Bangkok, 12 June, 2017 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has entered into a partnership with Gault & Millau, the influential French restaurant guide, to publish a bilingual Thailand guidebook supplement to be released alongside the upcoming Gault & Millau Belux 2018 edition. The special publication will be distributed towards the end of this year with an initial circulation of 35,000 copies.
Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas) said, “We’re delighted to be part of this partnership with Gault & Millau, as it will strengthen Thailand’s growing reputation as a fine-dining destination for food-lovers.”
The 60-70-page bilingual Gault & Millau Belux 2018’s Thailand guidebook supplement, to be printed in French and Dutch, will profile the kingdom’s flourishing fine-dining scene and critically-acclaimed restaurants, key tourist destinations, unique Thai local experiences, and high-end hotels.
Mr. Tanes said, “TAT is co-hosting both launch events for the Gault & Millau Belux 2018 edition, and we’ll be taking the opportunity to showcase Thailand’s illustrious gastronomic scene as well as promote the wide variety of tourist attractions for which Thailand is rightly famous. These include our vibrant culture, abundant natural beauty and remarkable variety of fun and family-friendly activities, not to mention the many unique Thai local experiences that make every visit memorable.”
TAT’s collaboration with Gault & Millau was launched with a ‘Thailand Chef Tour’, which took place this week (6-13 June), covering a culinary and cultural itinerary of Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram. Joining the tour were renowned chefs, Mr. Gert De Mangeleer and Mr. David Martin who run Michelin-starred restaurants in Belgium. They were accompanied by four Gault & Millau team members, headed by CEO & MD, Mr. Marc Declerck, and two representatives of the Belgian media.
The group visited some of Bangkok’s most critically-acclaimed restaurants, including Gaggan, Nahm, Bo.Lan, Suhring, and Paste Bangkok, as well as the chance to see where and how local chefs and high-end restaurants source the variety of ingredients used in their culinary creations as they marvelled at both high-end and community markets in Bangkok and visited some floating markets.
The group also enjoyed some of the many unique Thai local experiences the kingdom offers including a cooking class; a Thai spa treatment as well as a luxury cruise along the majestic Chao Phraya River. They also travelled to Ayutthaya to learn about the process of rice farming and trading together with a visit to the Ayutthaya Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to learn a little about Thailand’s history.
Via media and online channels in Belgium and Luxembourg, the Gault & Millau’s Thailand Chef Tour is expected to reach a mid- to high-income audience of more than one million. Media channels include the Gault & Millau website and social media accounts (250,000 followers), the Sebato and De Tijd Daily newspapers which have 250,000 readers, and the Martin Bonhourer show on RTL-TV1 which has an audience of 500,000.
Meanwhile, the bilingual Gault & Millau Belux 2018’s Thailand guidebook supplement in French and Dutch is expected to achieve a readership of five million when published towards the end of 2017.
The Gault & Millau restaurant guide was founded by food critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau, in 1965. The guide rates restaurants from 1 to 20 with awards based entirely on the quality of the food. There are now Gault & Millau guides for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany and Poland, as well as France, Canada and Australia.
