Picture the scene: You’ve taken your young child to the finest Phuket Thai restaurant. You’re looking down the menu at the wonderful offerings of this world-famous cuisine and you’re already salivating at the feast to come. You’ve been waiting all year for the chance to bombard your tastebuds with these exotic flavours. You turn to your kid to ask what they want. The response? Fish fingers and chips.

The simple fact is that kids like what is familiar to them and many will be put off by the notorious spiciness of Thai cuisine, as well as the weird names of the dishes. However, a few simple tricks will enable you to expose your young ones to the wonders of Thai cooking.

Have a big group dinner

The unusual sights and sounds of Phuket will already have your kids wondering about exploring outside of their comfort zone. Adding unusual tastes to this can be a bit of a challenge. However, children are especially prone to peer pressure. While this is ordinarily something which a parent needs to be extremely careful of, the controlled environment of a Phuket Thai restaurant can be one situation where it is actually beneficial.

While kids will ordinarily shy away from exotic and unfamiliar dishes, the social capital they’ll get from their peers for being the first to try something which looks a little off-putting (particularly seafood) will embolden some and, once at least one has declared it to be actually quite tasty, others will be quick to follow.

Make it a game

It is often said that making learning fun is the best way to make sure that the lessons are actually learnt. The same goes for learning about new cuisines. There are relatively few applications for this at the dinner table of a first-class Phuket Thai restaurant. However, the sort of hotels which have such restaurants may also have Thai cooking classes or kids clubs, one or other of which might offer to opportunity for kids to get involved in the more creative side of the cuisine, such as fruit carving.

Seafood is a major part of the sort of Thai food Phuket is home to, and shrimps are often served in their shells. Getting them out can be a little fiddly, but it is also exactly the sort of messy fun that kids will revel in. Just be sure that no one in the immediate area is wearing any clothes they’re especially fond of…