Thai Food and Cuisine
A practical traveller’s guide to Thai food, regional flavours, street food and dishes worth trying.
Thai food is one of the best reasons to travel around Thailand. You will find simple rice dishes, noodle soups, grilled chicken, seafood, curries, salads, fruit stalls and little roadside kitchens just about everywhere.
This page is a broad introduction to Thai food and how meals usually work. For more detailed dish lists, use the links below for Thai dishes, curries, salads, noodles, drinks and desserts.
Thai dish names are written many different ways in English. For example, you may see pad Thai, phad Thai or phat Thai. I have used the spelling most travellers are likely to see on menus, with simple notes where useful.
What Makes Thai Food Different?
Thai cooking often balances salty, sweet, sour, spicy and bitter flavours in the same meal. Fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, chilli, coconut milk, fresh herbs, garlic, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves all turn up regularly.
A good Thai meal is not usually one huge plate of food. It is often a few dishes shared at the table, with rice in the middle of everything. The best meals have contrast: something spicy, something mild, something sour, something fried, something fresh, and probably too much rice if someone’s grandmother is involved.
Thai Food by Region
Thailand’s food changes a lot from region to region. The dishes in Phuket are not the same as the food in Chiang Mai, Isaan or Bangkok, and that is half the fun.
| Region | What to Expect | Dishes to Try |
|---|---|---|
| Central Thailand | A broad mix of curries, stir-fries, soups, rice dishes and Chinese-Thai influence. | Pad Thai, green curry, tom yum goong, khao man gai, pad kra pao. |
| Northern Thailand | Less coconut milk than central and southern dishes, with more herbs, grilled food, pork, sticky rice and Burmese influence. | Khao soi, sai ua sausage, nam prik ong, northern-style larb. |
| Northeast Thailand / Isaan | Bold, sour, salty, spicy food, often eaten with sticky rice. | Som tam, larb, nam tok, gai yang, sticky rice. |
| Southern Thailand | Spicier curries, strong flavours, fresh seafood and Malay-influenced dishes. | Gaeng som, massaman curry, khua kling, seafood, nam prik with vegetables. |
How Thai Meals Usually Work
- Most rice-based meals are eaten with a spoon and fork. The fork helps push food onto the spoon.
- Chopsticks are mostly used for noodle soups and some Chinese-style dishes.
- Shared dishes are common, especially when eating with friends or family.
- Rice is the base of many meals. In the north and northeast, sticky rice is common.
- Food is often cooked to order, so you can ask for less chilli, no meat, or no fish sauce, although results may vary.
If you are not used to spicy food, try saying mai phet, which means “not spicy”. For only a little spicy, say phet nit noi. This does not always guarantee a mild dish, but it gives you a fighting chance.
Street Food and Simple Meals
Some of the best Thai food comes from simple stalls, local markets and small family restaurants. A good stall usually has fresh ingredients, steady local customers and food cooked quickly in front of you.
Common quick meals include fried rice, noodle soup, pad Thai, pad kra pao, khao man gai and grilled chicken with sticky rice. They are not fancy, but they are often exactly what you want after a hot day of travelling around.
Tourist restaurants sometimes tone things down too much. If a dish tastes flat, it may have been made “safe” for visitors. Try a local place, ask for medium spicy, and see what Thai food is supposed to be doing.
Top Thai Dishes for Visitors
This is not a scientific top ten. It is just a useful starting point if you are new to Thai food and want to order something better than the same pad Thai every day.
| Dish | What It Is | Good to Know |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Yum Goong | Hot and sour prawn soup with lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. | Usually a clear soup. Creamy versions exist, but not with coconut milk, it’s done with full cream milk. |
| Tom Kha Gai | Chicken coconut soup with galangal, lemongrass and lime. | Milder and creamier than tom yum. |
| Gaeng Khiao Wan Gai | Green chicken curry with coconut milk, herbs and curry paste. | Can be mild or very spicy depending where you order it. |
| Pad Kra Pao | Holy basil stir-fry with pork, chicken, beef, seafood or tofu. | Often served over rice with a fried egg. |
| Pad Thai | Fried rice noodles with tamarind sauce, egg, tofu, bean sprouts and peanuts. | Famous with visitors, but not the whole story of Thai food. |
| Khao Soi | Northern curry noodle soup, usually with chicken or beef. | One of the best reasons to go north hungry. |
| Som Tam | Green papaya salad with lime, chilli, fish sauce and palm sugar. | Best with sticky rice and grilled chicken. |
| Larb | Minced meat salad with lime, herbs, chilli and toasted rice powder. | A classic Isaan dish. |
| Massaman Curry | Rich curry with potatoes, peanuts, coconut milk and warming spices. | Usually milder than southern-style spicy curries. |
| Khao Niao Mamuang | Mango sticky rice with coconut milk. | Technically dessert, but nobody sensible complains. |
Thai Cooking Classes and Cookbooks
If you enjoy Thai food, a cooking class is worth doing. Most tourist areas have classes that include a market visit, ingredient preparation, cooking and then eating the results. Not a bad system.
This page is a general guide to Thai food. For more detailed dish names, vegetarian notes, drinks and desserts, use the links below.
Original page updated and rewritten from older Thai food notes. Some older information was adapted from Wikitravel under Creative Commons.