Why is Thai cuisine more popular than Korean cuisine in western countries even though South Korea has more soft power?

[KhmerFighter]

Thailand still has a lot of soft power through BL dramas and horror movies but it is far from South Korea's level.

Before you ask, why is Chinese cuisine more popular than Korean cuisine even though South Korea has more soft power, the Chinese diaspora is just fucking huge. And they also immigrated much longer. The Thai diaspora is smaller than the Korean diaspora and the Korean diaspora immigrated long before the Thai did.

Anyways, though its true Korean people far outnumber Thai people in most western countries, Thai food is still a lot more popular than Korean food in western world so population is perhaps not necessarily one of the main factors that influence the popularity of cuisines. One or two Thai restaurants alone probably makes more revenue than all Korean restaurants in the western world combined.

[el_Te_de_la_Rosa]

Basically, there are 5 tastes in most dishes in Thai cuisine. They are mixed harmoniously.

- Hot/spicy เผ็ด [phed]

- Salty เค็ม [khem]

- Sweet หวาน [whaan]

- Sour เปรี้ยว [preaw]

- Plain จืด [jued]

Together, there, Umami - derived from Japanese, กลมกล่อม/นัว [glom-glorm / nuo]

Think about Tom-yum-Kung or Massaman. The reason why they gain so much fame is bacause of the complexity (as James said).

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I used to be on board as a assistant cook. I tried all sauces available in the galley. Most of them had only 1 or 2 tastes. Nothing could compare to Thai sweet chili paste!

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I'm not boasting. Hahaha!!!

[James_Likes_PPL]

As a white American I can answer this. Thai food is the Italian of Asia for Americans. Indians in America are very common Asian immigrants but Americans hate their food. That’s why there arnt many Indian restaurants in America. Americans love food ❤️

Thai food is simply better. I have known Chinese Laos Vietnamese and Korean people open Thai restraints because of how much Americans love Thai

we love Thai Because of the complexity of flavors that the other cuisines don’t have. There is a big dif between tom kha and any Korean Guk. It’s just better. But Americans love the noodles most of all. Those noodles and sauces what really made Thai food explode in America.

[el_Te_de_la_Rosa]

Thank you. Your explanation touches me. I totally agree with your "the complexity of flavors".

[Staximus]

What the hell is soft power? Nobody says that shit in this part of the world

[el_Te_de_la_Rosa]

Err... it's the term Thai government uses for stuff that represents Thai culture. I don't think Thai food is "soft" because it actaully plays big part to attract people from overseas. There're something like Boys'love series 😅 and elephant pants are being promoted.

[rachel776]

Thai food took off when Tommy Tang opened a Thai restaurant on Melrose Avenue in the 1980s and had a best-selling cookbook at the same time. everyone went crazy for it and people starting flooding in from Thailand to open restaurants all over the place

there isn't really a Korean food equivalent of that happening in the U. S. ever, getting bibimbap from food carts like Kalbi is probably the closest