Main area of focus in Caring for the Destination:  

Promotion of Thai food and local culture.

Detailed description of the Caring for the Destination Initiative: 

Tam Piyawadi Jantrupon is the owner and instructor of Amita Thai Cooking Class. She uses the home where she was born and grew up to share her love of Thai cooking. The area is surrounded with homes of relatives dating back for more that 3 generations.

The school is located in the old Bangkok area next to the canal. This area is suitable for growing vegetables and Thai herbs used in teaching and flavoring Thai dishes. Tam's love for Thai culture, arts and cooking started in this home where she watched her grandmother and aunts prepare authentic meals from picking vegetables from the garden to various steps of preparation. Both of her relatives were the teachers at the first official home science school in Thailand, "Home Science Secondary School". With a passion of cooking, Tam had additional training and education from a culinary school and famous Thai food masters whenever she could find time to improve her skill for Thai dishes.

Following completion of her bachelor’s degree in Law from Thammasat University, she was employed as Legal officer at Tourism Authority of Thailand for several years. As a spouse of a Thai official, she has spent considerable time abroad.  In the 1980’s, Tam lived in Los Angeles, and had the opportunity to cook for the Thai community and diplomats. She was asked to teach Thai cooking to American families and friends, who were amazed at how simple, easy and delicious the dishes were. This was the starting point of her interest to teach and share her knowledge of cooking.  While living abroad, Tam creatively sought substitutes for local spices in order to achieve an authentic Thai taste.