Our Favorite Thai Street Food

None of these insects made this list!

Before we headed Thailand, I heard a lot about how I MUST eat all the wonderful street food in every city we visit.  It’s true, it really is unique and often delicious, but the number of options, including the strange looking and smelling ones, make finding a good meal a bit tricky.  We skipped the dried seafood and anything that still had eyeballs or stingers, and here are our favorites after our sixth visit to Bangkok:

Pad Thai

Pad Thai in Bangkok during Songkran

A blend of fried noodles and veggies with egg, pork, chicken, and/or shrimp, this one is the classic.  The best part is the large tray of spices and sauces that every stand has in front of it, that you can use to make it just right.  Personally, I add heaps of chopped peanuts, crushed pepper, and the vinegar-chilli sauce.

Samosa

Photo Source: Live Less Ordinary

Similar to the fried egg rolls or spring rolls, samosas are deep fried goodness, usually triangles, filled with some combination of veggies, and sometimes with pork or shrimp.  These are a favorite of ours all across southeast Asia.

Khanom Buanhai-Style Crepes)

Photo Source: Krapow

Thai crepes are very small, tasty snacks that I only found outside the touristy areas.  Don’t bother with the oily pancake-like stands on Khao San Road.   The real Thai crepes don’t come with banana or Nutella.  They have a thin dough fried to a crisp, topped with savory or sweet toppings, and folded to look like little tacos.  I like the sweet ones, with egg whites mixed with shredded coconut, topped with foi tong (which I never quite figured out what it was, but its good)!

Pla Pao (Salted Fish)

Photo Source: Virgin Holidays

This dish broke our rule of not buying street food with eyeballs, but we were introduced to this delicious meal by a couple of experts, so we dug in.  The whole tilapia or similar white fish is stuffed with lemongrass and lime leaves, covered in salt, grilled right on the street, and served with spicy sauces.  You’ll have to pick around the small bones, but the result is very tasty.

Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken in Kanchanaburi

Not exactly unique to Thailand, but there’s something about a 10 baht deep-fried chicken thigh that hits the spot when we are hungry for a quick snack.  I don’t understand why anyone goes into the many KFC’s in Thailand when there is fresher, tastier chicken for 1/10 the price on most street corners.

Fruit Shakes

One of Chiang Mai’s many fruit shake stands

Tourists and locals alike line up for fresh fruit blended with ice and sugar all over Thailand.  I like banana, watermelon, and carrot for a yummy vegetable serving, while Dan always goes for sour with lime, pineapple, and orange or apple.  We got these after dinner all the time (its a good way to cut back on ice cream).

What about you? Any street food you have tried in Thailand that should be added to this list or you would never eat again? Comment below!

bangkokchiang maiguideskanchanaburipattayathailandtop lists