Mango Tree branches out

Pitaya Phanphensophon took over the family business at age 26 and went on to found the Thai cuisine brand Mango Tree and has extended it worldwide. Provided to China Daily

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Many Thai ingredients, such as peppers and lemongrass, are infused with more heat than those common in Chinese cuisines. Thais use more ginger, herbs and garlic, he explains.

"(Coca is) Chinese but with Thai characteristics. It's different from typical Chinese food - fatty, with a lot of MSG, and they often use the cheapest cuts. Their strategy is that if you make it cheaper, more people will come. You can't blame them really. "Thai food is easier to understand than Cantonese. It's simple. We use a lot of home ingredients, such as herbs that people grow around their houses. The trend is coming back to the old days."

That said, the 56-year-old still considers himself Chinese. And he points out his wife is a Hong Kong native.

"Chinese cooking is my background. I was born and grew up here (Thailand) and then went overseas," Phanphensophon says.

"I'm getting more into Chinese tea - returning to my roots."

But he's equally as comfortable with his birth land's cuisine and hopes to change the way it's viewed in China.

"Chinese perceptions of Thai is that it's mediocre because it's sour and spicy," Phanphensophon says.

"They associate it with uncultured food (China's) new rich want abalone and shark fin. They want the most expensive food. But the most expensive isn't the best. The trick is to find good (things) for not too much money."

The group is again eyeing China, after its handful of outlets in Shanghai closed in the early 2000s.

"When the property prices went up, the owners thought it was easier to lease it out than to run a restaurant," Phanphensophon says.

Managing director of the group's subsidiary Exquisine System Trevor MacKenzie says: "We're looking at China but the challenge is China already has a (mature) market for Thai food."

So the brand must set itself apart, he says.