Updated: April 2, 2024
Thai food guide, with the best typical dishes, safety, street food, spicy food, Michelin Star and many tips.
One of the wonders of traveling to Southeast Asian countries is the varied cuisine, a true gift for the taste buds.
Thailand is one of the preferred destinations for people with demanding palates, with its foods prepared with a wide variety of fresh ingredients combined with delicious spices.
Thais are known for eating at almost any time, even For breakfast it is normal to have noodle soup.
It's easy to understand how important food is in the land of smiles when they tell you that there is no specific question for “how are you?” instead they will ask you gin khao reu yang which means “have you eaten yet?”
If you don't have time to read the entire article, I recommend this one Bangkok food tour by tuk tuk of the link, to discover the delicious dishes of Thai food with a local.
Thai street food, is it safe?
On almost any corner, wherever you look, there will be a street stall or restaurant preparing appetizing dishes.
Thai food can be very economical, especially in the street stalls with delicious dishes that are very elaborate and healthy at the same time.
Don't be afraid to eat at street stalls., in the three years that I lived in Thailand I never had any problems with discomfort.
Because the vast majority of Thai food It is prepared at the moment, with fresh products.
Also, people are very hygienic, that's why Thai food is safe.
When I go to eat in Thailand at a new place I follow 2 rules:
- If there are people eating, especially locals, it is a good sign.;
- I avoid places that don't inspire me, that is, if I feel something telling me that it's not a good place because it seems dirty or whatever, I follow my instinct.
Likewise, you have to pay attention if you have any health problems such as intolerances or certain foods make you feel bad. At the end of the article I will tell you more details about this topic.
⭐ You may also be interested in this article about 12 best restaurants in Bangkok: good and cheap, all in the center, do not exceed 6 euros per plate and are recommended by the Michelin guide.
Street stalls with Michelin Star
Thailand is one of the few countries in the world where a street stall has a Michelin star, that says a lot.
Its about position of Jay Fai in Bangkok and his crab omelette.
Although not exactly cheap, this dish costs about 1000 baht (29.96 euros / 33.15 USD), the normal price for a street stall is around 30 to 100 baht.
The queen of Bangkok's street stalls It has won its Michelin star two years in a row.
The reason is the ingredients it uses, with seafood, as fresh as possible and of excellent quality, hence also the price that is more than justified.
The waiting time can be up to 3 hours to taste this wonder, I recommend you send a email to reserve, otherwise you run the risk of not getting a table.
What to eat in Thailand? – 8 best Thai food dishes
Thai food is popular internationally and almost every big city has a restaurant specializing in its exquisite cuisine.
If you are going to travel to the land of smiles, I recommend trying each of these 8 most popular dishes in Thai cuisine:
1.- Pad Thai
The popular pad thai is a super complete dish from a nutritional point of view.
It's about a stir-fried rice noodles with chicken/prawns, tofu, egg, bean sprouts, cilantro, peanuts.
Each place has its own recipe, but the classic one has soy sauce, fish and tamarind that gives it that great flavor.
In general it is not spicy, although sometimes they can sprinkle some black pepper on top, something that Thais do not consider spicy, haha.
👍 Fun fact: In November 2017, Google dedicated a doodle to Pad Thai, with some cute drawings that made this delicious dish.
2. Tom Yum Goong
Tom yum is a spicy soup with prawns (shrimp), mushrooms, tomato, lemon grass that gives it the acidic flavor, chili (Thai pepper) and galangal.
The word goong It means shrimp. This is the most common recipe, but you can find other tom yum with other meats.
Many people think that in Thailand they eat "strange things" like bugs, it is not the most common. In Thailand The most consumed meats are chicken, beef, pork, fish and shellfish.
In the case of tom yum, as an exotic I tried frog, but it is not the most common.
This dish is considered one of the healthiest dishes of Thai food.
But be careful because it is a very spicy dish, much more than the spiciness that is customary in Spain and even more than the majority of spicy foods in Mexico.
⭐ You may also be interested in this other article about 51 Curiosities about Thailand that will amaze you, where I include several topics about food.
3. Kuay Teow Lui Suan
In Thailand you can find classic fried spring rolls.
However, something very typical of Thai cuisine are the kuay teow lui suan which They are much healthier rolls because they are not fried.
They are fresh spring rolls or also known as summer rolls.
To prepare them They use rice paper and wrap lettuce, soy and other vegetables inside, in addition to shrimp, tofu and other ingredients.
This dish is easy to find delicious vegetarian or vegan versions.
4. Tom Kha Kai
This dish is a Chicken Soup (kai = chicken in Thai) in coconut milk with mushrooms, cilantro, fish sauce and galangal.
This soup is really delicious with its sweet and sour taste at the same time spicy time.
5. Som Tam
This dish is a true classic of Thai food, highly appreciated even by foreigners.
It is a Spicy green papaya salad with garlic, chili and tomato.
It's a fresh and digestive dish thanks to its acidic flavor What does that mean som.
Although like other Asian dishes, it has a good balance of various flavors: sour, sweet and salty, as well as spicy.
6. Cool Teow
This is one of the tastiest thai food dishes, quite common in street stalls that prepare it on the spot.
It is a plate of noodles stir-fried in the wok that usually contain chicken, pork or tofu.
Plus, it's well seasoned with soy and fish sauce to give it the classic salty flavor.
This dish usually has some fresh vegetables, one of the most common is soy cans.
Many restaurants and street food stalls usually have options of different types of noodles like those made with egg that are more yellow and then depending on the thickness.
7. Gaeng Keow Wan
This is a green curry made with coconut milk and beefto. In addition, it has fresh chili, eggplant and ginger.
They usually serve it with plenty of liquid like a soup.
Although this is beef, there is also a version with other meats such as chicken or fish.
It's a very tasty dish and at the same time quite spicy.
8. Khao niao Mamuang
I have to confess that this classic thai dish It took me a long time to try it because it is about sticky rice with mango.
The truth is that I had gotten the idea that I wasn't going to like it, but The rice they use is very different from the one we cook in Spain and other Western countries.
Dare to try this dessert because it will surprise you.
There are stalls that sell it in small plates to eat rice with cut mango They usually add some other ingredient on top such as chopped peanuts and condensed milk.
Although it is a dessert, it is filling enough.
You will also find in rolls inside banana leaves that you can take with you, as if it were a cereal bar. In this case, they are much smaller portions.
It's super practical if you want to carry a healthy snack with you to excursions or if you are going hiking.
You simply open the banana leaf and eat the rice with the mango.
Sometimes they also fill it with other different ingredients such as banana or small black beans that they use in desserts in Thailand.
However, this particular one is with a handle, which is what it means mamuang.
Bangkok Food Tour
If it is your first time traveling to Thailand, it is normal that at first you may be insecure about the food, especially when the language is different. At least it happened to me
That's why, I recommend you take a gastronomic tour, it is one of the best experiences in Thailand, because you go with a local to taste tasty Thai food, well selected and very well priced.
In addition, the guide explains many details of the dishes to you.
In Bangkok, I can recommend 2 tours:
⭐ This is a Bangkok Night Food Tour by Tuk Tuk You can see availability and book at that link.
It is a very enjoyable tour that in total 7 dishes are tasted including Thai sweets.
If you have flexibility of days, it is better that you go on a day other than Monday, so you can try the best pad thai in bangkok, because Mondays are the day of rest for the pad thai stalls. A true gift for the taste buds! 😋
⭐ Another alternative is this Bangkok food tour which is the most popular, specifically the tour is through Chinatown with a chef in a small group, at a very good price.
Thai cooking class
If you are a person passionate about good food, don't miss taking a Thai cooking class where you will learn how to make various dishes, including a visit to the market to buy the ingredients.
I recommend you east bangkok or this one in Chiang Mai.
The one in Chiang Mai is an Akha cooking workshop, which is traditional Thai cuisine from the mountains in the north of Thailand and is very tasty, in fact northern cuisine is considered the best in the country.
Advice on Thai food and special diets
1. The spiciness of Thai food
Spicy is a big deal in Thailand and several Southeast Asian countries, I'm sorry to tell you that If you don't like spicy you won't have many options.
Even if you order non-spicy food, it's probably still spicy for our palates.
Also, keep in mind that ordering without spice may mean that they add a lot of pepper before serving it to you. Because for Thai pepper is not spicy.
The level of Thai spiciness is far from what we have in most countries in the West.
In Spain, I ate something spicy, one day when I had recently been living in Thailand in a restaurant they told me that a dish was "a little spicy" and I thought I could tolerate it well. How naive I was! 🥵😅
That day I discovered that there is a spiciness scale of peppers called Scoville and that the Thais don't even notice the "little spicy" nature of Spain.
Even many Mexican peppers are less spicy than the Thai pepper. Below you can see a table of Taste Atlas with different types of peppers.
– Non-spicy Thai food dishes
There are some Thai dishes that are not spicy like Pad Thai although you will find that sometimes they add black pepper, although in a small amount.
Pad Sew Ew is another noodle dish, but in soy sauce, it is a non-spicy dish of Thai food.
Also you can order without spicy in thai and they will tell you the options you have, for me it has been my phrase salvation from dying of starvation. What exaggerated! 😅
Mai ped ka / kaap – is pronounced the same as it is read, the “d” of asked It is a strong pronunciation almost like a "t".
May means “no”, asked It's spicy".
ka and kaap It is the polite way of asking for something and is added to the sentences at the end, if you are a woman you add ka and kaap in case you are a man.
2. Sugar for everything
In Asian cuisine it is normal to always look for umami, that is, the combination of different flavors: sweet, salty, sour and bitter.
Therefore, sugar is an ingredient that is very present in Thai food, not only in desserts and drinks.
Also, Thais love that everything is super sweet.
Salt is rare on restaurant tables, but you will find sugar to add.
If you, like me, don't like sweet things too much, you can ask that they not add sugar, especially in smoothies, coffees and teas that you already enjoy. add several tablespoons.
Although if you ask for a coffee or tea without sugar they will look at you with a strange face and if you get distracted they will because they can't believe that someone would drink it without any sugar. 😂
3. Fried
Thai food in general is healthy, but it is also fried foods are abused a lot and in some dishes the amount of oil is more than generous, such as French omelettes.
Be careful if you have a delicate stomach because the oils used are the worst that you can imagine.
Furthermore, in Thailand no one uses olive or sunflower oil and even less so in street stalls.
4. Vegetarianism and Veganism
If you want to eat vegetarian or vegan food you will find many options.
Just keep in mind that many dishes have vegetable ingredients, they may contain oyster or fish sauce, which are very common in Thai cuisine.
5. Gluten intolerance and celiac disease
This is a more complicated issue in Thailand.
Although there are many dishes that are gluten-free, you should take into account 3 issues:
- The noodles, although they are usually made of rice, are notor they are all made from rice and sometimes contain wheat;
- the soy sauce can have wheat, especially the cheap brands like those used in street stalls;
- the Oyster sauce is usually prepared from soy sauceTherefore, it may also contain gluten.
6. MSG (monosodium glutamate)
MSG is a flavor enhancer very present in Thai food. They add it to all dishes and drinks. Yes, they also put it in smoothies, coffees and teas.
This ingredient is quite controversial because some people have varying symptoms such as headache and nausea after ingesting it.
However, according to studies done by the FDA There is no conclusive evidence and it is still considered a safe ingredient worldwide.
If you think it makes you feel uncomfortable, you can ask that they not add MSG, but you will have to be careful because if they can, they will add it anyway.
Final Thoughts
If you visit Thailand you will understand why its gastronomy is so appreciated.
Sure you will find food that suits your needs, Thai food can be healthy and delicious at the same time.
In case I have left any topic untouched, leave me a comment below and I will help you in any way I can. Have a good trip!
More about Thailand and Southeast Asia
- 8 Affordable Rooftop Bars & Restaurants in Bangkok
- 5 Best Temples in Chiang Mai – for beauty and importance
- 7 Best Retreats in Thailand: Yoga and Meditation
- 12 Best Restaurants in Bangkok: Good and Cheap
Hello, I’m Andrea, the creator and writer of Viajeros Activos (Active Travelers). I’m a nomad, so I consider myself a full-time traveler. I’m passionate about good food and always looking for new adventures.