General Information

One of the most famous places to learn to cook Thai food is The Blue Elephant restaurant. There is easy access to this school via Sky train and if you'd like to taste some different Thai food after the course is over, then The Blue Elephant restaurant is a superb choice in its own right.

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of Thai cookery schools in Bangkok and which one you choose will depend on you but read through what they are offering carefully.

The Blue Elephant for instance gets straight down to business and gives you a full day of cooking, whereas Amita starts the day with a small tour and boat trip and you don't start the day until about 09.30 finishing at 13.30 and yet the price is one of the most expensive at 3,000 Baht per person.

Shorter courses might suit those with less time on their hands but the price should reflect this.

DON'T FORGET:

Cooking Thai food in Thailand is not going to be the same as cooking it back home. For a start, you probably won't be able to get the ingredients and even if you can find similar ingredients, you probably won't find the same brands that you used at the school and this is key to getting that flavour.

Having said that, learning to cook Thai food is very enjoyable because it's so simple and fast. Once the ingredients have been prepared, cooking it is very quick and the results are healthy and flavoursome.

Taking a day or half a day to learn to cook a number of Thai dishes is a great way to enjoy Bangkok and the cost is very reasonable.

What Should You Learn To Cook

This is our personal opinion and is a guide rather than something you must adhere to.

Curries are nearly everyone's favourite with Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Waan) being tops.
Green curry and other Thai curries are quite simple and go down a treat at most dinner tables so learning to cook one is a good idea; however, learning to grind the spices to make the paste is a bit of a waste of time considering you'll more than likely buy pre-made paste which is what most people - chef's included - use.

We suggest learning to cook things like: Noodle dishes, spring rolls, Spicy soup (Tom Yum), fish dishes, spicy salads, Fried Rice, and other dishes such a Chicken in Ginger or Beef in Oyster Sauce.

Thai food is quite healthy and filling. If you can learn how to do stir fried noodle, or fried rice, or something even more simple such as beef in oyster sauce or chicken in ginger, you'll be able to cook quality, tasty food in no time and for any busy man or woman, being able to cook something that tastes great and doesn't take an age to do is very important..

Silom Thai Cooking School Offers:

• Fried Noodles Thai Style (Pad- Thai- Sai -Kai) - good
• Spicy Shrimp Soup (Tom- Yum- Gung) - good
• Green Curry Paste (Nam- Phrik -Kang- Khiao- Wan) - waste of time
• Green Curry with Chicken (Kang- Khiao- Wan- Gai) - can learn by yourself
• Northern Chicken Salad (Laab- Gai) - good
• Rubies in Coconut Milk  (Tub -Tim- Grob) - ok but not great

Silom Thai Cooking School offers a number of courses and each course has a different menu but each course offers the chance to cook a curry and to make the paste but we think you'd be better off learning a different dish.

You still learn a decent amount and the menu is varied so it's quite good - just not so sure about the sweets !

Choosing Your Thai Cookery School

With so many to choose from, you obviously need a little help choosing and if we had to pin-point one or two, then we'd say The Blue Elephant and BaiPai Thai but the others on our list should be just as good so choose based upon the time you have to spend on a cookery course and the location compared to where you are staying. Try to keep it to cooking and not tours. You are paying to learn to cook and not to travel around.

The Blue Elephant - Cooking School & Restaurant
	Blue Elephant Building 233 South Sathorn Road, Kwaeng Yannawa, Khet Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand Tel: +66 (2) 673 9353, Fax:  +66 (2) 673 9355 E-mail: cooking.school@blueelephant.com Duration: 08.45 - 17.00 Price: 2,943 Baht per person
Baipai Thai Cooking School
	8/91 Ngam Wongwan Road, Soi 54, Ladyao, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Tel: +662 561 1404 Fax:  +662 941 0929 E-mail: info@baipai.com Open: Mon - Sat (Closed Sunday& Public Holidays) Duration: 09.30 - 13.30 / 13.30 - 17.30 Price: 2,200 Baht per person
Amita Thai Cooking Class
	162/17 Soi Wutthakat 14, Wutthakat Road, Talad Plu Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand Tel: +66 2 466 8966 E-mail: info@amitathaicooking.com Open: Daily except Wednesdays Duration: 08.00 - 13.30 Price: 3,000 Baht per person includes boat trip / transfers
Silom Thai Cooking School
	C/O Sanusi Mareh, Proprietor 68 Silom Soi 13 , Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand Tel: +662-47265669 E-mail: info@bangkokthaicooking.com Open: Daily with different courses each day Duration: 09.00 - 13.30 or 13.40 - 18.00 Price: 1,000 Baht per course per person
Naj Thai Cooking School
	42 Convent Rd., (Opp. BNH hospital), Silom, Bkk 10500 Tel: +662-632-1004-6 Fax: +662-632-1007 Email: naj@najthaicooking.com Open: Daily with different courses each day Duration: 08.45 - 13.00 Price: 2,500 Baht per course per person
Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy
	R & B Ventures Co., Ltd. 172/22 Soi 23, Sukhumvit, Klong Tan Nuea, Wattana, Bangkok, Thailand 10110 Tel: +66 2-258-4021, (Mobile) (66) 807-70-6741 Email: Ron@BangkokThaiCookingAcademy.com Open: Mon - Sat (Closed Sundays) Duration: 08.45 - 12.45 or 13.15 - 17.00 Price: 1,250 Baht per course per person