Useful links: The Surprising Reason There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America Hot Thai Kitchen We’re happy to have Pailin Chongchitnant as our guest this week, creator and host of Hot Thai Kitchen, a popular YouTube channel based in Vancouver, Canada that shows people how to cook delicious Thai food recipes in their kitchens. A handful of places - Italy, Japan, Vietnam, India - have food that’s so tied to their culture that the food itself is somewhat of an ambassador, and Thailand is no exception. The question then becomes how much Thai culture can a foreigner absorb simply by watching how the national cuisine is prepared? Pailin also gives some insight into how Thai food is perceived overseas & how “hipster Thai” joints are taking over, and describes how she comes up with ideas for shows. She also describes some of the insane ways foreigners try to give their native food a Thai spin by splashing peanut sauce on it - or even using - (ugh) - peanut butter! And in a post-interview email that Greg reads, Pailin also weighs in on a recent article describing how the Thai government helps Thai nationals overseas open Thai restaurants, which may or may not help the cause, depending on how passionate the owner is about “real” Thai food. As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE  accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.