Thailand's street food isn't a cheaper version of the restaurant stuff — it's often the best version. Smoke, a wok, a plastic stool, and a cook who has made one dish ten thousand times. Here's what to look for.
Start with pad kra pao — minced pork or chicken with holy basil over rice, a fried egg on top. Chase it with a small bowl of boat noodles, som tam (green papaya salad, ask for it mild the first time), and moo ping, the sweet grilled pork skewers sold from morning carts. Up north in Chiang Mai, don't leave without khao soi, a coconut curry noodle soup. Finish with mango sticky rice.
How to order like you've done it before
Follow the queues — locals vote with their feet, and a busy stall means fresh, fast turnover. Carry small notes, point and smile when the language runs out, and eat where the food is cooked in front of you. The stall with one dish and a long line will almost always beat the menu with a hundred.
Go hungry, go often, and order the thing you can't pronounce. That's usually where the trip's best meal is hiding.
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