As I prepared to leave Thailand and head for my next exotic destination, wherever that would be, I felt a panic surface in my stomach. I was ready to see something new and learn about a whole new culture, but could I really give up the luxury of feasting on cheap, delicious Thai food every single day? The question plagued me for weeks, and then finally I saw the solution.

Learn to cook Thai food for myself.

Thai food isn’t for everyone, I’ll admit that. The flavors are characteristically strong—sour, fishy, salty, and of course spicy—the cuisine always makes itself well known. But I love it.
If you’re the same and coming on a holiday to Thailand, consider taking a Thai cooking class to learn how cook your own dishes—I can’t think of a better way to bring a little bit of each culture home with you than learning to cook their food.

And this is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to the country as soon as you get off the plane. The food is certainly a huge deal in this country.

Every big tourist venue will have plenty of cooking schools to choose from. I personally went with Chiang Mai Thai Cookery, a school run by international TV chef, Sompon Nabnian, who has been featured on BBC, National Geographic, and various other programs.

In addition to his celebrity status, Sompon has lived in England, which gives him an edge in teaching foreigners because not only does he cook fantastic food but he knows which ingredients are available abroad and what can be used as a substitute for those that aren’t.

Oddly enough, for the first day of my course, I was the only person in class. This was because of the recent political situation in Thailand which led to a lot of the tourists cancelling trips and even long-term expats leaving the country. But what may have seemed unfortunate turned out great for me because I ended up having 3 teachers to myself in a class that typically consists of 60 students.

The overall course is broken up into 5 different classes that you can take any time you like, and each class is packed into one day, so you can just take just 1 if you like or take them all but pick and choose your own schedule. There are also advanced private courses you can get afterwards if you like.

And in every course you learn a new skill as well as 5 or 6 dishes, typically including a soup and a dessert. And of course you get to eat everything you prepare. Mmmmm…

Here’s a breakdown of the skills:

Class 1—You are introduced to Thai ingredients and how to prepare them.

Class 2—You learn to pound and grind your own curry pastes.

Class 3—You get orientated to the traditional Thai markets.

Class 4—You go to the markets again and purchase all your own food—time to haggle.

Class 5—You learn to do a little bit of fruit carving.

Of course, this schedule is strictly the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School, but I imagine other schools do something a bit similar.

What really struck me is how simple Thai food is to cook, which will make it easier to remember how it’s done. Of course, one day in a course where you learn five new dishes isn’t going to exactly stick in your memory, but you get a small cookbook you can take home with you, and once I get to my new country and settle into a house with a kitchen, I plan to break it out and refresh my memory.

And bring some of those memories of this great country with me.
In the end, I learned to prepare some really amazing dishes, from my favorite curries to papaya salad to my new favorite guilty pleasure, sticky rice with mango. Hmmm…I’m getting hungry now.

Red curry with duck, anyone?