Chef David Thompson explains cooking 'to the damnation of the customer'

David Thompson is a world-renowned expert on Thai cuisine. His London restaurant, Nahm, is the first-ever Thai restaurant to receive a Michelin star. The Australia-born Thompson has also written a popular, award-winning cookbook, "Thai Food." His next book, "Thai Street Food," is due out in Australia on October 26, with an international release scheduled for October 2010.

Thompson was recently in Bangkok for the World Gourmet Festival, where he gave a cooking demonstration. He discussed the factors that make Thai cuisine popular the world over, shared his thoughts on authenticity in Thai cooking and touched on the reasons that cooking at home is becoming a lost art in Thailand.