PTT Global Chemical Company Limited (PTTGC), in collaboration with Rayong province and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), are casting around for the best community chefs to create impressive new menu items for the “Chef Chumpol Builds Community Chefs” project organized by PTTGC. This activity coincides with “10 delicious menu items you can’t miss on your journey by Chef Chumpol” made using local ingredients by Master Chef Chumpol, who appeared on the Thai version of the Iron Chef. These menu items will be given to Rayong to become part of the province’s local cuisine and will help to promote local tourism under the concept “traveling along the path of local food” to encourage more equitable distribution of local income and help drive the growth of local businesses.

Mr. Supattanapong Punmeechaow, President and CEO, PTT Global Chemical PLC, said, “We have a policy and have expressed our intent to play a role in developing local growth and increase incomes for the community and residents of Rayong province. It’s easy to see that Rayong offers breathtakingly beautiful scenery and amazing local ingredients to make a variety of unique dishes. PTTGC, in collaboration with the Rayong Provincial Authority, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Rayong-Chantaburi office, and Master Chef Chumpol Jangprai, one of the master chefs well-known from being on the Thai version of the Iron Chef TV program and who is an expert in creating truly original Thai culinary recipes, are organizing the “Chef Chumpol Builds Community Chefs” project. It’s a search for eight community chefs whose new menu items, made with local ingredients, will become Rayong’s “8 Signature Dishes” alongside the “10 delicious menu items” by Chef Chumpol as his culinary gift to Rayong province, which the project hopes will become widely available to the public. The project will also include a free cooking class for the general public or restaurant operators who are looking for new dishes to add to their menus. The Rayong Guide Sheet, featuring the eight community chefs’ local foods and restaurants, will be printed for distribution to tourists in Rayong as a guide to must-try places. This will contribute to increasing local employment and incomes in a sustainable way in Rayong.”

Mr. Surasak Charoensirichote, Rayong Provincial Governor said, “Rayong province appreciates this effort by PTTGC and all related parties to present the “10 delicious menus you can’t miss on your journey by Chef Chumpol” as Rayong province’s dishes which will use local ingredients. The objective is to invite all Thais nationwide and visitors from around the world to come to Rayong to taste our unique foods. It is an important gift to the people of Rayong. It is commendable that PTTGC wishes to work with Rayong province to promote and spread the menu recipes to the public as well as restaurants which can use the menu recipes.”

Mrs. Kanokkittika Kritwutthikorn, Director-general of the TAT Office in Rayong said, “Tourist behavior is currently changing as they are increasingly deciding to take trips for several reasons such as visiting family and friends or to have a ‘see, eat and shop’ experience. Being able to eat delicious local foods can make their trip truly unforgettable while those local delicious foods can also lure large numbers of travelers to the province. This results in supporting local income distribution to communities and an understanding of local foods and heritage. The “Chef Chumpol Builds Community Chefs” initiative organized by PTTGC will bring about creative and delicious menus mainly using local ingredients. As a result, this will create a new tourist attraction through a food tourism approach in support of community chefs. It can also become a good example of an integrated operation and enable collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote TAT’s “Thailand Best Local Food” and “Increasing Travel to Thailand, Supporting Local Sufficiency” campaigns as well as the government’s tourism policy to increase incomes and stimulate increased economic development at the grassroots level.

The cooking competition in search of the best community chefs and signature dishes consists of three rounds: 1) the first qualifying round for 20 finalists; 2) the second qualifying round for eight finalists who will be given training and instructions by Chef Chumpol and; 3) The winner of the final round will be based on voting and a review by the public and a competition committee. When the project wraps up, the ownership of the new dishes will belong to the public in order to further develop local foods and increase local incomes for Rayong in the future.