The Royal Thai Consulate-General, Los Angeles, together with the Thai Students Association at UCLA, hosted an activity “Cooking Thai Eating Thai”, as a part of the project “Thai Kitchen to the World”, to provide learning experience on Thai food and Thai cooking culture to young generation (Gen-Z).

On 25 February 2023, Consul-General Tor and Madam Sirigamon Saralamba, opened their residence to international students from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who were interested in Thai culture and Thai culinary, for an activity “Cooking Thai Eating Thai”. The edutainment activity was, on one hand, designed to educationally provide information on history of Thai food, culture of Thai cooking, and how to choose ingredients from local grocery stores, while entertaining participants with hands-on cooking experience for favorite Thai menus such as Tom Kha Gai, Green Curry, Pad Thai with shrimps. Moreover, students also had chance to join in Som Tum (papaya salad) competition to win a $100 gift card of Thai SELECT restaurant. The criteria for the winner of the competition was set by judges from the Thai Consulate and UCLA professors, and the winning scores not only counted by the taste of Som Tum but also the dance style while cooking it.

The Royal Thai Consulate-General received kind cooperation from the Thai Students Association at UCLA in promoting and inviting UCLA participants who were interested in Thai culture and Thai culinary, as well as a great support from Sun Lee Inc., a Thai company and leading importer and distributor of Thai and Asian food products in the US, in providing some ingredients and Thai food products for the event.

The activity “Cooking Thai Eating Thai” is a part of the Consulate’s endeavor “Thai Kitchen to the World” which aims to promote Thai food and Thai cooking among young generation (Gen-Z) in the US. According to market researches, Gen Zers tend to be open-minded, be able to accept different culture easier comparing to other generations, be most influential to family members in making decision for household shopping options, and also becoming one of the significant potential markets in the near future.