During her recent visit to Davos, Switzerland, for World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has reaffirmed Thailand’s ambition to become the “Kitchen of the World.”
The PM emphasised that Thai cuisine, deeply rooted in the country’s abundant natural resources, is a key pillar of Thailand’s soft power strategy.
The Thai government has launched the One Village, One Thai Food Chef project to provide cooking skills to participants from over 75,000 villages across the country, enabling them to become professional chefs and secure additional income.
Speaking at the Amazing Thai Taste to the World event organised by Thailand’s Public Relations Department on February 24, Chef Chumpol Jangprai, an ambassador of Thai cuisine, stated that the project is not only about culinary training but also a strategy for elevating and ensuring the sustainable development of Thailand’s food industry.
Statistics showed that 1,300 individuals were trained under the project last year and the number is expected to rise to 17,000 this year, 26,786 in 2026, and 30,000 in 2027.
Chumphol also highlighted that the project will create more opportunities for Thai chefs to work abroad while using Thai cuisine as a cultural ambassador to enhance global recognition of Thailand.
According to the Department of Foreign Trade by the end of 2023, there were 17,478 Thai restaurants abroad, with 6,850 located in the US./.
