Pattaya-area Muslims are getting free cooking lessons to help prepare them for the coming ASEAN Economic Community.
Nongprue Deputy Mayor Anek Pattanagnam opened the Sept. 19-29 course with executives from the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration, Vocational Training Center, Thai-ITOH Technical College and Nernplabwan School for about 40 students.
Taught by Vocational Training School instructors at Nernplabwan School, the 10-hour course is teaching students to create 10 foreign and local dishes. All the dishes have a Muslim accent, however, such as chicken kebabs, dim sum, Chinese steamed buns, kuicheai, chicken steamed rice and more with Muslim spices and curry.
Muslim women are being taught how to better prepare local Muslim dishes to help them earn more money for their families.
The program is one of several being offered free to Muslims to help them boost their incomes when the AEC opens.
Two seamstress courses to create the taqiyah, hijab and other garments ran Sept. 8-19 which each course running 60 hours over six days for 20 students per class at the Vocational Training Center.
Thai-ITOH also ran English-language classes, again in two courses that started at the end of August. Each course runs 40 hours and offers beginner and basic levels. Students were placed in classes based on an English-proficiency test.
