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Published on March 24, 2008

Hats off to a trio of France's top chefs: Alain Soliveres whose famed Taillevent restaurant in Paris has two Michelin stars, Jean-Michel Lorain of the three-star La Côte Saint Jacques in Burgundy and Michel Trama from the three-star Les Loges de L'Aubergade in southwest France.

These three refused to take part in a publicity stunt for a handful of a wealthy people on a quirky quest that was supposed to help bring attention to Thailand's poor.

The three chefs had originally agreed to prepare a lavish feast for well-heeled diners at the luxury hotel lebua at State Tower, which was to be preceded by a half-day tour of a destitute village in Thailand's North. Soliveres was to cook a risotto with Brittany lobster and a Roquefort ice cream for dessert. Lorain was set to prepare his signature dish "Black truffle and cabbage 'Michel Lorain'". Each of the Michelin-starred chefs was to receive US$8,000 (Bt249, 924) for the evening's work.

The three chefs decided to bow out because they had good taste. Lorain called the event "unhealthy and morally unjustifiable" in an email to lebua executives.

Headlines in the French media slammed the event as a $300,000 poverty tour for the rich. "You can't see people living in misery and then go back to Bangkok to eat foie gras and truffles," Soliveres was quoted by Associated Press as saying.

Executives at lebua have apologised for any misunderstanding over the event but insist the $300,000 dinner will go ahead.

To give readers a little perspective, an average plate at The Nation's canteen costs about Bt20 for one scoop of white rice and two side items. The problem with lebua's event has nothing to do with its price tag. The problem has to do with taste, or, more precisely, the bad taste shown by the event's organisers.

The planned event placed a disturbing spotlight on the disparity between the rich and the poor. It overlooked important virtues that have historically been associated with the concept of social class including modesty, humility and the simple notion of human dignity. But that was when class was something that came with one's birth, not something that could be achieved through accumulating wealth.

While the French public was up in arms about this, most Thai people were disturbingly quiet. This is partly because too many people in our society worship the rich.

In the eyes of many Thais, the issue of human dignity doesn't rank that high. For many of us, it's always a good thing when the rich give to the poor.

The flaw in this line of thinking became all too apparent seven years ago when the rural poor voted in the country's richest man, Thaksin Shinawatra, as prime minister. Thaksin capitalised on the absurd notion that wealthy people could not be corrupted because they don't need any more money.

Sadly, many of the wealthy in Thai society actually believe that they are destined to lead the poor - and to make a few bucks along the way even if it means contradicting their stated principles.

This doesn't mean that rich people shouldn't run for public office or help out their fellow human beings; Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have shown how the latter can be done most effectively. Unlike the way in which the Thai rich approach charity, these men are not out to enrich themselves or take political power through charitable acts.

They are doing the right thing for the right reasons, not the right thing for the wrong reasons.

Most of us can see through men like Thaksin and the rich and powerful in Thai society, but when we begin to take their leftovers and ask for seconds, we justify their actions and their bad taste.

There is an old saying in Thailand: "If you're rich, you are incapable of doing anything disgusting." It's good to know that these three French chefs have proven that old adage wrong - it just would have been nicer if the Thai people were the ones who did it.

The Nation