Signature Thai Cooking Class With A Local Chef In Chiang Mai
Cook five signature Thai dishes from scratch in a home kitchen, guided by a Chiang Mai native trained in culinary school and a five-star hotel. With groups capped at four people, you get real one-on-one instruction instead of getting lost in a crowd.
What this is
This is a hands-on Thai cooking class at Chef Arm’s home in Chiang Mai, designed around small groups of four. The experience begins with hotel pickup around 9:00–9:15 AM and a visit to a local Thai fresh market, where Arm introduces the ingredients you’ll use and shares how to choose seasonal Thai fruits and herbs.
You’ll then head to his home, see his herb garden, and prepare the dishes yourself at your own cooking station. Arm guides you through each step and explains the background of the food, drawing on his culinary school training, hotel kitchen experience, and Northern Thai cooking knowledge from his mother.
The Signature Thai menu covers five dishes: herb larb pork salad, Khao Soi or green curry, Tom Yum or Tom Kha, Pad Thai, and mango sticky rice.
Who it's for
- Travelers who want a hands-on Thai cooking experience in Chiang Mai
- People interested in learning Signature Thai dishes with a local chef
- Visitors who want to explore Thai ingredients through a local market and home herb garden
- Vegetarians can request the menu in a vegetarian version, according to the provider’s FAQ
What you get
- A guided visit to a local Thai fresh market to learn about vegetables, fruit, and other ingredients
- Fresh coconut milk squeezed by hand rather than from a can
- A tour of the chef's home herb garden, including kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and pandan leaves
- Five signature dishes cooked from scratch, including a larb pork salad, khao soi or green curry, tom yum or tom kha soup, pad thai, and mango sticky rice
- A free recipe cookbook in printed or PDF format to take hom
- Drinks included throughout the day: bottled water, jasmine tea, lemongrass tea, Chiang Mai fruit wine, and locally grown Arabica espresso
Why this is useful
Classes are capped at four people, a smaller group size than most cooking schools in the city offer. Instructor Arm grew up in Chiang Mai and trained at both a culinary school and a five-star hotel before teaching, giving the class a genuinely local and professionally grounded foundation. The school has earned TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice award in 2020, a recommendation in Lonely Planet's Thailand guidebook, and a feature in a Japanese travel guidebook. It also holds a 5.0 rating based on 81 Google reviews. The school also follows environmentally conscious practices, including avoiding plastic bags for market shopping, separating waste, and composting.