Nation Forum highlights local Thai cuisine to boost tourism growth

Government representatives and leading figures in Thailand’s food industry discussed how to modernise local cuisine while preserving its original identity at Nation Forum: Thailand’s Agenda.

Session 3, “Gastronomy Tourism Boosts Creative Economy”, explored that balance through the concept of “Root to Rich”.

The Lost Taste turns culinary “roots” into economic value

Saratsanun Unnopporn, secretary to the culture minister, described Thai food as tourism’s “star attraction”.

Preserving its distinctive character, flavours and the stories behind local ingredients was essential to encouraging foreign visitors to travel to Thailand to experience those dishes.

The government did not insist that traditional recipes remain fixed and unable to adapt to changing times, she explained.

Its focus was on preserving culinary roots as an “asset” carrying emotional value, memories and commercial worth.

The Ministry of Culture has developed “The Lost Taste”, a project and website compiling recipes and information on ingredients with strong potential in individual provinces.

It is accelerating efforts to generate market demand through events and strategic communication that is easy to understand, aiming to channel income directly to local farmers and producers.

“Elevating” food need not mean fine dining

Charee Boonyavinij, a chef and adviser to the Sip & Savor project, cautioned that “elevating” food could be a dangerous concept if misunderstood.

It did not mean turning every local dish or street food offering into fine dining or a chef’s table experience.

Each category of food had its own appeal and way of being eaten, he explained.

Traditional recipes should not be treated as sacred and untouchable to the point that people were afraid to develop them further.

Adding value depended above all on dividing offerings into tiers and clearly defining “one’s own position”.

Siriwan Tharananithikul, an executive with the It’s Happened to Be a Closet group behind Ega (a Thai restaurant brand), a fox, RABBIT, Black me-o (a Thai noodle restaurant) and Kai Black 777 (a northeastern Thai restaurant), echoed that view.

In today’s competitive restaurant market, establishing a recognisable brand required a clear identity and firm roots, she stressed.

Ega presents “rural Thai food”, retaining authentic traditional flavours without turning dishes into fusion cuisine.

Each meal is intended to take diners on a journey through the stories and spirit of individual provinces.

A question about rice inspires a new business

Songpon Pharupon, founder of Nanuanchun (a rice farm and rice wine business) and a former architect who returned to his hometown, outlined how he built a business ecosystem from his family’s existing rice fields.

His starting question was: “What else can rice become beyond itself?”

He began by producing safe organic rice and delivering it directly from farm to consumer, before branching into kombucha.

His expansion into “sato” (Thai rice wine) drew on his grandmother’s “khao mak” (sweet fermented rice) recipe, used since the age of 14, and the business also developed a farmstay.

Nanuanchun used social media as a platform offering everyone an equal opportunity to communicate, building a community and treating customers like friends.

The brand eventually received a request to buy its sato for serving at chef Prin’s Samrub Samrub Thai (a leading chef’s table restaurant).

This became a major turning point that led to the brand’s continued growth.

A foreign chef calls on Thais to take “pride” in local ingredients

Enoch Teo, a Singaporean chef, food consultant and co-founder of Fatt Chicken who moved to Thailand for work more than eight years ago, highlighted the country’s extensive variety of ingredients.

He contrasted this with Singapore, which he described as having no farmers or local ingredients.

He singled out Thai “river prawns” for their large size, firm flesh and fragrant, flavourful fat when grilled.

Frozen ingredients overseas could not compare, he argued, making the dish something foreign tourists had to come to Thailand to find.

If Thai people continued to believe that local ingredients should be cheap or confined to fresh markets, while restaurants in Thailand used imported ingredients excessively, foreigners would also question the ingredients’ value and fail to appreciate them, Teo noted.

Thai people and Thai chefs therefore needed to respect and take pride in their own ingredients, just as Japan and Australia valued their domestic produce, he added.

Closing the discussion, Saratsanun reaffirmed that a modern government needed to move beyond conservation alone and become a “guide and supporter”, able to adapt quickly to market changes.

That meant replacing planning horizons of five to 10 years with annual assessments and responses, allowing the government to build immediately on emerging trends.

Legislation and national policies also needed to be clear and shaped by comprehensive consultation with stakeholders in every industry.

At the same time, the government needed to accelerate efforts to strengthen Thai entrepreneurs as key players.

Support should cover financial liquidity, the use of science and technology to improve the quality of agricultural produce, and the transfer of knowledge between generations, enabling Thailand’s gastronomy tourism to compete sustainably at an international level.