PassionfoodThai Cooking School · Chiang Mai Book a classBook

ยินดีต้อนรับ Welcome to Chiang Mai’s old town

Crack open the flavors of Thailand.

Half-day cooking classes with a market walk, a stone mortar of your own, and seven recipes you pick yourself — then you sit down and eat every one.

Book a class ฿900 See the full menu

5.0 from 2,400+ reviews on Google & Tripadvisor

A student stir-frying at his wok under the school’s sail shades
at the wok
Three students in aprons holding up the plates they cooked
we made this!
Two students with their dishes in front of the glowing Passionfood sign
new friends

Our namesake

Passionfruit เสาวรส

Classes

Two ways to spend a delicious half‑day

Same seven-recipe menu, same market walk, same warm welcome. Just pick the light you like to cook in.

Two guests holding the plates they cooked, in daylight under the sail shades
lunch, sorted

Morning class Our pick — fewer mosquitoes!

09:00 – 13:30

Catch the market in full morning swing, cook through to lunch, and keep your afternoon free for temples and naps.

Pick-up
08:30 – 09:00
Length
4.5 hours
Group
Up to 12

฿900 per person

Book morning
Two guests with their dishes in front of the Passionfood sign, lit up after dark
lights on, plates up

Evening class

16:00 – 20:30

Shop as the afternoon cools, cook through golden hour, and eat your way into the evening. Dinner: sorted.

Pick-up
15:30 – 16:00
Length
4.5 hours
Group
Up to 12

฿900 per person

Book evening
  • No deposit. Booking costs nothing up front — pay on the day by cash, or card (+3.5%).
  • Free changes & cancellation until 10 pm the night before a morning class, or 1 pm on the day of an evening class.
  • Bringing a non-cook? Visitors aged 6+ are ฿400; little ones under 6 come free.

Your day

From market stall to full belly

  1. 08:30 – 09:0015:30 – 16:00

    01

    We come to you

    A red songthaew collects you from your hotel. Staying nearby? Meet us at the Somphet (Ming Muang) Market entrance, next to the currency exchange booth.

    • Hotel pick-up
    • Or meet at the market

  2. 09:0016:00

    02

    Market walk

    Your teacher introduces the roots, herbs and chillies behind Thai flavour. Smell everything. Ask everything.

    • Galangal
    • Lemongrass
    • Kaffir lime
    • Holy basil

  3. Back at school

    03

    Pound, chop, sizzle

    In our open-air kitchen, ingredients arrive washed and prepped. You pound your own curry paste in a stone mortar, then cook dish by dish with your small group.

    • Stone mortar
    • Groups of 12 or fewer

  4. Until 13:30Until 20:30

    04

    Cook one, eat one

    Each dish goes from wok to table while it’s hot. Cook, eat, repeat — and whatever you can’t finish, you can take home.

    • 7 recipes
    • Take leftovers home
Passiflora edulis — the flower before the fruit

Our story

We don’t just teach Thai cooking. We hope you fall in love with it.

Passionfood sits on a quiet soi in Chiang Mai’s old town. Our teachers are rooted in Thai culinary tradition, and they love nothing more than passing it on — the story behind each dish, the reason for every ingredient, the little tricks that never make it into recipe books.

Classes are social by design. Solo travellers become chopping partners; strangers become dinner companions. A passion flower opens for a single day — we think the best half-days are like that too.

4.5
hours
7
recipes
12
max per group
5.0
stars

Real aprons, real people

A few happy graduates

A bowl of fresh blue butterfly pea flowers
butterfly pea flowers…
Hands holding a plate of blue-tinted fresh spring rolls
…become blue spring rolls
A smiling student pounding curry paste in a stone mortar
pound it like you mean it
Three students in aprons proudly holding their finished dishes
proud chefs, full plates
Two smiling students in colourful aprons
all smiles, all aprons
A small group of students in aprons at the school
small groups, big laughs
A row of golden drinks garnished with edible flowers
even the drinks dress up
A family with young children in Passionfood aprons
bring the whole crew
Your apron’s waiting

Reviews

Notes from the table

PassionfoodThai cooking school · Chiang Mai

— Guest reviews —

As of

Google
5.0 × 2,257
Tripadvisor
5.0 × 152
+ Travelers’ Choice 2026

Total2,409 reviews

Check the bill: each line opens its listing.

5.0

Reviews arrive in English, 한국어, 中文 and more — and yes, one of our teachers speaks Chinese.

ขอบคุณ · thank you

It was one of the best things we did so far in Thailand.

— Michaela, cooked with her daughter
via Google

what guests mention again & again

  • Patient, funny teachers. Nancy, Music, Muse, Camilla and M come up by name in review after review.
  • The market walk. People love meeting unfamiliar ingredients before they cook with them.
  • Veggie & vegan friendly. Plant-based guests say they’re genuinely well looked after.
  • Great with kids & teens. Families cook side by side, at an easy pace.

Good to know

Questions, answered

I’ve never cooked before. Can I still join?

Absolutely. Classes are designed for every level, from first-timers to keen home cooks.

What about allergies and dietary needs?

We can accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies — vegetarian, vegan, no nuts, you name it. Just tell us in the notes when you book.

What should I bring?

Just an appetite. We take care of everything else.

Morning or evening?

Both are lovely, but we usually recommend mornings — there are fewer mosquitoes.

Can a friend come along without cooking?

Of course. Visitors aged 6 and up are ฿400 and children under 6 are free. Sharing a cooking station is just for young children cooking with a parent.

Can I take home what I cook?

Absolutely — whatever you don’t finish is yours to take.

Is the class in English? Is the kitchen air-conditioned?

Classes are in English, and we also have a Chinese-speaking teacher. The kitchen is open-air with fans — breezy, not air-conditioned.

Can I pay by card?

Yes — you pay on the day, by cash or card. Card payments carry a 3.5% fee; cash has no fee.

Do you offer private classes or the DTV visa?

We offer private bookings for bigger groups — message us to arrange one. We don’t offer DTV visa courses; our classes are single-day experiences.

Map of Chiang Mai's old city A hand-drawn sketch of the moated old city. Passionfood is on Singharat Road, Soi 3, in the north-west of the old city; the Somphet Market meeting point is near the east moat, north of Tha Phae Gate.

Find us

7 Singharat Road, Soi 3
Sriphoom, Chiang Mai 50200

Open daily, 08:30 – 20:30

School on Google Maps Market meeting point

กินข้าวยัง?

“Have you eaten yet?”

It’s how friends say hello in Thailand. Come cook with us and the answer will be a very happy yes.

Book a morning class Book an evening class