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Hello, welcome! Take a look inside kaa. Here's what I have for you today:​

2017: The food critics of the Guide Michelin released their first Thailand list: 17 restaurants in Bangkok. Since then, dozens of restaurants all over the country have received stars, and many more have made the Bib Gourmand List ("exceptionally good food at moderate prices"). By the way, most influencers don’t know the difference and falsely tell their audience that they ate at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Problem #1: The Michelin Guide made it incredibly easy for non-experts to pretend they are experts. None of these guys try a new spot if it’s not Insta-famous. Social media is flooded with copy-paste content replicated by copy-paste idiots. Tim’s Take: Make Foodies great again.

Problem #2: A star is not a blessing. Yes, it drives an insane amount of customers to the kitchens. But not every chef can handle the sudden fame. The result: reservation lists, long queues, stressed staff, and bad service. There’s a reason why I never recommend Jay Fai. I ate there before the restaurant received the star. Never before and never since was I treated so badly in Thailand. And if you look at the latest shitstorms against the old lady, it does not really surprise me too much. Tim’s Take: Don’t blindly trust the Guide Michelin.

Problem #3: I can’t count how many times I saw a fake copy of the red Michelin recognition in Thai restaurants. You know, these posters with the logo and the year. And some Thai business owners don’t really care about copyright laws. Plus, they know that most tourists don’t double-check online. They are too busy taking selfies. Tim’s Take: Inform yourself.

You see, there’s a lot of marketing and fraud going on. But what if I told you that the Guide Michelin came very late to the party? That Thailand has had its own gourmet list since 1961? That Thailand actually couldn't care less about the Michelin Guide? That this whole star thing is only for the clueless farangs?

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I’m talking about the secret green bowl. Remember the name "Shell Shuan Shim". Means: "Shell Welcome to Taste".

The Green Bowl started in 1961—when a Thai prince with a legendary palate began reviewing street vendors. His signature on a sign became known as a "royal blessing."

But the origin story behind the green bowl is even better:

The petroleum company Shell wanted to expand LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) sales. The marketing idea: Demonstrate gas as the fuel of the culinary elite. The Solution: Shell Thailand partnered with Thailand's most respected palate to endorse restaurants, effectively messaging that the finest food in the kingdom was prepared using modern gas technology. So they partnered with the respected food critic M.R. Thanatsri Svasti to endorse restaurants and increase fuel consumption by encouraging motorists to drive to "guaranteed" establishments.

The irony: A petroleum company became Thailand's supreme authority on delicious food. Similar to how Michelin (a tire company) wanted people to drive to sell tires.

Join the waitlist and get 50% off on launch day.

The Green Bowl criteria: A dish has to be "aroi" (delicious). And therefore it must achieve a perfect balance of:

Other important factors:

And here's the wild part: once a place earned the bowl, they kept it forever. Some of these stalls have been serving the same recipe for 40+ years. Same wok. Same charcoal. Same family.

By the way, the Green Bowl paused between 2012 and 2019. Today, there’s a website, and you will find the Green Bowl on social media. But the whole content is in Thai, and there’s no map. That shows that the target audience still is exclusively Thai.

And guess what: I’d rather eat where Thais eat. As the only farang. In one of these old noodle shops. Watching a cute grandmother work the same wok her mother used.

That’s why I put all "Shell Shuan Shim" spots (2025 list) in Bangkok on a custom Google Map that is part of my upcoming Thailand Trip OS. Join the waitlist and get 50% off on launch day.

Chokdee!
Tim

P.S. Michelin showed up fifty-six years later. And told the Thais where the good food is to be found …