Bangkok, 1 June, 2018 – Visit Flanders (The Belgium Tourist Office) recently organised a press conference on Young Thai Celebrity Chefs & Flanders Kitchen Rebels, supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Blue Elephant Restaurant Bangkok, to be a part of the project to promote Thailand as a Gastronomy Destination. All the chefs will share their experiences and create the special Thai-Belgian style menu.
H.E. Mr. Ben L.G. Weyts, Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works, the Vlaamse Rand, Tourism and Animal Welfare, as a speaker of the 4th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Bangkok, H.E. Mr. Philippe Kridelka, the Ambassador of Belgium to Thailand and Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor participated the event.
TAT Governor Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn said: “TAT realises the power of food and the magnitude of its trend. We have organised many events to promote tourism in Thailand through Thai cuisine.
“The Thailand food experience with Flanders Kitchen Rebels will not only strengthen relationship between Belgium and Thailand, but will also help to promote culinary and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
“Moreover, we have worked with Gault and Millau to make a special article: “Tasty Thailand” in the Gault and Millau (Belux) 2018 Guidebook. It has raised much awareness about Thailand as a gastronomy destination among Belgium’s high-end travellers,” Mr. Yuthasak said.
After the press conference, five young rising-star chefs and three media representatives from Belgium are to visit Thailand for a three-day fam trip from 2-4 June to experience some of Thailand’s culinary delights and explore ways of incorporating it into their exclusive creations in Europe.
The trip has been specially curated for chefs belonging to “Flanders Kitchen Rebels”, a group of talented young chefs under the age of 35 with great passion for Flemish gastronomy.
The five chefs who will participate in this trip are Nils Proost, Anthony van Snoeck, Bram Heylens, Jonas Haegeman and Stijn Audenaert. All the chefs are highly regarded in France and Belgium with many followers through various online media, especially online social media in leading social circles.
The chefs will cover Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Samut Songkhram, visiting agricultural markets (Tai Market and Or Tor Kor Market), savouring a variety of Thai dishes at the Michelin Star restaurants and street food, learning Thai cooking, as well as visiting Baan Bang Plub and Khlong Khon, community-based tourism centres known for their unique local food and agricultural products.
Belgium is one of Thailand’s quality tourism markets as Thailand is the number one holiday destination in Asia for Belgian travellers. Last year, Thailand welcomed more than 112,000 Belgian visitors (+1.08%) generating income of 7.6 billion Baht (+2.69%) to the Thai economy.
