Experience the authentic Thai Akha Kitchen in Chiang Mai. We open our kitchen, you bring your voice.
Thai Akha Kitchen invites content creators to join a free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers, influencers and writers – as our guests, you and one companion. We don’t propose a commercial transaction, but a genuine exchange between people.
We offer the same hands-on experience travelers cross the world for: a vibrant local market tour, eleven traditional dishes cooked from scratch, and the story of the Akha hill tribe behind every recipe. We are a family-run school, voted among the best in the world on TripAdvisor for 11 consecutive years, and we’ve always grown the same way: through people who come, cook, and pass the story on.
If this sounds like the kind of story you love to tell, fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
What We Offer
A free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers and creators: choose between our Morning Class (with a fresh-market tour, approx. 6 hours) or Evening Class (approx. 5 hours) in Chiang Mai.
- Room for two: the invitation is valid for you and one travel companion.
- Full immersion: your own wok station, eleven dishes to prepare, hand-pounded curry paste, and our printed recipe book to take home.
- A perfect set for your content: our open-air Akha kitchen and the colorful morning market are the ideal backdrop for your photos and videos.
Who We Are Looking For
Food and travel bloggers, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube creators, journalists, and writers – both established profiles and growing channels. For us, follower count doesn’t matter; what matters is the quality of the connection and trust you’ve built with your audience.
A Spontaneous Exchange
“We believe in the value of authentic storytelling. To be absolutely clear, we do not ask for or require reviews in exchange for this experience. We simply welcome you into our culture and share our culinary secrets; in exchange, we only invite you to share your day in our kitchen with your community, in your own style and with total freedom. We will never give you a script to follow.”
How It Works
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Submit your application: Fill out the form below with your details and links to your channels.
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Receive booking details: You will receive an email with all the necessary information and steps on how to book your class.
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Cook and share: Come cook with us on your selected date, and tell the story your way.
Apply to Cook With Us
Tell us a little about yourself and your work. The more we can see of your channels and audience, the faster we can welcome you into our kitchen – and to your free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers, creators and storytellers.
The Chiang Mai Market You’ll Explore
The morning class begins where every Thai dish does – at the market. Our fresh-market tour winds through two Chiang Mai markets, and for a creator it is one of the richest hours of the day: crates of tropical fruit, baskets of herbs, curry pastes pounded in front of you, and colour in every direction. Bring your camera – this part of the day tells its own story.
Visit Our Two Chiang Mai Markets
Where the story begins
🛒 Chiang Mai Gate (South Gate) Market – the first stop on the morning tour – small, local and open before dawn, where curry pastes are pounded fresh and the early light is made for photos.
🛒 Muang Mai Market – Chiang Mai’s largest fresh market, a maze of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices along the Ping River. It is where guests see how a Thai kitchen really shops – and where the most colourful shots of the day happen.
Want to choose them yourself? Join the Morning Class with its Local Market Tour, where we walk the stalls together – from the butcher’s block to the herb baskets – before cooking back at the kitchen.
Recommended by Lonely Planet – 2026
Listed among the best things to do in Chiang Mai by Lonely Planet – independent recognition that stands beside the Thai Akha Kitchen awards 2026.
Lonely Planet again recommended Thai Akha Kitchen among the best things to do in Chiang Mai in 2026 – an unbroken run since 2019. Two of travel’s most trusted names, TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet, pointing independent travellers to the same Akha kitchen, year after year. It is the kind of steady, repeated endorsement that sits naturally beside the Thai Akha Kitchen awards 2026.
Why Bloggers and Creators Cook With Us
Your Questions Answered
We have welcomed travellers, writers and creators from all over the world, and the class works on camera because it is real: a family kitchen, a hill-tribe story, a market at dawn and eleven dishes you cook with your own hands. There is no set and no script – just a genuine day that gives you honest footage, strong photos and a story worth telling.
For a creator, that authenticity is the whole point. You are not filming a studio demo – you are cooking a real meal in a working Akha kitchen, learning why each step matters, and leaving with a story your audience can almost taste. That is the kind of content people actually watch, save and share.
Is the class really free for bloggers?
Yes – our free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers is a real invitation. You join as our guest – you and one companion – in the spirit of a cultural exchange: we share our Akha kitchen and story with you, and you share the experience with your audience.
How many people can come?
Up to two: you plus one guest or companion. Travelling as a larger team or crew? Tell us in the form and we’ll see what we can do.
Do I need a big following?
No. We care more about an engaged audience that trusts you than about the numbers. Both established and growing creators are welcome to apply.
Which class can I join?
The Morning class with its fresh-market tour (about 6 hours), the Evening class (about 5 hours) in Chiang Mai, or our live Online class from anywhere in the world.
What do you ask in return?
Simply that you capture the day in video and photos and share it on your social channels – tagging @thaiakhakitchen with #thaiakhakitchen so people can find us. That’s the whole exchange: our culture and story, for your experience of it in your own voice.
Can I film and photograph in the kitchen?
Absolutely – our open kitchen and the market are made for it. We only ask that you’re mindful of the other guests cooking alongside you.
I’m a journalist and need a press kit – do you have one?
We do. Mention it in the form and we’ll send high-resolution photos, our story, recipes and awards.
How do I apply?
Fill in the form on this page to request your free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers and creators. We’ll reply by email, usually within a day or two, and help you choose a date. That’s it – we can’t wait to cook with you.
🎬 Thai Akha Kitchen for Content Creators:
See the story your audience can verify – a free Chiang Mai cooking class for bloggers backed by 11 years of awards: Read or Write a Review · All Awards
Discover more: Morning Class · Evening Class · Local Market Tour · Online Class · Recipes · Awards · Contact
Thai Food and Culture on the Web
Further Reading
Trusted, independent references on Thai cooking ingredients – the herbs, spices, vegetables, and aromatics behind every dish – plus the Northern Thai and Akha food traditions of Chiang Mai, to help you understand the pantry before you cook with us:
🍜 Wikipedia – Thai cuisine
A broad overview of Thai cuisine, history and ingredients.
🏔️ Wikipedia – Northern Thai cuisine
Lanna food traditions of Chiang Mai and the north.
🌿 Wikipedia – Kaffir lime
Aromatic citrus leaf, essential and irreplaceable in Thai cooking.
🪺 Wikipedia – Galangal
The rhizome behind tom kha and many curry pastes.
🌏 Tourism Authority of Thailand
The official guide to Thai food and culinary travel.
🛖 Wikipedia – Akha people
The hill-tribe heritage behind our family kitchen and flavours.
Excited to participate in a Cooking Class?
From your Home or in our kitchen in Chiang Mai
