One of my favorite activities in Bangkok was my visit to a Thai cooking school for an afternoon class! I had an interest in learning how to cook some of my favorite Thai dishes since I will be living here for at least a year and found recommendations on this particular cooking class through TripAdvisor. I had such a wonderful time and highly recommend booking a class with Silom Thai Cooking School if you are planning a trip to Bangkok!
The Cooking School
Silom Thai Cooking School is located off of Silom Road in Bangkok. They offer three classes a day: Morning (9:00 AM – 1:00 PM), afternoon (1:40 PM – 5:30 PM), and Evening (6:00 PM – 9:00 PM). When you sign up for a class, you will receive an in-depth email about where to meet prior to the class for a tour of a local market. During the tour, they point out fresh ingredients that they use and give you a chance to immerse yourself in the buying part of the process before whipping up some delicious eats!
The confirmation email you will receive from the school was incredibly informative! It shared what time to meet for the market tour, how to get there, and even pictures of the meeting spot. If you were to get caught in the infamous Bangkok traffic, they also included a step-by-step guide with more pictures for how to walk to the school on your own from the meeting spot. If you did happen to get lost (which seems pretty impossible considering how much information you get), they also include a phone number you can call. My first impression were that they were very professional and thought of everything!
Once you arrive, you are asked to remove your shoes (a thai tradition), and head upstairs to the dining room. There were books at each place about Thailand that are fun to look through while you wait for the rest of the class. Once everyone has arrived, they split you up into two groups so that each class size is about 8 people.
The Class & Food
Silom has certified cooking instructors that will show you how to make 5 different Thai dishes during your class. I had Oliver (nicknamed Oat) who was so fun! He first showed us how to start the process of making mango sticky rice, since it would take the longest. We then learned how to make one of my favorite Thai dishes: Pad Thai! It was so easy, and the best part was getting the chance to eat it right afterwards! Next we learned how to roll spring rolls and which ingredients went into it (although we could change any of them at home). Once they were all fried up, he showed us how to make papaya salad which I had never had before but is now one of my favorite Thai dishes. I order it any chance I get! After enjoying our appetizers we made masaman curry and finally got to enjoy dessert!
Oliver was great at letting the class take part in each step of the process. He also explained what each ingredient was and made sure we understood what makes something a Thai dish. I had such an incredible time and can't wait to go back someday to learn even more!
The Cost
A class at Silom Thai Cooking School cost 1,000 baht per person (which is a little under $30, roughly $28). This includes the tour of a local market where they source the ingredients, and a five course meal at the cooking school. It should be noted that their evening class is only 900 baht but does not include the market tour.
At the conclusion of the class, all students receive a cookbook with all of the recipes made during the class and others you can try on your own!
Each day of the week features a different menu of Thai dishes that are taught. If you are flexible not he day you can visit, check their website to see which menu interests you the most!
School Info
63 Silom Soi 13, Silom Road Bangrak
Bangkok 10500 Thailand
Call Domestic: 08-4-726-5669
Call Overseas: +668-4-726-5669
Facebook: Silom Thai Cooking School