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An exotic tropical oasis erupting with a deep and intense culture and history, Thailand radiates more than just a golden hue from its stunning temples and pristine beaches.
The country is famously known as the Land of Smiles, and its people pride themselves on being incredibly friendly, gracious and fun-loving. In the last year, the infamous party destination was momentarily placed on pause as the country mourned the loss of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October 2016. As one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs, the king was an almost god-like figure to his people and his death at the age of 88 marked a longer-than-normal period of mourning. Nevertheless, things are still very much business as usual here today.
One of the best things about this part of the world is the food, and Thailand, and Bangkok especially, has long promoted itself as a key destination for the food-obsessed. What makes Thailand particularly great is that because different dishes originate from different parts of the country, travellers get a great taste of the country in a short amount of time. Food is everywhere and everyone is almost always eating – even while driving along on their motorbikes!
To get a real feel and taste for the place, simply step outside the comfort of your hotel and look no further than the side of the road. We did just that in Phuket, and I would be lying if I said we were not a tad bit intimidated by the offerings of street vendors at first. Why is the rice not white? What’s inside that banana leaf? What is that weird sea creature swimming in the makeshift tank, and can I really eat a fried locust on a stick?
Vendors are usually humble residents trying to make a living, and some tend to huddle together in random makeshift markets. Even without the food, Thai street food markets are a one-of-a-kind paradise, usually located close to the main city hubs, spotlessly clean while never sterile, easily navigable but filled with a thousand hidden treasures, and loud and bustling yet strangely relaxed. They are also resolutely traditional but with modern-day techniques. Take for example the ice cream rolls: a sensational Thai frozen dessert made using an extremely cold (-35°C) steel surface that best resembles a pizza pan to Westerners. Liquid-form sweet milk is poured on and paint scrapers are then used to scrape fresh fruit toppings into the base to create air until it freezes solid and is spread thinly at an angle to create rolls. If the process and taste don’t mesmerise you, the sound of metal spatulas hitting the steel surface, while on the side of the road, is oddly rhythmic to say the least.
Street food in Phuket was a gloriously exciting combination of fresh fruits like sliced Durian – which is a combination of sweet, savoury and creamy all at once (and famous for its smell), Som Tam – a spicy green papaya salad – and the most sumptuous mini pineapples that you will ever eat, as well as fresh meats and seafoods that you never knew existed. You’ll smell that deliciously spicy barbecue aroma – which is infused with the lingering humidity, stench of exhaust pipes from the passing traffic, and dripping sweat from the impromptu chefs – way before your eyes hit the disorderly array of makeshift road diners that are arranged in what can only be described as organsied chaos and that stay open until dawn. Eating in Thailand is everything hurled together: a gleeful fusion of climate, landscape and character. It’s by no means a fine-dining experience either, with locals and foreigners feasting on plastic chairs at folding tables, slurping stir-fried noodles and Phad Thais. Unglamorous yes, but it is convenient, delicious and cheap, and given that the vast majority of street food is consumed not by tourists, but locals, with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people relying on it daily, Thai street food is actually one of the purest ways to get in touch with the local culture.
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The country’s unique cuisine has been shaped by the geography of the region. Relatively isolated and with no external or colonial influences, its culinary development is the result of ready access to coconut milk, palm sugar, and the fish sauce that is so prevalent and forms the basis of almost every dish.
The Thai philosophy of taking pleasure in all that you do really manifests itself when it comes to food. And what pleasure it brings. While in Bangkok, the culinary capital of the world, we tried Khao Mun Ghai – a steamed chicken over rice, served with a boiled egg, raw garlic, pickled mustard greens and chilli vinegar. This perfect one-plate meal danced on my tongue and was followed by an equally satisfying dessert of sticky coconut rice served with freshly sliced mango and washed down with cold coconut juice.
Other things we sampled were steaming hot bowls of tom yum soup with chunks of shrimp, prawn and calamari, Thai-style sukiyaki (a wok-fried melange of glass noodles, egg and seafood with a chilli sauce liberally laced with pickled garlic) that you can pick up for 50 baht, and Sai Ua or spiced lemongrass chicken sausages.
Earlier this year, local authorities announced that they would be purging Bangkok’s street food scene in the interests of ‘cleanliness, safety and order’, with the city’s Chinatown and the backpacker ghetto of Khao San Road first on the list. While the powers that be claim they are not banning street food entirely, but just regulating it, there is no doubt that regulated or not, Thai street food has and will continue to shape the country into a culinary destination on a global scale. Never will you eat as well, as cheaply, as grandly and with as much joy than in a street food stall in Thailand.
Photographer: Andrian Shields
Insta @shieldsterphoto
