Some of the most popular foods in Thailand are still surprisingly unknown to tourists.. Most simply find one English-menu spot that has better Pad Thai than the ‘authentic’ Thai restaurant in their home cities.
But they fail to uncover the other dishes that the “Thai Tanium” or “Thai Tanic” at home could never replicate. For those willing to step out of their comfort zones and eat like a local, this is what Thailand actually eats.
Breakfast
People in Thailand enjoy dishes at all hours of the day. That said, some of the most popular food in Thailand are morning favourites that locals pick up before work or school.
Jok (โจ๊ก)
A popular breakfast item for Thai people is a bowl of Jok.
An adaptation of Chinese congee, the dish has become a staple of Thai street food and one of the most popular foods in Thailand for breakfast. By boiling jasmine rice into a porridge and adding a raw or soft-boiled egg, the dish develops a thick texture similar to porridge.
It is typically served with pork, though chicken, prawns and tofu are common alternatives. The best Jok is found on the street, early in the morning as the city wakes up.
Look for street carts in the morning, or specialised shops throughout the day, and ask ‘Kǒr (may I have) jòk nòi (please).’ If you are female, add kâ at the end. If you are male, add khráp instead.
Pa Tong Go (ปาท่องโก๋)
Chinese doughnuts, Pa Tong Go, are another popular way to start the day.
In the early 20th century, deep-fried doughnuts (called Youtiao) and sponge cake (Bai Tang Guo) were sold in the same stalls by Chinese immigrants. Over time, their names somehow became confused, leaving the Thai version of the doughnuts with a name derived from Chinese sponge cake.
Best paired with hot, fresh soy milk, they are widely available and best enjoyed from street stalls. A small bag will usually run you about 20 baht (£0.45).
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Look for spots like this one, and similarly with Jok, it’s best if you go early.
Moo Ping (หมูปิ้ง)
Another breakfast staple, locals like to pick up Moo Ping (pork skewers) on their way to work as a quick grab-and-go bite.
Since gaining popularity in the 1950s, the skewered pork has evolved from a slow-cooked Isan (Northeastern Thailand) speciality to a milk-marinated, everyday staple present on nearly every busy street corner.
By cooking the shoulder or neck of the pig over a charcoal grill, Moo Ping vendors sell a tender, juicy product that satisfies both morning and late-night cravings.
You can easily find Moo Ping for 10 to 15 baht per stick. It’s best paired with sticky rice, which would usually cost you around 5 baht per bag.
Lunch and Dinner
Options for lunch and dinner in Thailand are endless, with many of the most popular foods in Thailand built around rice, noodles, herbs, chilli, and quick street-side cooking. Some common dishes are Khao Man Gai (ข้าวมันไก่), Kuay Tiew Ruea (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ), Pad Krapao (ผัดกะเพรา), Som Tum (ส้มตำ), and Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย).
Khao Man Gai (ข้าวมันไก่)
If you’re looking to introduce new flavours slowly, begin with Khao Man Gai.
With just roasted or poached chicken and rice, it is a high-protein favourite.
It comes from the southern Chinese province of Hainan, though today the dishes are served very differently. The Hainanese serve Khao Man Gai with separate ginger, chilli, and sweet soy sauces. Thai people mix those ingredients with fermented soybean paste, sugar, garlic, and vinegar to create Nam Jim Khao Man Gai, the signature dipping sauce.
It can be found from street vendors to upscale hotel restaurants, with prices ranging from 40 to 350 baht.
Kuay Tiew Ruea (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ)
Kuay Tiew Ruea (boat noodles) are a popular lunch option in Thailand. Originally sold by vendors on boats in Bangkok’s canals, they are now mostly enjoyed at everyday roadside stalls, food halls, and street markets.
When ordering, you can choose from various noodle types, such as sen lek (medium rice noodles), sen mee (vermicelli), or sen yai (wide flat noodles), which sit in a dark, flavorful broth thickened with cow or pig blood and aromatic spices.
The broth is deeply savoury with a slight sweetness, though most locals add chilli flakes, vinegar, and sugar at the table to add to the heat and tang.
While historically served in tiny, two-bite bowls to prevent spilling on rocking boats, modern roadside stalls now serve them in standard, full-sized portions. A hearty bowl at a street stall typically costs between 40 and 60 baht.
In upscale restaurants, the dish is often reimagined in large bowls featuring premium ingredients like wagyu beef or kurobuta pork, where prices can climb up to 600 baht.
Pad Krapao (ผัดกะเพรา)
To eat like a local, try Pad Krapao, one of the most popular foods in Thailand and a classic street lunch choice.
This stir-fry with jasmine rice, fried egg, and a variety of meats is the hamburger of Thailand.
It uses the famous bird’s eye chillies, which are 10 to 20 times hotter than jalapeños on average. To request mild spice, ask for Pad Krapao Ped Noi, kâ/khráp. To ask for no spice, say Mai Ped instead.
Pad Krapao also features Holy Basil, an herb with a more pungent taste than traditional Genovese basil. Native to the Indian subcontinent, it delivers an intensely peppery flavour.
Although both herbs are common in Thai cuisine, Holy Basil differs from Horapha, or Thai basil, which is recognisable by its narrow leaves and purple stems.
Like most plated lunch and dinner options, Pad Krapao varies significantly in price from 50 baht on the street to 400+ baht if you’re getting fancy.
Som Tam (ส้มตำ)
Thais commonly enjoy Som Tam, or papaya salad, for both lunch and dinner.
It features pounded unripe green papaya, bird’s eye chillies, cherry tomatoes, snake beans (longer green beans), Thai basil, dried shrimp and roasted peanuts.
Som Tam translates literally as ‘pounded sour’ and refers to the technique by which cooks create the salad, bouncing ingredients in a wooden mortar until they are juiced but still crunchy.
For a more traditional and intensely savoury variation, cooks will often swap the peanuts and dried shrimp in favour of pla lar (or pla ra), a northeastern staple, which is a pungent, deeply flavorful paste made from fish fermented with rice bran and salt.
Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย)
Another popular Thai noodle dish is Khao Soi. Influenced by Burmese cuisine, its distinctive yellow curry broth is combined with chicken or beef and crispy fried egg noodles.
While its name directly translates to ‘cut rice,’ Khao Soi noodles are actually made with wheat flour, not rice. It is mostly eaten earlier in the day, so be sure to grab it before vendors start selling out!
The rich, coconut-milk-based curry is traditionally made with dried bird’s eye chillies, so remember to ask for less heat if needed. It costs between 50 and 120 baht.
To balance the intense spice and richness of the broth, locals always serve the dish alongside fresh lime wedges, chopped raw shallots, and pickled mustard greens to mix in.
Hot Pot
If you’re looking for a more interactive experience beyond the usual popular foods in Thailand, join locals in the longstanding tradition of communal dining with hotpot
There is a wide range, from street-side stalls to upscale restaurants, and from mild broths to mouth-numbingly spicy ones.
Shabu-shabu (ชาบูชาบู)
In the last few decades, the Japanese shabu-shabu broth has become one of the most popular iterations of hotpot. It uses paper-thin slices of meat cooked in a relatively light broth infused with dried kelp.
Japanese restaurant staff are said to have named it after the sound of rinsing hand towels, which they felt resembled the rhythmic swishing sound ‘shabu shabu’.
The flavour comes mostly from the dipping sauces, allowing more individual control over spice levels.
Shabu hotpot in Thailand can cost anywhere from 350 baht, all the way to 2,300 per person, depending on the spot.
Sichuan Mala (หม่าล่า)
Another popular variety is Sichuan Mala, which is famous for its bold heat and distinctive numbing sensation. Rather than relying on dipping sauces for flavour, diners cook thin slices of meat directly in a broth infused with Sichuan peppercorns.
In 2018, the Sichuan Mala trend skyrocketed in popularity in Thailand, with Chinese chains and upscale restaurants spreading across Bangkok.
Some chains offer the dish for 250 baht, while others charge over 1,500 baht per head. Though its worth noting that some places charge by the weight, meaning that you choose what you want in the mala, and pay accordingly.
Thai Sukiyaki (สุกี้)
The most widely available style is Thai Sukiyaki hotpot, which features the well-known sweet and spicy sauce known as Nam Jim Suki.
You can customise it with a variety of meats, seafood and other ingredients, all cooked in a simple chicken or pork-bone broth with clear glass noodles.
The dish was named in the 1950s after the popular Japanese song Sukiyaki. Despite the name, it is entirely different from the Japanese dish, which typically consists of simmered beef and thick udon noodles.
All-you-can-eat buffets typically cost less than 500 baht.
Dessert
Locals and tourists alike enjoy Khao Neo Mamuang (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง) – mango sticky rice. If you’re looking for some lesser-known local favourites, try Khanom Krok (ขนมครก) Kluay Kaek (กล้วยแขก) or Sankaya (สังขยา)
Khanom Krok (ขนมครก)
Khanom Krok is one of Thailand’s most overlooked desserts. Street vendors cook these coconut-rice pancakes, filled with coconut custard, in specially designed pans until they are crisp on the outside and soft in the centre.
Thai folklore holds that the dessert’s two halves – the crisp outer shell and soft custard inside – represent a forbidden love story, symbolising a young couple destined to remain together for eternity.
While they are sweet, you can easily find Khanom Krok topped with pumpkin, scallions, sweet corn, and shredded taro, adding a savoury twist.
They cost between 30 and 60 baht for a box.
Kluay Kaek (กล้วยแขก)
Another popular treat is Kluay Kaek (กล้วยแขก) – fried bananas – a delicious snack that also represents centuries of tradition.
Although the finished product tastes sweet and ripe, vendors deliberately choose firm, green Kluay Nam Wa bananas instead of fully ripened yellow ones. This allows the fruit to hold its structure during frying.
They cost between 30 and 50 baht for a sizable bag.
Sankaya (สังขยา)
Sankaya, or pandan coconut custard, gets its bright green colour from the plant’s leaves. Though pandan has grown in popularity in the West in recent years, dubbed ‘the new matcha,’ it has been popular in Thailand for generations.
In this custard form, it is deliciously sweet and smooth, used to top fluffy white bread and Pa Tong Go.
On the street, you will see it kept in double boilers until sold, to prevent the eggs from curdling inside. It costs between 40 and 70 baht for a warm bowl and bread cubes to dip.
Remember to bring cash and say thank you (Khop Khun, kâ/khráp). Enjoy your trip, though the food may make you never want to leave!
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