Thai Cooking Class in Chiang Mai: Market Tour & Farm Kitchen

Market shopping, fire cooking, and four Thai dishes you make yourself

A five-hour Thai cooking class at an organic farm outside Chiang Mai combines a market tour at Somphet Market with hands-on instruction in an open-air kitchen where you cook at your own station. The farm grows many of the herbs and spices used in the class, van pickup from Chiang Mai is included, and you take home a colored recipe book.

Step-by-step itinerary

Market tour and cooking class

• Visit Somphet Market in Chiang Mai
• Travel to organic farm cooking school
• Participate in Thai cooking class

The Experience

The morning starts at Somphet Market in Chiang Mai, where you walk through the stalls with your guide to select fresh produce and local ingredients for the dishes you'll cook later. The market is where locals shop—vendors call out prices, produce is piled high, and the energy shifts fast. You'll learn what to look for and how the ingredients connect to what happens in the kitchen. After an hour there, the van picks you up and drives 13km out to the farm, leaving the city noise behind.

The cooking school sits on organic farmland where they grow many of the herbs and spices that go into the recipes. You work at your own cooking station with a knife, wok and clean utensils in an open-air kitchen. An experienced chef leads the class in English and walks you through four typical Thai dishes—the technique changes with each one, from stir-fry to curry to soup. You're not watching a demonstration; you're doing the work, tasting as you go, and the chef corrects your knife grip or your heat level in real time. The farm atmosphere means you're cooking outdoors with the smell of herbs around you, not in a closed kitchen.

By the end of the five hours, you've eaten what you made and you leave with a colored cooking book that has the recipes written down. The van brings you back to Chiang Mai. Coffee or tea is included during the class.

What’s included

• Van pickup from Chiang Mai.
• market tour at Somphet Market.
• your own cooking station with knife, wok and utensils.
• instruction in four Thai dishes.
• coffee and tea.
• colored recipe book to take home.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by The Best Thai Cookery School

Is this one for you?You cook at your own station instead of watching a chef work, which means you're learning by doing and taking home the skills, not just the meal. This suits anyone who wants to actually make Thai food rather than observe it, and who has five hours to spend in a farm kitchen outside the city.

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Top questions

What is Somphet Market like, and what do we actually do there?

Somphet Market is a bustling local marketplace in Chiang Mai where vendors sell fresh produce, local delicacies and handicrafts. You spend the first part of the morning walking through the stalls with your guide, selecting the ingredients you'll cook with later in the class.

Do I cook the food myself, or watch a chef cook it?

You cook the food yourself at your own station with your own knife and wok. The chef leads the class and guides you through each dish, but you're doing the hands-on work from start to finish.

How far is the farm from Chiang Mai, and how do I get there?

The farm is 13km outside Chiang Mai in peaceful surroundings. Van pickup from Chiang Mai is included, and the driver brings you back at the end of the class.

What dishes do we learn to make?

The class covers four typical Thai dishes using fire cooking and other techniques. The exact dishes vary, but they're made from ingredients you selected at the market that morning.

Is the class in English?

Yes, the experienced chef leads the class in English throughout the five hours.