Thai Chefs To Go Abroad In Plan Cooked Up By Govt

Thai chefs to go abroad in plan cooked up by govt

BANGKOK: -- They have been lovingly nurtured by the government, receiving the best training at the Centre for the Development of Thai Cuisine and Thai Cooking Goes Global, but now 40 chefs are about to be unleashed on the world, as part of the government's bid to raise the profile of Thai cuisine abroad.

The centre has operated a training programme for Thai chefs wishing to work abroad since March.

Since then, 350 chefs have studied there, of whom around 14 percent have been accorded 4-5 star status, and 20 percent 3 star status.

According to the centre's deputy director, Mr. Yuthasak Suphasorn, over 30 Thai restaurants from around the world have already expressed an interest in taking on the centre's graduates.

The centre has selected 40 of its graduates, and is preparing to send them to work as chefs and assistant chefs in countries as far afield as the United Kingdom, Dubai, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Within the next five years, the centre hopes to have established prototype Thai restaurants in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and Australia as part of the Thai Cooking Goes Global project.

August this year will see a Thai Cooking Goes Global conference, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to which will be invited ambassadors from across the world.

The conference will also press for the export of One Tambon One Product (OTOP) goods.

By the end of this year, the organizers of the project hope to have developed a 'Thai Select' quality standard for Thai restaurants, and to have pushed for the greater sale of Thai food products abroad.

--TNA 2005-06-13