Bangkok offers dozens of Thai cooking classes ranging from half-day market tours with hands-on cooking to multi-day professional courses. Most classes start with a guided trip to a local market to pick out fresh ingredients, then move to a kitchen where you prepare four or five dishes yourself -- pad thai, green curry, tom yum, mango sticky rice, that sort of thing.
The Oriental Hotel Thai Cooking School is one of the most prestigious options, with multi-day courses under an expert chef. More affordable half-day classes run out of guesthouses in the Khao San Road area and cooking schools around Silom. Expect to pay around 1,000-1,500 baht for a half-day class including the market visit. A cooking class is one of the best souvenirs you can take home from Thailand.