Siath Kind of APPETITE

Thai food has immense reach throughout the world, partly thanks to government backing, but an ongoing renaissance has seen it reach even greater heights both domestically and overseas

- Gavin Yeung

Thailand is often cited as the next big thing in Asian pop culture and for good reason. Inspired directly by South Korea's so-called Hallyu wave, the Thai government has made the export of Thai cultural products one of the top items in its soft power agenda, with the Thai ministry of culture championing the "5 Fs" strategy-film, fashion, fighting, festivals and, of course, food-with the explicit goal of attracting more tourists and foreign investment to the Southeast Asian kingdom.

Of these five realms, food is undoubtedly the most established: it's an oft-cited piece of trivia that the ubiquitous pad thai, so emblematic of Thai cuisine, was only invented in the 1930s by the Thai government as a culinary flag for a young state to rally around. In 2001, the state went even further with the establishment of the Global Thai Restaurant Company, which was tasked with setting up at least 3,000 Thai restaurants worldwide-today, there are over 15,000 outside Thailand's borders.

Combining a long history and a new surge in momentum, Thai cuisine is already reaping the rewards: the crowning of Bangkok fine-dining restaurant Le Du in first place by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 marked the cresting of a wave of reinvention among its contemporaries that has seen the likes of Potong and Sorn become frequently uttered names on the lips of gourmands across Asia. To this end, we look at the changing nature of Thai cuisine in Thailand itself, Japan and the UK as it heads into a new chapter.

THAILAND

"Thai cuisine has always had its roots firmly in its own culture and history, but a part of that history involves incorporating different influences-just like any other cuisine," says Ian Kittichai. Indeed, as one of Thailand's best-known celebrity chefs, he has built his entire career around this ethos, in the process becoming one of the earliest proponents of the modernisation of Thai cuisine.