Cordon Bleu Set For Bangkok Launch

[george]

Cordon Bleu set for Bangkok launch

BANGKOK: -- This promises to be a stellar year for Thai-French relations.

French President Jacques Chirac is scheduled to visit Thailand this weekend, making him the first French head of state to pay an official visit to the Asian kingdom after 321 years of diplomatic relations.

He will discuss various bilateral issues with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who will no doubt use the opportunity to update Chirac on Thailand's aspirations to become an Asian aviation hub, fashion hub, health care hub, spa hub and, of course, a culinary hub.

While the two leaders chit chat, a French and a Thai company are already busy setting up a joint venture that will at least help Thailand achieve its gastronomy goals.

In September, Le Cordon Bleu Helvetia Sarl, operator of famed Le Cordon Bleu culinary academy (founded in 1895), signed an agreement with Thailand's Dusit Thani Hotel group to set up a cooking school in Bangkok as a joint venture.

The 50/50 joint venture, Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Company Limited, will be incorporated this month and is scheduled to open Le Cordon Bleu Academy of World Cuisine in September 2006.

It will be Le Cordon Bleu's first ever joint venture, and first such academy in Southeast Asia.

Le Cordon Bleu currently has 28 schools in 15 countries around the world.

The French culinary academy's overseas operations are usually 100 per cent owned by Le Cordon Bleu, or are licence arrangements or joint ventures with governments.

The Bangkok academy is the Cordon Bleu's first joint venture with an industry partner.

Thailand's Dusit Thani Hotel was an obvious choice as a partner. The 36-year-old hotel chain has more than 20 properties in Thailand and already operates the Dusit Thani College, the country's first college to offer diplomas in the fields of hospitality and cooking.

"We saw the potential there for Le Cordon Bleu to help the Dusit, but also in providing an education that might not be accessible to the average Thai otherwise," said Lindon Price, general manager of the joint venture and a former manager of Le Cordon Bleu in Australia.

Thais attending Le Cordon Bleu academy in Sydney face tuition fees up to 24,000 Australian dollars (17,700 US dollars) for a one-year diploma programme, plus another 12,000 to 15,000 Australian dollars in living expenses.

Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok promises to be considerably cheaper. It hopes to attract students not just from Thailand but from other Southeast Asian countries.

The French culinary academy chose Thailand for its first Southeast Asian branch over Singapore, which is keen to become an alternative higher educational hub to Australia, the USA and UK for Asian students.

"We were invited by the Economic Development Board of Singapore to establish there," said Price, but so far Le Cordon Bleu has turned down the offer, although it may bite in the future.

"We just want the hype to settle down there first, because what we've seen is a whole range of institutions of varying quality establishing there, so we're taking our time and waiting for the dust to settle," said Price.

Meanwhile, Le Cordon Bleu joint venture in Bangkok has been tackling Thailand's notorious and sometimes archaic bureaucracy in seeking a licence to operate the school from Thailand's Ministry of Education.

"For example, one of the laws prevents schools from being built next to establishments that are perceived to not have a good influence on children, and hotels were one of those establishments, and of course, we're right next to the Dusit Thani," said Price.

--DPA/Bangkok Post 2006-02-13

[astral]

.........laws prevents schools from being built next to establishments that are perceived to not have a good influence on children, and hotels were one of those establishments, and of course, we're right next to the Dusit Thani," said Price.

--DPA/Bangkok Post 2006-02-13

Are they going to teach children to cook??