The popularization of the noodle dish, as it turns out, was but one of several measures taken by Thai authorities in the 1930s and 1940s to both westernize and modernize the country.
The others, as the New York Times noted over the weekend, included changing the country’s name from Siam to Thailand, banning local languages and dialects from the nation’s schools, and the promotion of the word “sawasdee,” as a means of greeting. “Part of Phibun’s nation-building strategy was to develop ‘Thai-ness’ and impose a ‘Thai Great Tradition’ to demonstrate the strength and unity of the Thai nation,” Penny Van Esterik wrote in her book Materializing Thailand.
But pad Thai wasn’t just about unity; it was also about nutrition. The late 1930s were a particularly difficult time economically for the country, and rice noodles, which were both cheap and filling, provided a much needed antidote. Couple that with vegetables, bean sprouts, and inexpensive protein, and it was the perfect, nutritious meal. “His [Phibun’s] series of decrees from 1939–1942 suggested what could be done to strengthen the Thai economy, to instill national image and pride—and to improve the national diet. Popularizing a noodle dish was one means to that end,” Esterik wrote. Phibun’s government not only disseminated the recipe for pad Thai, but encouraged street vendors to make and sell it throughout the country.
There were some 11,600 Thai restaurants worldwide in 2007, many of which have donned the name of Thailand’s most popular noodle dish, according to Gastronomica. Given that Pad Thai can now be found in more than 2 million Google entries, it would certainly seem unfit to call it by any other name. But it wouldn’t necessarily be wrong either.