Thailand’s Street Food Culture

By NomadicMatt | Published: July 15, 2008

Hot Chilis It is 6 p.m. in Bangkok and all over street vendors are busy selling food. Thais do almost of their grocery shopping on the street. Locals walk down the street with little bags full of rice, curry, noodles, or soup. In Thailand, eating is a social activity where the pains of hunger tell you when to eat, not the hour of the day.

Wandering the streets of Bangkok is a gastronomical dream. Stalls line the streets selling everything from snacks to sit down meal. Sections of a street will specialize in certain products and the time of the day dictates which stalls will be out with the precision of a Swiss watch.

A Day in the Life
Waking up for breakfast, I strolled down the street. All around me Thais were buying food for the day. Workers were buying their lunch- loading up on rice and curry, noodle dishes, and soup. The woman next to me was buying fruit.

I grabbed my friend bananas and went off to explore the city. After a few hours, I was hungry again. Thai food is not very filling and one of the reasons why Thais are always eating. Thais eat consistently throughout the day because the eat small portions of very light meals. Thais traditionally eat very low calorie means, though the rise of the western diet has recently lead to an increase in obesity. Now I was in Chinatown, looking for a pre-lunch snack.
Street Vendor
Around me were sellers selling candies, fried fish, pad Thai, fruit, and meat on stick- anything you could think of. It was a buffet and I wanted to choose everything. I snacked on some chicken. The smell was powerful as the cook pasted it with spices over the grill. He handed it over to me and, as it steamed, I put it in my mouth. It was hot but it good. The chicken had a nice garlic taste to it and was good just right. I picked some chopped pineapple for the road.

Lunch time rolled around and I sat myself down at a little stall. Thais were trickling out of their offices and descending on these vendors for their mid-day meal. I ordered some curry- western style (mild). Thais love their curry and all throughout the streets the smell of chili pervades the air. The seats around me filled with locals chatty quickly about the day. My Thai wasn’t a good enough to understand. I just enjoyed my meal that was still too spicy for me.

After lunch, I continued trekking around. I let me nose guide me. I nibbled on the fruit I had and picked up some fried wontons. When that was finished, I picked up some spring rolls. I find Thai spring rolls to be delicious- they’re light, crispy, and the sweet chili sauce adds just the right element of spice.
Food Dinner arrived as I made my way back downtown. It had been a good day of eating and I was still stuffed. Dinner was going to be a small meal. Looking at all the shops around, I wondered what to eat. I had eaten so much today. I could smell curry and soup, hear the frying of chicken and the cooking of fish! I’m never going to go hungry in this city I thought.

I sat down for some pat gao paow. It’s a chili dish with minced chicken and basil. It ordered it mai pet (not spicy). I ate it over a bowl of rice. Even to Thais not spicy means a little chili and for every mouth full I had, I needed two mouth fulls of water. Despite having lived in Thailand for a few months now, I was still unaccustomed to spicy foods. Despite it all, I ate it all. My mouth a volcano as I thanked the cook.

After a long day of eating, it was time to lie down on my couch, unbuckle the belt, and watch some TV. But not before I got some snacks for later.