BANGKOK, Thailand -- Sitting down to a table of fish dumplings, curried prawns and minced-pork dip, Goanpot Asvinvichit explains how a real Thai meal should taste.

"See this soup?" says Thailand's deputy commerce minister, ladling out a creamy tom yam goong, made from prawns and lemon grass, at a tony restaurant in Bangkok. "It's supposed to be spicy. Very spicy. But in America, they make it mild. Maybe they like it that way, but it's not traditional tom yam anymore. It's distorted."

In an effort to fix those "distortions," and to cash in on America's wild appetite for Thai food, the Thai government is embarking on one of the world's most unusual food ventures. It plans to launch a chain of more than 3,000 Thai restaurants world-wide over the next five years, with the largest number, more than 1,000, slated for the U.S.

The restaurants, which will go by the names Elephant Jump for the fast-food branches, Cool Basil for midpriced restaurants and Golden Leaf for the upscale eateries, are believed to be the first ever launched by a government. With Arthur Andersen LLC as an adviser, Thai officials are raising more than $10 million in start-up funds and holding discussions with several potential franchise partners in the U.S., including Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., White Plains, N.Y., and AFC Enterprises Inc., Atlanta, of Church's Chicken fame.

"We want to be like the McDonald's of Thai food," says Mr. Goanpot, who first cooked up the idea. "And we want to show the world what genuine Thai food should really taste like."

The business, called Global Thai Restaurant Co., marks the latest extreme in the Thai government's ambitious campaign to boost the country's cuisine to the top of the global food chain. Since 1990, the government has sent dozens of Thai chefs abroad, helped launch giant culinary training centers around Bangkok, formed vast networks of food and tableware suppliers, and organized countless cooking fairs and food shows around the world.

The result: There are now more than 5,000 Thai restaurants outside Thailand, with over 2,000 of them in the U.S. – up from about 500 in the U.S. in 1990. Thai food has become one of America's fastest-growing cuisines, along with Indian, Vietnamese and Cajun. Driven by a wave of immigrants and the more daring tastes of young diners, Thai food is part of a sweeping shift away from more traditional fare such as French, Greek and German, according to the National Restaurant Association.

The growth is lighting a fire under Thailand's otherwise tepid economy. Thailand earns more than $6 billion a year from food-related exports – things such as kaffir-lime leaves and galangal (a gingerlike root) – and more than $1.6 billion from exporting restaurant supplies such as Buddha bronzes and plates. Herbs and spices have become one of the country's fastest-growing exports, leaping more than 30% last year.

Thailand's tourism business is also benefiting, as fans of the food are enticed to sample the country itself. Last year, nearly 10 million tourists visited Thailand, nearly double the levels in 1990. To maintain the growth, Thai tourism officials are peppering restaurants in the U.S. with travel brochures, promotional posters and airline fliers.

With its latest foray into culinary-industrial policy, the government aims to speed up the industry's growth and ensure that the Thai food sold around the world is the genuine article. The state will take a minority stake in the company – less than 30% – and will parcel the remaining ownership out to Thai investors. Foreign investment will be tapped if the government decides it is necessary.

Mr. Goanpot says the government won't run the day-to-day operations of the company, leaving that to the more experienced franchise partners in each country. But, he says, the government will play a "strong role" in drawing up the menus, enforcing "genuine" quality and making sure the restaurants buy at least 70% of their supplies from Thailand.

"We want to show that government can take an active role and create a model project," says Mr. Goanpot, a former banker.

Others aren't so sure. Several restaurant companies, including two from Thailand, are planning similar global franchises and bristle at having to compete against the government. Some Thai-born restaurant owners in the U.S. are also anxious, fearing subsidized competition.

"What does the government know about running a restaurant?" asks Permphan Neowakul, managing director of THIT Co., a Bangkok food company that is launching a franchise in the U.S. with Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts, based in Singapore. The chain, called Spices by Khun Perm, is expected to open its first restaurant in Atlanta next month and plans to add as many as 20 more this year around the U.S.

Analysts also wonder how much Thai food the American market can digest. While their popularity is growing, Thai restaurants are facing a critical shortage of Thai chefs. Many have been forced to halt their expansion plans or hire non-Thai chefs – a culinary travesty to Thais. The Thai government says it is working with U.S. immigration officials to try to get special U.S. working permits for the chefs in its venture, but it concedes that such a goal will be difficult to achieve.

Still, many Thai restaurateurs in the U.S. say they are intrigued by the government's plan.

"It helps all of us if it creates more interest in Thai food," says Chaiwat Siriyarn, the chef and owner of the popular Marnee Thai Restaurant in San Francisco, known for his chan pad poo, or rice noodles with crabmeat, egg and green onion. "The market is there and I think it could do very well."

Thailand is counting on it. On a recent afternoon in the smoke-filled kitchen of the Dusit Thani College cooking school, 20 young students learn the fine art of kapi kua, or coconut-curry dip, mashing together smoked fish, coconut, curry paste and coriander root. Cooks at the school – many from poor villages – see Thai food as their recipe for riches and hope the government restaurant project will land them a job in America. Like engineering, business and law, cooking has become a hot career field in Thailand because of the growth in Thai restaurants abroad.

"We hear that people in America love Thai food," says Chaiwat Juntharawboolkul, a 22-year-old senior in the cooking school, sculpting a carrot peel into a flower. "That would be my dream … to cook Thai food in New York."

SOURCE: Wall STreet Journal Online

STORY BY: Robert Frank