Thailand’s Cultural Promotion Department is preparing to propose the famous mango stick rice dessert as another ‘UNESCO intangible cultural heritage’ element, after a Thai rapper promoted the dish during her performance at the international concert Coachella.
The 19 year old female Thai rapper, Danupa “Milli” Kanateerakul, was invited to join the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2022 in California by the multinational company 88rising yesterday at 8am (Thai time). She was the very first Thai artist to perform on the stage, putting her hashtag #MILLILiveatCoachella on the top of Thai Twitter.
At the end of the performance, Milli brought a bowl of the famous Thai dessert mango sticky rice to the stage and invited the audience to try it. And, thanks to the power of social media, that made mango sticky rice sell out at almost every shop in Thailand yesterday.
Mango Sticky Rice is one of the most popular Thai desserts, featuring sweet coconut milk-infused sticky rice topped with ripe orange mango — the sweet one — and coconut milk sauce. The dish is the perfect choice for the summer season in Thailand because it is also the perfect time for Thai fruits.
Watch Milli’s performance HERE.
The Director of the Cultural Promotion Department, Chai Nakhonchai shared that Milli helped promote Thailand’s soft power to the international eyes when she ate the Mango Sticky Rice on stage. The director informed Thai media that the dish was on the list that the department planned to propose to UNESCO that the dish be included as Thailand’s intangible cultural heritage. He also added that the word was in the ‘Thai Dishcovery’… New Thai Dish for New Gen Project, which invited new-gen chefs to transform the looks and designs of different Thai traditional dishes.
Another part of Milli’s performance that won many Thais’ hearts was her rap lyrics that revealed “interesting and sarcastic facts” about Thailand, like the fancy and pricey street lamps (scandal), where the lamps appear to have cost many thousands of baht, the hot and hotter seasons, Thai railway lines, which have gone largely unchanged since the days of Rama 5, and also dispelling rumours about Thai elephants… that Thai people don’t ride elephants to work and school.
While many Thais praised her performance and how she promoted Thai dessert on the international stage, some thought it wasn’t good manners to eat during her performance. Some also speculated that her stunt might ruin the reputation of Thai food instead of promoting it.
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SOURCE: Dailynews