There are several cooking schools that offer excellent one-day courses in preparing Thai cuisine, these include visits to the market to provision and learn about unique vegetables, herbs and spices commonly used in this region. The original school is the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School which is conveniently located near Tapae Gate and teaches you how to prepare a number of standard Thai dishes, such as green curry, tom yum and papaya salad. Other schools include; Baan Thai, Gap's Thai Culinary Art, Siam Thai Cookery School and Thai Chocolate. Each school offers standard one-day courses, and selected schools offer a variety of programmes which include vegetarian cooking and preparing Thai desserts. Rates vary from 700 - 900 baht (one day) and many of the guesthouses advertise courses offered informally by an endless supply of local kitchen maestros.