Transformation of food communication on the media

Abstract

This article explores the historical context of communication about Thai cuisine. The literature on gastronomy communication is examined to comprehend food communication shift. The study is divided into four periods of food communication history: 1) Rattanakosin era - the first part of prehistory: the study revealed that communication during this period was predominantly by word-of-mouth, including communication via Siamese poetical media such as Nirat poetry, Kap, Klong, klon, and Sepha Performance; 2) The era of food and nationalism when communication shifted from word-of-mouth to the creation of cookbooks to demonstrate modernity to the Western world; 3) the Siamese Revolution, which transformed food communication through cookbooks into a form of mass communication, and 4) the transition from analog to digital food communication, which switched the role of the communication receiver to that of the sender because technology allowed people to create their food content. As a result, this study summarised the history of Thai gastronomy communication and a gap in Thai academic research surrounding food communication that may be explored in the future.