More Than Pad Thai: Thailand's Regional Cuisines

I wish to explore Thailand and document the country's astounding culinary diversity. This would culminate in the form a photo-based recipe book describing the country's unique regional foodways, cultures and traditions.

Thailand is known throughout the world for its vibrant and delicious food. But the dishes that most people are familiar with: phat thai, green curry, mango sticky rice, are largely associated with Bangkok and central Thailand. In fact, the country has an astounding diversity of distinct regional cuisines. Shaped by the forces of geography and history, and influenced by culture and belief, Thailand's culinary diversity also represents the country's cultural diversity, much of which is beginning to disappear due to factors such as improved infrastructure and the powerful influence of mainstream Bangkok/central Thai, not to mention western, culture.

Because it's only a matter of time before these foodways and cultures are lost forever, and also because there is no definitive English-language resource describing Thailand's regional cuisines, I propose using these funds to collaborate with a food writer and explore Thailand's remote corners, compiling recipes and foodways in the form of website and/or book. From the Muslim cuisines Satun and Pattani in deep southern Thailand, to the unique Shan culture of Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand, I plan to document the country's regional dishes, crops and food products in both text and photos. And because food is so closely tied in with culture, our work would also serve as a document of the people of Thailand and their traditions.

Photos are an essential aspect of this project, and as a freelance photographer/writer, I'm qualified to provide this expertise. I currently operate a popular blog on Thai food (http://www.austinbushphotography.com/category/foodblog/), can speak, read and write Thai, and have written and photographed several magazine and newspaper articles on regional Thai food, including several Lonely Planet guides to Thailand and Southeast Asia. I plan to collaborate with a talented food writer who has spent time in Southeast Asia and who also has a deep understanding of Thai food.

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