Australian Chefs Abroad: David Thompson’s four-decade journey into Thai cooking

A chance trip to Bangkok in the 1980s changed the direction of Australian chef David Thompson’s career. From Sydney restaurants to Michelin recognition in London and Bangkok, he has spent four decades going deeper into Thai cooking

David Thompson did not set out to build his career around Thai food.

The Sydney-born chef was initially drawn to French cooking, but a last-minute change of holiday plans took him to Bangkok in 1986.

The trip changed the direction of his career.

David became fascinated by the complexity and balance of Thai cooking. Two years later, he was living in Thailand, learning the language and immersing himself in its food and culture. He spent around two-and-a-half years there before returning to Australia.

Today, David is owner-chef of Aksorn in Bangkok, which holds one Michelin star in the 2026 Thailand Guide. The same guide also named him the first recipient of Thailand’s Michelin Guide Mentor Chef Award.

Discovering Thai cooking

Before that first trip, David’s understanding of Thai food was limited.

Living in Thailand exposed him to a much broader culinary tradition. He learned from cooks whose knowledge could be traced through private households and royal palace kitchens, while studying the ingredients and techniques behind the cuisine.

When he returned to Sydney, that interest became a restaurant career.

David opened Darley Street Thai in 1992, followed by Sailors Thai in 1995. Both helped establish his reputation in Australia and became important training grounds for chefs interested in Thai cooking.

Martin Boetz was among those who worked with David, eventually running Sailors Thai before establishing his own career.

From Sydney to London

In 2001, David opened Nahm at The Halkin hotel in London.

A year later, it became the first Thai restaurant to receive a Michelin star.

The recognition put David’s cooking on an international stage, but his interest in Thai food continued well beyond restaurant awards.

His book Thai Food brought together recipes with detailed writing on the ingredients, techniques, history and culture surrounding the cuisine.

It won the James Beard Award for International Cooking in 2003 and became one of David’s most significant contributions outside the restaurant kitchen.

Returning to Bangkok

In 2010, David opened Nahm in Bangkok at the COMO Metropolitan.

The restaurant went on to become one of Asia’s most recognised, reaching No.1 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2014.

Being back in Bangkok also placed David closer to the cooks, ingredients and historical material that had first drawn him to Thai food.

Old cookbooks became an increasingly important part of his work, offering another way to understand how dishes had developed and changed over time.

David left Nahm in 2018, ending an association with the restaurant that had lasted for more than 15 years.

Looking to the past at Aksorn

That interest in historical Thai cooking now sits at the centre of Aksorn.

Opened in Bangkok in 2020, the restaurant draws on Thai cookbooks published between the 1940s and 1970s. Rather than trying to represent Thai cuisine broadly, David and the team use those books to explore the cooking of particular periods and the people behind the recipes.

Aksorn received one Michelin star and continues to hold it in the 2026 Thailand Guide.

Four decades after David first arrived in Bangkok, historical recipes are still giving him new territory to explore.

Influence beyond his own restaurants

The latest recognition of David’s career focuses on something different.

When Michelin unveiled its 2026 Thailand Guide, David became the country’s first recipient of the Michelin Guide Mentor Chef Award.

The award recognises chefs who have made a lasting contribution to developing the next generation. Michelin highlighted David’s influence on chefs including Prin Polsuk of Samrub Samrub Thai, Sittikorn “Au” Chantop of AKKEE, Duangporn “Bo” Songvisava and Dylan Jones of Bo.lan.

It marks an important point in a career that began with David travelling to Thailand because he wanted to learn.

Over the decades that followed, his restaurants have moved between Sydney, London and Bangkok, while generations of cooks have passed through his kitchens.

From Sydney to Bangkok

David Thompson’s path overseas has been different from the traditional Australian chef journey through European kitchens.

A holiday introduced him to Thai food. Curiosity took him back to Bangkok, and the years that followed turned that interest into restaurants, books and a career spanning Australia, Britain and Thailand.

Sydney gave him the opportunity to establish his cooking. London brought international recognition. Bangkok allowed him to keep going deeper.

Forty years after that first trip, Aksorn shows the same curiosity is still there.

For a chef who began as a student of Thai cooking, the latest recognition of his career is not simply another Michelin accolade, but the influence he has had on the chefs who followed.