokbawa Engineering began at home.
Growing up in Isan, Manit Lemaitre watched her mother and family spend weeks making charcoal by hand. It was slow, physical work, but it was how people lived. Charcoal was not an industry. It was a necessity.
Years later, after living in France, Manit chose to return. She believed the problem was not charcoal itself, but the lack of tools adapted to real conditions. If the work could be improved, dignity, income, and stability could improve with it.
Inspired by her mother’s knowledge and working with her engineer brother, she spent months designing and testing charcoal machines directly in the field. What once took weeks was reduced to less than two days through efficient, smokeless pyrolysis systems built for daily use.
In 2021, Khokbawa Engineering was officially founded.
Built Where It Is Used
Khokbawa Engineering designs by doing.
Charcoal furnaces, pyrolysis systems, food ovens, and wood cutting and drying equipment are built, tested, and used in-house. If a machine is too complex, it is simplified. If it fails in real use, it is rebuilt.
The workshop operates as a living lab, where design, fabrication, operation, and maintenance happen together. Technology is judged by usefulness.
Engineering That Scales
In 2022, Chumchana Noipaina joined to lead engineering. After more than 30 years at NXP Semiconductors, he returned home to apply industrial discipline to field-tested machines.
Today, more than 200 Khokbawa machines are operating across Thailand and other countries, from small units to systems producing up to 3 tons of biochar per day. Because we design and build our machines in-house, capacity is not a fixed limit. Larger systems can be developed as demand grows.
200+
Machines sold
7
Contries
In
From Biomass to Biochar and Energy
With Khokbawa Group, the work extends across the full biomass chain.
Sustainably managed eucalyptus forests supply feedstock. Furnaces built by Khokbawa Engineering turn it into clean, consistent biochar. Today, it is mainly used for grilling. The next step is export, starting with France, where it will support vineyards and agriculture.
The pyrolysis systems are smokeless and efficient. Wood gas can be recovered and converted into electricity, helping communities in energy-constrained regions, including parts of Nigeria, turn waste into fuel and power.
Growing Fast, Built for Scale
In 2024, Matthew Sampawo returned to Thailand after living and working across four continents. He grew up around traditional charcoal making, so this work is part of his identity. He came with a simple ambition: bring this field-based engineering to the global stage.
The focus today is rapid scale. We are preparing to export biochar to Europe and building strong carbon removal pathways supported by real, traceable production.
In 2026, Khokbawa Group aims to produce 1,000 tons of biochar. The long-term goal is at least 10,000 tons. Because we design and build our own machines, we can increase capacity whenever demand grows.
More Than a Company
Khokbawa Engineering is more than a brand.
It reflects a way of working that people across communities recognize: build by doing, improve through use, and turn local resources into lasting value. Wherever biomass exists and people are ready to work, this approach can take root.
That is Khokbawa Engineering.
