At any hour of the day in any town in Thailand you will find the aromas of chili, lemongrass and galangal floating through the air and tempting you down a street vendor lined Soi (side street). Come nightfall Thais of all ages fill the metal tables surrounding their favorite vendors. Many residents of larger cities like Bangkok don’t even have kitchens of their own. It’s cheaper to grab a meal on the street than buying all the ingredients anyway. Ask any local their favorite spots and they’ll be happy to rattle off a list. Street food is as integral to Thai life as tuk tuks, Buddha and the King. You can’t fully experience the Land of Smiles without trying some.
If you already know what you’re doing and just want my recommendations on where to eat, you can skip to one my city guides below. Otherwise here is my official introduction to the whats, hows and whys of Thai street food.
Three main reasons to take to the streets:
- It’s cheap! And by cheap I mean less than a cup of coffee back home. You can easily eat for around $1-2 USD and I have never spent more than $5.
- It’s the best way to have a truly authentic meal. Locals rarely eat in the western style restaurants around town. If you’re eating in a comfortable air conditioned restaurant with a full English menu, you can be sure the food has modified for the tourist populace (with much higher prices to boot).
- Mostly importantly, it’s just better than restaurant food. Street hawkers make only handful of things often using recipes that have been passed down for generations. They are masters of their craft. And because turnover is high, everything you eat is fresh bought from the market the same day. The vegetables on your plate are typically picked within the past 24 hours. The chicken is so fresh it’s never needed to be refrigerated. Unless you live on a farm you’re never going to eat this fresh back in the USA.
Right but is Street Food Safe?
This is almost always the first question people ask when it comes to street food. My first response is this: I have devoured hundreds of things off the street in the past decade. I have never got sick from it. Not once. And no I do not have an “iron” or “Asian” stomach. I have succumb to the tummy rumbles many a times eating in restaurants both at home and abroad.
You can check out this post for my Rules of the Food Road to see how I select vendors to minimize risk and why I think street food is safer than eating in most mid-range restaurants. Note that when it comes to Thailand – much to peoples surprise – authorities in Bangkok and Chiang Mai do actually actually enforce some sort of hygiene standards. Does that mean they meet the New York City Health Code? Definitely not. But it should give you some comfort that nothing too egregious is going on. And there is no reason to think local restaurants are adhering to anything stricter.
But why is it so cheap? Surely restaurants that are charging 3x the price are better!
The assumption price equates to quality is an inherently Western one. But here’s an example from back home: is the rooftop restaurant with a view of the park and $40 entrees necessarily better than your $25 neighborhood spot? No. And the reason for that is overhead. Street food vendors have almost none. They pay no rent or taxes. They do not need to air condition their space. The tables are made of cheap metal and the chairs even cheaper plastic. They also only sell a handful of items so there’s no need to have a refrigerator full of ingredients on hand. In fact, they don’t even have refrigerators! Basically everything needs to be bought at the market the same day it’s sold.
Add all this up and you can sell the same item as a brick and mortar at a fraction of the cost. But its not the same. It’s better. Street vendors only make a couple items so they know how to knock them out of the park. And unlike restaurants filled with tourists who won’t be back any time soon, street vendors have loyal followings of Thais they need to please on a recurring basis. Who do you think has more incentive to produce the best food?
What to Expect: The Street Food Experience
So you’ve just landed in Bangkok and something on the street catches your eye. How does one initiate their virgin street food experience? One of the most intimidating factors is that most vendors speak little to no english. You won’t be able to ask what the dish is or what’s inside. In my opinion, this only adds to the adventure (however if you have an allergy or dietary requirement I do I recommend looking up the words on google translate). Fear not, most dishes do not secretly contain weird ingredients like crickets and pigeons. Those are generally displayed whole so there will be no question if you decide to try one.
Ordering itself isn’t much of a problem because each place typically only serves one thing. But if they have more, the universal finger point works as well in Thailand as anywhere else. Then simply hold up the number of fingers you want and if the price isn’t written in english on a board they will either write it down or type it into a calculator for you.
Assuming you’re not getting this to go, your next job is to secure a seat near the vendor. This will usually consist of a metal table with plastic chairs or stools. They will likely be uncomfortably low to the ground. This is part of the experience.
Depending on what you order the vendor will either hand it to you or someone will bring it to your table when its ready (just like a restaurant!). Tipping is not expected but it’s always nice to leave a few Baht if they do.
Typically on the table you will find a number of condiments. Thai food is like Burger King – it’s all about having your it your way! Typically half of them will be geared towards making the food even spicer. These are usually dried chili flakes, a fish-chili sauce called Nam Pla Prik or a less spicy, slightly sweet tomato based chili sauce. If the heat is already too much for you, reach for the jar of coconut sugar. Soy sauce and fermented fish sauce (nam pla) are used to make it saltier.
Eating Etiquette
The typical cutlery you will receive are the good ole fork and spoon. Think you know what to do with them? Think again. In Thailand the fork never goes in your mouth. It’s sole purpose here is to push food onto the spoon. Everything is eaten off the spoon. It feels a little weird at first, but I find it a much better technique for getting all the sauce and rice into your mouth than its slotted brethren.
You will never receive a knife on the street. This is not because they don’t trust the crazy eyed farang (the Thai term for foreigner) with a sharp object. It’s because – theoretically – everything that comes out is already cut into bite size pieces. Yes I said theoretically. In reality you’ll probably receive some hunks of chicken on the bone that aren’t quite ready to be shoveled down your gullet. Don’t worry about being proper when this happens. The move here is to use the utensil God gave you – your hand – to remove the inedible while you carefully chew off the meat around it. It may feel a little wrong at first, but eventually you’ll do it without even breaking eye contact with your dining companions. Just be sure to carry a bottle of hand sanitizer with you at all times.
Chopsticks only come into play when noodles are involved. Once you’ve mastered the wooden twins you’ll realize they are the best option for pulling apart the sticky wok fried noodles. Until then many vendors are willing to offer you a fork and knowing smile.
I want to eat local food but isn’t it all really spicy?
This is a common misconception. It’s true that “Thai spicy” is a whole new level from Western spicy and some dishes will leave you burning on both ends. But a lot of times the heat is adjusted on the table by adding chili sauces and is not actually that spicy when served. Plus even Thais need a break from the fire in their belly occasionally. Noodles, fried rice and skewers are the safest bet which is why you’ll find rows of Pad Thai vendors lining the tourist zones. Curries like Massaman and Penang are typically mild. There’s also always fried chicken which always comes with the fiery dipping sauce on the side. If you’re not sure you can usually ask. “Is this spicy?” is one question nearly everyone seems to understand. Things to avoid are green curry, anything that looks like it has a lot of seeds in it and – counter intuitively – salads. Salads are pretty much the spiciest things in Thailand.
Ready to start eating? Check out my city guides to Bangkok and Chiang Mai to see where to grab the best local meals.
