Afternoon Thai Cooking Class on an Organic Farm – 6 Dishes
A shorter, cheaper afternoon course on an organic farm outside Chiang Mai: farm walk, your own curry paste and six dishes, without the early start or the market.
- Duration
- Half day, afternoon (12:00–17:00)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Max group
- 10 pax
The afternoon course is the practical option: six dishes, your own curry paste and the full organic-farm setting for 900 THB, with a midday start instead of a dawn one. It drops the fresh-market visit and keeps everything that happens in the kitchen and the garden — which is why it costs less and why it suits late risers, families with young children and anyone who already did a market walk earlier in the trip.
Pick-up is between 12:00 and 12:30 and it is about a twenty-five minute drive out of the city to a school building set in the middle of a working organic farm. You walk the beds with your instructor, learning the small tricks of picking herbs and vegetables well, and gather what you need — lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, holy basil, Thai eggplant, turmeric.
Then it is your own station in the open-air kitchen: your own wok, knife and burner. You cook six dishes chosen from the category lists — soups, stir-fries, curries, noodles, salads and desserts — plus your own curry paste, pounded from raw spices in a granite mortar. Two dishes are set dishes that the whole group cooks together. You also learn the school's speciality: colouring rice seven natural shades using plants alone, and making a Thai herbal drink.
Every dish can be prepared vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten-free, and you set the chilli level. You eat everything you cook, or take it away in boxes, and a step-by-step recipe e-book follows. Class ends at 17:00, so the evening is still yours.
- Best value of the farm courses at 900 THB — six dishes, no early start
- Open-air kitchen in a working organic farm, 25 minutes from town
- Small class of four to ten guests
- Pick your own herbs and vegetables from the organic beds
- Pound your own curry paste from raw spices
- Learn to colour rice seven natural ways and make a Thai herbal drink
- Individual station: your own wok, knife and burner
- Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options for every dish
- Recipe e-book and free pick-up within 4 km of the Old City
What's included
- ✓ Free pick-up and drop-off within a 4 km radius of the Chiang Mai Old City
- ✓ Guided organic farm walk and herb picking
- ✓ Making your own curry paste
- ✓ All ingredients for the class
- ✓ Your own individual cooking station
- ✓ Eat everything you cook, or take it away
- ✓ Step-by-step recipe e-book
- ✓ Free coffee, tea and drinking water
- ✓ Free Wi-Fi
- Pick-up beyond the 4 km radius of the Old City (ask us for a quote)
- Alcoholic drinks
- Card payment surcharge (3% if paying by card on site)
- Gratuities
- Travel insurance
- Local fresh-market visit (included on the morning, evening and full-day courses only)
- 12:00
Hotel pick-up
Collected between 12:00 and 12:30 (free within 4 km of the Old City).
- 12:40
Drive to the organic farm
About 25–30 minutes out of the city to the farm.
- 13:10
Farm walk and herb picking
Walk the organic beds, learn how to pick herbs and vegetables properly and gather what your dishes need.
- 13:40
Curry paste
Take your station and pound your chosen curry paste in a granite mortar.
- 14:15
Soup and stir-fry
Cook a soup and a wok dish at your own burner and eat each as you finish it.
- 15:15
Curry, rice and herbal drink
Cook your curry, learn the seven natural rice colours and make a Thai herbal drink.
- 16:10
Dessert and the table
Sticky rice with mango or banana spring rolls, then sit down to everything you have made. Take-away boxes provided.
- 16:45
Recipe e-book and photos
Group photos on the farm and your step-by-step recipe e-book.
- 17:00
Return transfer
Dropped back at your hotel.
Yes — unusually well. Every dish on the menu can be prepared vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten-free, and you decide whether each dish is spicy or not. Tell us at booking so the shopping is right, and flag any allergy again with your instructor on the day.
Yes. You build your own menu from the category pick-lists, so nobody at the table cooks the same lunch. A small number of dishes are set-menu dishes that everyone cooks together, so you also learn a few techniques as a group.
It skips the local fresh-market visit. You still get the organic farm walk, the herb picking, your own curry paste and six dishes at your own station — the market tour is the only element removed.
Free pick-up and drop-off is included within a 4 km radius of the Chiang Mai Old City. The farm is about 12 km out of town, roughly a 25–30 minute drive. If you are staying beyond the free zone, tell us your hotel and we will confirm or quote a supplement.
Light clothes you do not mind splashing and closed shoes rather than sandals — you will be at a wok and walking through a market and a farm. Aprons are provided; tie long hair back.
Cancel more than one day before departure at no charge. Within six hours of departure, 50% is charged. A last-minute cancellation or no-show is charged in full.
Two are set dishes that everyone cooks; the other four you choose yourself from the category lists.