Sampling all of Thailand without leaving the capital

Traditional and street Thai food, a fruit buffet and choices of dishes from Michelin-starred restaurants will be gathered for one event this weekend at Siam Square. Called the Amazing Thai Taste Festival, the event is organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) under the concept of “Eat Thai Food, Feeling Good”. There will be 134 food stalls from well-known restaurants of each region, and street food vendors from Bangkok. The booths are categorised into eight zones. The first zone is Good Reputation, which will introduce 16 rice breeds including the new khao hom ubol jasmine rice. There will also be cooking shows to share ingredients and methods with the audience for cooking famous Thai dishes such as tom yum kung (sour-and-spicy herbal prawn soup), pad Thai, kaeng khieo wan gai (green curry with chicken), massaman gai (yellow curry with chicken) and tom kha gai (chicken in coconut soup). The second zone is Good Local, where visitors will have a chance to taste local food from famous restaurants of five regions. Dishes include sai ua (northern-style pork sausage) from Sai Ua Phao Tao Luang Lampang in the North, som tum ( spicy papaya salad) from Noi Tam Sua of Loei in the Northeast and kaeng pu bai chaphlu (yellow curry with crabmeat and chaphlu leaves) of Ban Mae restaurant from Ranong in the South. The third zone is Good Organic, where you can shop for numerous organic foods and ingredients. The fourth zone is Good Fruit, which will have not only premium durian, mangosteen, rambutan and longkong, but also sections for fruit buffets and all-you-can-eat fruits. Another highlight will be a new dish of khao tom mat (steamed sticky rice snack wrapped in banana leaf). The sweet normally has a slicedripe-banana filling. But during the event, there will be two choices of fillings; one, durian in coconut milk, and another, ripe mango in coconut milk. The idea is similar to khao nieo durian (sweet sticky rice in coconut milk topped with durian) and khao nieo mamuang (sweet sticky rice with ripe mango), but it will be presented in the khao tom mat style. The fifth zone is Good Taste to showcase the dishes of famous street-food stalls and Michelin-starred restaurants, while Good Idea is the sixth zone, where you can find handmade products as well as hobby workshops such as those cloth-dying and flower-arrangement. The seventh zone is Good Power, where 30 Pracha Rat shops will provide low-priced food and souvenirs. The last zone is Good Enjoy, which will be the performance area for singers to hold their mini-concerts, and for celebrity chefs to show their cooking skills. TAT expects the three-day event to attract 80,000 visitors and generate up to 40 million baht. The Amazing Thai Taste Festival will be organised from Friday until Sunday, 12-8pm at Siam Square Sois 5-7.