What would you do with Bt1 million? Buy a small house? Get yourself a decent Japanese car? Maybe go travelling?  Some 20 super-rich folk have chosen to spend their Bt1-million budgets on a gala dinner being offered by Mezzaluna at lebua Hotels and Resorts today.

Part of the "Epicurean Masters of the World II", the five-day gastronomic event kicked off on Tuesday with some cheaper meals starting at Bt5,500 without wine and Bt7,500 with wine.

The B1-million tag (excluding 10-per-cent service charge and 7-per-cent VAT) also covers a night's stay at the hotel, a sightseeing tour and transfer to the airport.

"Why are we doing it after the US?" asks Deepak Ohri, managing director of lebua Hotels and Resorts, who's been jetting around the world selling tickets and searching out the best wines since coming up with the idea of selling Bangkok to the super-rich listed in Forbes magazine .

"Because it's going to be good for Thailand." Ohri realises that the self-sufficiency campaign is currently sweeping across the country.

He expects Mezzaluna to become a small-business platform for the very wealthy to meet and discuss their future plans. He hopes the billionaires will recognise the local staff's capability and the business potential in the Kingdom during and after this mega-dinner.

"They might see something and plan to start a business in Bangkok or Phuket," he says.

While Ohri expects the multi-million baht event to promote his property and the country, he also feels that local hoteliers and chefs will consider the event a good opportunity for local staff to learn from world-class professionals.

It's not that local staff lack experience, but working with world-class professionals is different, says Christophe Vahlas, the Conrad Bangkok's food and beverage executive assistant manager.

The event will broaden their minds and "help raise the bar of cooking in Thailand".

Inviting big names as guest chefs is nothing new; it's just that no one has put such a high price tag on a dinner before.

The Oriental Bangkok's Le Normandie has been regularly inviting three-starred Michelin chefs since 1981. Three-Michelin-star chef Louis Outhier had been there more than once. Guest chefs for Saturday's dinner like Marc Meneau, Michel Lorain, Jacques Lameloise and Antoine Westermann have all whipped up dinners in Bangkok between 1989 and 1995.

And it's not just the Oriental and lebua. The Conrad Bangkok is also holding a food event for Michelin-star chef Riccardo De Pra between March 12 and 17 at its Italianate Restaurant.

Though most hotel managers don't want to admit that inviting big-name chefs is a marketing tool, they do concede that big names attract the local elite and add colour to the establishment.

That's how a hotel offers an alternative for local customers, says Vahlas. He bases his choice of guest-chefs on the artistic style they display, which should match the character of the hotel.

"He only happens to be a Michelin star chef. And we make it affordable for all."

Spanish chef Josep Barahona, whose L'estudi Restaurant is based in Tokyo, remembers hearing about a similar event in the Japanese capital a few years back. He personally doesn't agree with high-priced concept dinners.

A chef who enjoys making tapas from leftover food, Barahona says he doesn't need expensive ingredients from around the world to prepare a meal.

"I don't care about the price, it's the taste of the food that matters."

The 10-course meal has the world's most expensive wine list, including a 1959 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and a range of special ingredients such as foie gras, truffles and caviar.

"If you've good ingredients, you don't need a chef," comments Barahona, who was invited by the Spanish Embassy last week to give a cooking demonstration as part of Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006.

He says there's no challenge in turning good ingredients into a refined dish.

"My job is to find cheaper alternatives and prepare a decent menu."

Two-starred chef Thierry Marx from France disagrees. He explains that the chefs will be focusing on turning the special ingredients into a set of courses that form perfect marriages with each wine. The price, he adds, is justifiable, as half of it will have been spent on the rare wines and the six leading chefs.

Executive chef Vichit Mukura from the Oriental Bangkok views the dinner as a rare opportunity for local exporters to showcase their products.

"By looking at what they use as ingredients in the cooking, we can find out what we can export."

Ohri and lebua may not make much profit from the gala event, but they've succeeded in whipping up a great deal of publicity. And they certainly won't need Hollywood's star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, or singer Tata Young to attract the media's attention.

During the past few months, Ohri has appeared in the media throughout Asia talking about his mega-event.

Even the chefs, restauranteurs and hoteliers in France are talking about this event, says chef Marx.

Besides, Ohri's been successful in attracting quite a few billionaires.

"Douglas [D Gollan] told me he didn't want to fly first-class, so instead he'll fly with a friend from New York in a private jet," says lebua's managing director.

Gollan is the founder, president and editor-in-chief of Elite Traveler, an in-flight magazine for private jets.

This year, however, Bt1-million meal will be dwarfed by Ohri's plans for next year.

"I'm going to make a US$1-million [Bt35.8 million] table for 10 people only."

Sirinya Wattanasukchai

The Nation