HRH Princess Ubolratanarachakanya Siriwatanaphanwadi graciously presided over the “Amazing Thailand Gala Dinner” organized in Paris on 31 May, 2022, by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to showcase the kingdom’s gastronomy and sustainability tourism. The event was held just a week after TAT had successfully conducted the “Amazing Thailand New Chapters Roadshow” to Amsterdam, Ghent, and Paris, on 23-25 May.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said, “TAT hosted the Amazing Thailand Gala Dinner to express thanks to our partners and friends of Thailand in Paris, while reiterating the awareness of our “Visit Thailand Year 2022 – 2023: Amazing Thailand New Chapters” tourism marketing campaign. The event is also to communicate with French as well as European travellers that Thailand is now fully open for tourism.
“HRH Princess Ubolratanarachakanya Siriwatanaphanwadihonoured the Amazing Thailand Gala Dinner, and offered a word of encouragement to tourism businesses, while extending an invitation to travellers to visit Thailand, saying: “Whatever challenges we face, we will always be the Land of Smiles. As we return to normality, I encourage you all to fill your hearts with optimism and remember that smiles are more infectious than any disease or war and there are millions of smiles still waiting for you in Thailand. On behalf of the Thai people, we look forward to welcoming you back to our Land of Smiles very soon.”
Attended by 39 local tour operators, travel agents, and members of the media in Paris, the Amazing Thailand Gala Dinner highlighted Thai cultural values based on Thailand’s 6F, 4M soft-power foundations; namely, Food, Film, Fashion, Festival, Fight, Friendship, Music, Museum, Master, and Meta.
TAT placed emphasis on showcasing the kingdom’s gastronomy and sustainability tourism at the Paris dinner event, as part of the plan to strengthen Thailand’s position as a World Gastronomy Destination and promote the sixth year of The MICHELIN Guide’s presence in Thailand.
The evening saw award-winning French and Thai chefs together create a four-course fine-dining menu under the ‘zero food waste’ approach using Thai herbs and spices in combination with locally-sourced French ingredients.
Presenting Thailand was chef Chumpol Jangprai of R-HAAN (2 Michelin stars restaurant in Bangkok, 2020-2021) and a Sustainable Food Ambassador for FeedUp@UN.
From France was chef AngeLelievre of the Four Seasons Hotel George V’s Le Cinq (3 Michelin stars restaurant in Paris, 2022) and world’s third place in the Pâté-Croûte Competition 2019.
The ‘Welcome to Thailand’ canapé pass around presented French mushroom Lap (Thai spicy salad) croquette, foiegrasIsan sausage, Thai coconut pancake (khanomkhrok) topped with caviar, and French oyster with Thai spicy seafood dipping sauce.
The ‘Summer Holiday’ hors d’oeuvre served Sous Vide asparagus seasoned with Thai herbal-mixed pink salt alongside smoked Brittany scallops and Tom Kha (Thai coconut soup) caviar cream sauce flavoured with summer herbs and blossoms.
The ‘Royal Blue Lobster Sustainable’ main course served royal blue lobster poached in Burgundy butter with Gruyère-baked Thai jasmine rice. This was complemented by Thai massaman curry with baby potatoes and artichokes, Thai herbs and French mushroom bisque sauce, and an assortment of colourful vegetables.
The ‘Home Sweet Home’ dessert completed the palate with Thai pandanflavoured sweet sticky rice served with coconut ice cream parfait and three varieties of Thai mangoes (Nam Dok Mai, Maha Chanok, and Ok Rong). Added to the sweet treat were ‘Petit Four’; namely, khanomdarathong (golden star), lukchup (shaped mung beans), Thai lychee macarons, and Thai whisky-flavoured truffle chocolate.
Prior to hosting the Amazing Thailand Gala Dinner, TAT staged the Amazing Thailand New Chapters Roadshow to Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Ghent, Belgium; and Paris, France on 23-25 May. Showcasing the ‘from A to Z Amazing Thailand has it all’ concept, the activity was joined by representatives from 13 Thai tourism businesses and airlines, and in each city was participated by 60 local tour operators and travel agents.
France is one of Thailand’s top 10 sources of visitor markets, after China, Malaysia, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK, South Korea, USA, and India. In 2019, Thailand recorded 1,932,337 million trips by French visitors, up 3.32 per cent year-on-year.
Since Thailand eased travel restrictions and reopened for tourism, from July 2021 to March 2022, travellers from Europe made 522,680 trips to Thailand. The number included 53,727 trips by French travellers, making it the fifth largest market during the period, after Germany, Russia, the UK, and USA.
In 2022, TAT expects Thai tourism to generate revenue of 1.5 trillion Baht, and to record 7-10 million trips by foreign travellers. (TAT)
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