‘Global Thai’: How Pad Thai became the poster child of Thai gastrodiplomacy

(Pailin Chongchitnant, 2021)

To a foreigner, the first thing that usually comes to mind when it comes to Thailand is Pad Thai, often heralded as the country’s national dish. True to its name, the dish contains ingredients representative of the multifaceted palate of Thai dishes – often featuring a combination of acidic, umami and sweet components typical of traditional Thai cuisine. In reality, the dish was manufactured by the Thai government in the 1940s,  in response to floods severely damaging rice paddies during World War 2 leading to a push for the consumption of rice noodles instead (Kliger, 2024). The implementation of Pad Thai as a national dish also falls under the ‘Thaification’ campaign of the time, aiming to create a unified Thai national identity in the face of European colonization in South East Asia (Lim, 2020). While Pad Thai may not have as traditional or historical roots as Tom Yum Goong – a soup widely known to have existed for generations before its first official documentation in 1897 (Yaiprae Bunchaliew, 2025) – how did this specific dish become the poster child of Thai culture globally? 

Gastrodiplomacy is the promotion of a country’s cuisine (and by extension, culture)  to effectively enhance the nation’s global brand and ‘soft power’(Rockower, 2012).  Thailand is noted as the first country in the world to have pursued this scheme as part of their official foreign policy (Raksarat, 2023) with the general ‘Amazing Thailand’ tourism campaign in 1998 and the more targeted ‘Global Thai’ programme of 2002, where the Thai government set out to open increasing numbers of Thai restaurants internationally (Domrongchai, 2023).. The unique palate of Thai cuisine ended up winning the hearts and minds of the world, many of whom had little knowledge surrounding South East Asia, let alone Thailand’s existence, with which they are now familiar with and can distinguish the culture of. Gastrodiplomacy’s powerful, yet often overlooked role in international relations works to achieve diplomacy via soft power, including the dissemination of culture and positive nation branding. 

The programme’s success led Thailand to be dubbed ‘Kitchen of the World’ (DITP, 2022) – later developed as another campaign under the growing gastrodiplomacy policy which intended to further promote Thai national identity and cultural awareness internationally, in addition to  tourism and economic development back home. The latter is often attributed to the Asian financial crisis of 1997, widely referred to in Thailand as the Tom Yum Koong crisis, where the economy nosedived into a critical recession. To revive the economy, the government at the time focused on maximizing exports, by subsidizing key industries and businesses, including food, to break through into international trade . This achieved great success, where the value of Thai exports rose by 23% in 2004 (Raksarat, 2023), following the crisis just a few years earlier. A greater global awareness and love of Thai cuisine because of the gastrodiplomacy policy (with Pad Thai at the helm) led to an increase in food exports and tourism for the country, effectively stimulating economic growth. 

But why approach foreign policy in this way? Playing by the phrase ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’, it became clear that the creation of this dish to form and disseminate the idea of a central Thai identity proved to be a viable policy. This is seen in the global popularity of Thai cuisine and culture, as well as the increasing awareness of its ‘Land of Smiles’ title that has helped to form a positive image of Thailand internationally.

However, the original perception of Thailand was, and relatively still is, a haven for sex tourism. While its origins lie in American soldiers stationed in Pattaya seeking companionship during the Vietnam war  (Raksarat, 2023), the rampant exploitation of women and transgender women, especially those in rural areas or financial strain, against ambiguous and poorly enforced laws has only expanded Thailand’s sex industry. The wealth and class divide between Bangkok and the countryside only heightens national poverty, with many struggling women forced to enter the industry in order to get by, whilst transgender women often struggle to find higher paying jobs, despite Thailand’s more socially-accepting history. Deep-set societal stigma continues to center trans womens’ lives around their sexuality, making it difficult to branch outside of these kinds of occupations. 

To combat this damaging and frankly dehumanizing image of Thailand as a country, gastrodiplomacy was launched to rebrand itself as a food destination to tourists, and as a leading country in food exports to international conglomerates  in order to nurture respect for Thailand' s cuisine, culture and people, improving the country’s branding on a global scale.

Despite this, the objectification and hypersexualization of Thai women as merely sex objects is only exacerbated by European tourist campaigns describing Thailand as “a big brothel”, and advertising for a “Thailand Express Sex Tour” (Hantrakul, 1988) . This has only furthered the generally patronizing view of the country, with tourists disregarding the Thai people, especially women, as less worthy of respect. It will take years, likely decades, for the long-standing image of the sex trade to be overcome, but gastrodiplomacy has helped Thailand take a considerable step forward in achieving this goal, and will likely continue to serve as an important diplomatic tool in presenting a more genuine, positive image of Thai culture in the future. 

Reference list

DITP (2022). Thailand reinforces Kitchen of the World status with Healthier, Tastier Food of The Future. [online] Prnewswire.com. Available at: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thailand-reinforces-kitchen-of-the-world-status-with-healthier-tastier-food-of-the-future-301607466.html [Accessed 19 Oct. 2025].

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Pailin Chongchitnant (2021). Pad Thai Sauce Recipe - Make Pad Thai in 5 Mins! [online] Hot Thai Kitchen. Available at: https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/5-min-pad-thai/.

Raksarat, N. (2023). The Origins and Development of Thailand’s Gastrodiplomacy. [online] Available at: https://ethesisarchive.library.tu.ac.th/thesis/2022/TU_2022_6203120016_17855_27618.pdf.

Rockower, P.S. (2012). Recipes for gastrodiplomacy. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 8(3), pp.235–246. doi:https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2012.17.

Yaiprae Bunchaliew (2025). Tom Yum Kung: The Symbol of Thai Culinary Spirit - Thailand Foundation. [online] Thailand Foundation. Available at: https://thailandfoundation.or.th/tom-yum-kung-the-symbol-of-thai-culinary-spirit/.