A gathering of chefs from 20 northeastern provinces created a festival to develop highly skilled Isaan chefs, elevating local menus into Soft Power on the global stage, generating a strong circular economy within the region.
On 19 Jan 2026 GMT+7, the Department of Industrial Promotion (DIPROM) held the closing ceremony of the Master Thai Chef course titled “Final Ceremony and Community Chef Networking” at the Northeast Science Park 2, within Suranaree University of Technology, Mueang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The event showcased the potential of over 300 northeastern Thai chefs aiming to promote Thai menus and sustainably assert Thailand’s Soft Power globally. Dr. Priyada Wisutthipaet, Deputy Executive Director of the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), together with Ms. Suwimon Jintawat, Director of Regional Industrial Promotion Center 6, Department of Industrial Promotion, presided over the opening ceremony for the final ceremony and community networking event linking northeastern networks. Also present were Asst. Prof. Dr. Papakorn Pittayachaval, Director of Northeast Regional Science Park 2, Suranaree University of Technology, and head of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy Research Unit at Suranaree University of Technology. Honored guests included Chef Chumphon "Chef Chumphon Jaengphrai," chairman of the “One Village One Thai Chef” project by DIPROM, Chef Tum, famous from MasterChef Thailand, and Dr. Disakul Prasitruangsuk.
Ms. Suwimon Jintawat, Director of Regional Industrial Promotion Center 6, Department of Industrial Promotion, serving as chair of the opening ceremony for the final ceremony and northeastern community networking event, explained that the government places great importance on grassroots development through the policy “One Family, One Soft Power Skill,” especially in the food sector. Therefore, DIPROM has organized training activities for the professional Thai Chef course (Master Thai Chef Program) under the Food Soft Power Promotion Project for fiscal year 2025. The program attracted over 17,000 participants nationwide, enabling knowledge development and skill enhancement for individuals and communities to become professional Thai chefs. In the Northeast, both upper and lower regions, a total of 4,000 community chefs joined the project.
The Director of Regional Industrial Promotion Center 6, DIPROM, added that today is another significant day where community chefs from the Northeast have gathered to prove that receiving the certificate today is not just course completion but the graduation of more than 300 “cultural warriors.” They will transform local ingredients into great value, distributing income to communities and concretely reducing inequality. She urged all graduates to always remember that they are a “key mechanism” to transform local menus into a stable economic foundation for their communities and Thai society.
Dr. Priyada Wisutthipaet, Deputy Executive Director of the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), stated that today’s northeastern final ceremony is not merely the end of community chef training but the start of integrating skills, wisdom, and innovation. The grand goal is to create jobs, livelihoods, and income widely distributed in local areas. This network formation will impact economic stability in three dimensions: creating jobs by transforming local labor into highly skilled chefs with international standards; elevating producers into food creators who can independently add value by harnessing the charm of northeastern ingredients; and establishing sustainable networks through exchanging ingredients and knowledge between communities, leading to a strong circular economy within the region.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Papakorn Pittayachaval, Director of Northeast Regional Science Park 2, Suranaree University of Technology, and head of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy Research Unit at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), said that as the research unit at SUT was entrusted as a central hub to drive and oversee training in this region, they have witnessed the determination of community chefs collaborating to hone skills, exchange wisdom, and develop themselves to become proud, highly skilled professional chefs today. As a node for the Northeast, SUT is ready to be an “innovation bridge” linking university knowledge and modern science with the culinary charm of local communities to produce tangible outcomes. These include network building, elevating wisdom to international levels, and supplying quality chefs to the tourism and service industries, which will lead to income distribution and inequality reduction according to the project’s goals.
Moreover, a highlight of the event was the gathering of “community chefs” who completed intensive training in the Master Thai Chef Program. Honored guests included Chef Chumphon Jaengphrai, a world-class Michelin-starred chef, and Chef Tum Nattapong Theerananpitchit, a leading figure from the Thai Culinary Institute with extensive experience. They inspired and imparted storytelling skills to help Thai cuisine captivate audiences worldwide. The event also featured activities to strengthen networks and exchange local food wisdom, enabling community chefs to advance as professional chefs on national and international stages, thereby elevating Thailand’s food Soft Power to the international level.
