The popularity of Thai food in the international arena boosted nationalism among Thais and the state embraces this nationalist sentiment to market Thai culture overseas. Iwabuchi (2002) uses the term “soft nationalism” to refer to the narcissistic discourse developed among a group of people who celebrate the realization that their group identity has been accepted or recognized outside the group. Thai “soft” nationalism has grown according to the commodification of Thai culture, particularly in the form of tourism, the industry that constitutes the country’s major revenue.
Craig Reynolds (1998) notes that Thai cultural nationalism developed from the marketing of Thai culture overseas has resulted in the phenomena wherein Thai nationals take up the image of the country sold to foreigners as their self-identity. The recognition of Thai cuisine overseas has shown a similar impact of cultural
12
nationalism as in Thai tourism. Thai media support the promotion of Thai food abroad and set up a distinction between authentic Thai restaurants and pseudo-Thai restaurants run by non-Thai owners. There is a public concern that under-qualified, pseudo-Thai restaurants serve “distorted, less than authentic Thai food” and will potentially damage the reputation of Thai cuisine in the eyes of foreigners. A columnist of a local newspaper in Thailand expresses his concern of Thai food overseas and his support for the Kitchen of the World project:
The biggest problem of Thai food overseas today is the fact that there are numerous Thai restaurants run by non-Thai owners that produce the imitation of Thai food. Foreigners who eat in these restaurants misunderstand that the pseudo Thai food is actually the Thai taste and the real Thai taste (in a real Thai restaurant) is not authentic. It’s time to let the world experience real authentic Thai food.