“It’s Spring, Let’s Eat THAI” Thai Food Week 2022

To celebrate the Thai New Year “Songkran” this year, the Thai Restaurant Week was successfully held again in D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) during April 9- 17, 2022. The “It’s Spring, Let’s Eat THAI” food event was blessed with 62 participating Thai restaurants in the area, both are those continue from last year and some new comers. With nearly 1,700 followers on Instagram, the account @eatthaidmv welcomed over a hundred accounts joining with more than 500 posts (posts, stories, reels) in total. All these accounts have nearly 300,000 followers in all.

Special thanks to Qatar Airways for sponsoring the return air ticket to Thailand, Office of Agricultural Affairs and Office of Commercial Affairs in Washington, D.C. in supporting “Thai products” prizes, and a number of Thai restaurants who help promoting this campaign through extra restaurant gift cards, special discounts, “Songkran” menus, and additional promotions through their existing media channels.

Participated Thai restaurants this year could be found in the list —13 in DC, 17 in MD, and 32 in VA. There are many more Thai restaurants in the DMV, nonetheless, so Thai food lovers and enthusiasts could explore further and help us expand a more inclusive list for following years. Our main goal is to insert this Thai Restaurant Week into local cities’ annual calendars across the DMV.

Besides being promoted on the Embassy’s social media platform;

• website – https://thaiembdc.org/thainewyear2022/  and https://thaiembdc.org/promote-restaurant-week-2022/
• facebook – https://www.facebook.com/eatthaidmv
• instagram – https://www.instagram.com/eatthaidmv/

 

The event was also picked up by numerous media channels and platforms across DMV. A celebratory example is when the 7News DC Mornings crews reached out with the interest in how the event has supported local Thai businesses in the DMV and introduced new Thai dish options to everyone in the area to try, alongside promoting tourism to visit Thailand for even an better experience.

 7NewsDC - Thai Restaurant Week Interview

Apart from the above live interview, there are many more media platforms that helped spread the words to all food lovers in the DMV;

Media Platforms	Likes	Followers	Sites
Cultural Tourism DC	21,278	22,568	https://www.facebook.com/30020829904/posts/10160220285084905/?d=n
DCist	108,998	117,115	https://dcist.com/story/22/04/07/dc-weekend-events-guide-april-7-2022/
Yelp DC	(website)		https://www.yelp.com/events/washington-songkran-thai-new-year-thai-restaurant-week
Eventbrite	(website)		https://stayhappening.com/e/its-spring-lets-eat-thai-thai-restaurant-week-2022-E3LUUUKKCHF7
Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW)	5,400	16,000	https://www.facebook.com/RAMWdc AND https://www.instagram.com/p/CcYSEcWuPek/
Allevents	263,857	262,729	https://allevents.in/washington/its-spring-lets-eat-thai-thai-restaurant-week-2022/10000313142235857
Happening Next	(website)		https://happeningnext.com/event/its-spring-lets-eat-thai-thai-restaurant-week-2022-eid4snvg2rqkw1
Baan Siam’s media	(newsletter)		https://www.mountvernontriangle.org/event/celebrate-thai-new-year-during-thai-restaurant-week-songkran-festival/

 

Throughout the week, although there were many events happening at the same time (including Cherry Blossom Festival, National Park Week, Smithsonian Jazz Appreciation Month, to name a few), we were thrilled to welcome long trains of Thai food enthusiasts at Thai restaurants across the DMV, celebrating the Thai New Year Festival with us.

 

Prizes are categorized into 4 groups as follows;

1. Most Engagement *** Air Ticket from Qatar Airways to THAILAND ***
2. Most Restaurant visits *** TWO $100 Thai restaurant gift cards + large Thai products basket + special package from the Sai Jai Thai Foundation ***
3. Most Liked Post *** $100 Thai Restaurant gift card + Thai products basket ***
4. Raffle Picks *** $100 Thai restaurant gift card ***

 

List of the WINNERS could be found here!!