In recent years, significant attention has been given to the social, environmental, and economic benefits of organic farming (OF) and Fair-Trade (FT) for hill-tribe coffee producers in Thailand. Nonetheless, there has been limited empirical research on how and why they accept or refute them. In that regard, the present research examined the impact of agro-systems and business strategies introduced by the Catholic Church in Lampang through 3 Online Focus Groups (OFGs) with 18 mountaineers (m/f) aged 20-36 years. Transcripts of discussions were evaluated for common themes by the author and via the NVivo™ QDAS program (macOS version). Further details concerning tradeoffs and challenges of eco-friendly management of water, soil, and ground cover vegetation were obtained through a literature review of recent scholarships. Outcomes suggest that the Catholic Church improved the livelihood and resilience of indigenous groups while spreading a commitment to sustainability that prioritizes social goals. As it was mentioned during OFGs, coffee cultivation required almost no chemical pesticides and fertilizers, but a higher input of manual labor. Not surprisingly, the price premium received by stakeholders despite the fluctuations of national and international markets, compensated for the extra labor input, low yield, and time-consuming experiments with natural means and mechanical instruments. Despite local progress, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the future of the model without radical policy change at the state level.