CNN Travel readers list seven Thai dishes among World’s 50 Best Foods

• Saigon's banh mi hailed among the kings and queens of street foods
• Hanoi food festival welcomes celebrity chef Jack Lee
• Vietnam attends largest food fair in Japan

The list is a reformatted and republished version of the original article published in 2011. 

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, the TAT Governor said, “We’re thankful for all the votes – a testament to the already solid reputation of the Amazing Thai Taste, which is part of our foodie tourism initiative to motivate tourists and foodies to embark on a culinary journey to taste signature Thai dishes in renowned venues across Thailand as the way to explore Thainess through food.”

The latest CNN Travel World’s 50 Best Foods list was compiled based on the votes of 35,000 readers via a Facebook poll. The seven Thai dishes in the list are Tom Yum Kung in fourth place, Pad Thai (fifth), Som Tam Papaya Salad (sixth), Massaman Curry (10th), Green Curry (19th), Chicken Fried Rice (24th) and Mu Nam Tok or spicy minced pork salad (36th).

According to CNN Travel writer, Tim Cheung, the original World’s 50 Best Foods article, which was released in 2011 “stimulate some impassioned debate about the conspicuous lack of French dishes and the merits of ketchup over mayonnaise” and so the online publication “threw it open to a vote on a Facebook poll.”

Mr. Yuthasak said, “With seven Thai dishes voted into this influential list shows how Thai Cuisine is increasingly perceived as a world-class culinary experience and Thailand a great destination for foodie tourism.

TAT plays a large role in promoting Thai Cuisine through several initiatives, including launching the Amazing Thai Taste campaign in 2016, publishing several publications about Thai dishes and ingredients and the best places to find them, and sponsoring a large number of food based events around the world.

This year, TAT has entered into a partnership with Michelin Travel Partner to publish a Michelin Guide Bangkok as well as with Gault & Millau to publish a bilingual Thailand guidebook in the Gault & Millau Belux 2018 edition. In May 2018, Thailand will host the UNWTO Conference on Gastronomy Tourism.