It is often said ... The Best way to learn a countries culture is at the dinner table."
Taking cookery classes at the start of your trip makes good sense as you will learn lots related to the cuisine and about the countries culture.
Here are 8 questions to help you in selecting from the many Thailand cooking school options.
1. Is the website complete: Does the school website answer all your questions or does it leave you with unanswered questions ... There's a reason for nondisclosure ... and we're positive it's not that they don't know what they charge or what they teach ...
2. Location: is important even if you are not coming through Bangkok you can still apply this check list to your Thai cooking school selection research. There are reputable cooking schools in every major center. Some schools have small storefront schools to leave you with the impression of small classes but these store fronts are used as student pick-up centers from where you will be delivered to a large class comprised of many store front pick-ups.
3. Teacher experience: A true answer to this question may be impossible to obtain. But again I ask why is it not post it to their website? Where did the teacher train or are they simply able to cook and speak cooking related English?
4. Teacher qualification: As in question 2 a true answer to this question would likely be an exception. Most of the teachers will not have degrees or certificates of culinary study nor will they have a Thai Dept. of Skills level 1 certificate.
5. Teacher Style: Ask if they teach "the craft", the technique to Thai cuisine as many schools instruct their teacher not to take the time to impart this to you as it is time consuming and it the becomes a Hands On class including ingredient preparation.
6. The School: Remember ... Thailand's temperatures will be between 30 + and 40 + degrees Celsius and if you are in some alley school in the open air and you fire up the gas burners you can bet you're gonna sweat! A climate controlled school costs more to operate and as a result will cost more for a class but provides for clean cool air during your class. One outdoor school was simply a private residence porch barbecue used as a school! Do you really want to sit on the floor, Thai style, to prepare your ingredients? Why not use a table and chair? Do they overbook? If so, will you actually cook or be like in the audience and watch while others cook?
7. Price: Costs are important and no one likes to be taken! Our research found rates as high as 1,000 baht per dish with the lowest being 800 per set of 5 dishes in an outdoor setting with the average price being near 300 baht per dish and air con schools averaging 400 per dish or 2,400 baht for a 6 dish class.
8. Notoriety: Some schools are all about their owners. The schools brochures boast 1/2 page pictures of the owner on the front page. Some schools have one student read the schools recipe to a second student who prepares the dish. While other schools are about their dog and pony shows like while all gussied up in ancient Thai formal dance wear they dance and sing and rhyme to you.
One School that passed this check list with flying colors with a score of 8/8 is Chef LeeZ Thai Cooking School BKK a CSI Cooking Schools Intl. affiliate school. In addition Chef LeeZ offers what is thought to be the most complete on line directory of Thailand Cooking Schools believing when you have completed your research you will select Thailand Trip Advisor #1 cooking School Attraction since 2011, being Chef LeeZ!
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