The Business Development Department has teamed up with Grab Thailand to promote Thai restaurants certified with the Thai Select seal by the Commerce Ministry.
Vuttikrai Leewiraphan, director-general of the department, said in the first phase there will be 101 Thai Select-certified restaurants and 22 franchised restaurants in Bangkok and Chiang Mai participating in the scheme.
Thai Select is part of the Thai Kitchen World Cuisine programme introduced in 2006 to capitalise on the global popularity of Thai cuisine.
The certification for restaurants is divided into two categories based on decoration and service excellence.
Thai Select Premium indicates a degree of excellence of five stars or higher. The label is granted to restaurants that offer authentic Thai food of premium quality with luxurious decor and outstanding service.
Thai Select indicates 3-4 stars, awarded to restaurants serving fine authentic Thai cuisine.
To date, 1,301 restaurants abroad have received the certification.
"The department has been trying to certify restaurants in Thailand," said Mr Vuttikrai. "With the Grab platform, we expect to increase access for domestic consumers and tourists to experience quality, authentic Thai food."
Small restaurants can use the technology to adapt to digital marketing and improve their business amid rapid changes.
Tarin Thaniyavarn, country head of Grab Thailand, said starting from Monday Thai Select-certified restaurants will be separately categorised within the Grab app to help consumers make selections easily.
Grab is committed to working to encourage more Thai Select restaurants and merchant partners to embrace a digital shopfront on GrabFood, enjoying access to digital marketing channels and a wider consumer base, he said.
The company wants to provide value-added services to merchant partners by helping them improve their menus and quality through consumer feedback and preferences.
"Grab is confident restaurants can have promising growth online this year as food delivery becomes more popular," said Mr Tarin. "We target 20 million online orders in 2019, up from 3 million last year."