Street food of Thailand facts for kids
Street food in Thailand is all about delicious, ready-to-eat meals, snacks, fruits, and drinks. You can find these tasty treats sold by friendly vendors from food stalls or carts right on the street. Trying Thai street food is a super popular thing for visitors to do, as it gives you a real taste of traditional Thai cooking. Many people say that Bangkok, the capital city, is one of the best places in the world for street food! In 2012, a travel website called VirtualTourist even named Bangkok the number one spot for street food. It's famous for having so many different kinds of food and lots of street vendors.
Many areas in Bangkok are well-known for their amazing street food. Some of these include Yaowarat (Chinatown) and nearby places like Talat Noi and Wat Traimit. Other popular spots are Nang Loeng, Sam Phraeng, Bang Lamphu, and Wang Lang Market.
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What Makes Thai Street Food Special?
You can find almost any Thai dish sold by a street vendor or at a market in Thailand. Some vendors focus on just one or two dishes, while others offer a huge menu, almost like a restaurant! Some sell food that's already cooked, ready for you to grab and go. Others make food fresh when you order it. These "made-to-order" dishes are usually quick to prepare. Think of fast stir-fries with rice, like kaphrao mu (spicy basil-fried minced pork), or quick curries such as pladuk phat phet (catfish fried with red curry paste).
At many Thai markets, especially "wet markets," you'll find lots of pre-cooked food. Many people go to these markets and street vendors to buy food for work or to take home. It's common to see Thai people carrying entire meals. These meals often include several dishes, cooked rice, sweets, and fruit. Everything is neatly packed in plastic bags and containers, ready to be shared with friends or family. Because many dishes are like what people would cook at home, street food is a great way to discover local and seasonal foods.
Food markets in Thailand are often large outdoor areas with many permanent stalls. Each vendor usually has their own tables, offering a simple dining experience. Some markets are more like food courts in shopping malls, with shared tables. Both food courts and food markets offer many of the same foods as street stalls. You can find both pre-cooked meals and dishes made fresh to order.
At night, special night food markets pop up in parking lots, along busy streets, and at local festivals. This happens when the weather is cooler and people have finished work. These markets are a collection of street stalls and mobile vendors, offering a lively atmosphere.
A Brief History of Thai Street Food
The idea of street food in Southeast Asia became popular in the late 1800s. It was brought by workers from China. Because of this, many Thai street foods are inspired by Chinese cooking. Street food was first mostly sold by Chinese people living in Thailand. It didn't become super popular with native Thai people until the early 1960s. At that time, more and more people moved to cities, which made street food culture grow fast. By the 1970s, street food had become so common that it "replaced home-cooking" for many families.
Long ago, Thai housewives traditionally cooked meals every day for their families. However, selling food has always been a common way to earn money in old Siam (Thailand's former name). You could find various ingredients, fruits, and traditional sweets at "floating markets" on canals. This was happening as early as the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350–1767). Food has been sold from boats on Thailand's rivers and canals for over 200 years! But since the early 1900s, King Rama V's modern changes led to more food stalls on land. In Bangkok, a housewife who buys food for her family from a street vendor is sometimes called a "plastic-bag housewife." This name came about because street vendors often pack food in plastic bags.
Many things helped Thai street food become so popular. These include the Thai way of life, which has always been about farming and food. Thailand also has a rich cooking history. Street food is easy to find and usually affordable, which is a big part of Thai culture. Also, cities grew quickly, creating a need for food services. And more foreign visitors wanted to try local foods.
Popular Thai Street Food Dishes
Noodle Dishes to Try
Noodles are a very popular street food because they are often eaten as a single meal. Famous noodle dishes include pad Thai, which is stir-fried noodles. Another one is rad na, which are flat noodles with meat and vegetables, covered in a light gravy. Rad na's close cousin is phat si-io, which uses the same flat noodles but they are dry-fried with dark soy sauce, vegetables, meat, and chili. You can also find Chinese-style noodle soups, other fried noodles, and fermented Thai rice noodles called khanom chin, served with different Thai curries.
Almost everywhere in Thailand, you'll see stalls selling som tam (green papaya salad) and sticky rice. These two are often eaten together with grilled chicken. If one shop doesn't sell chicken, another nearby one usually will! Other popular dishes include tom yum kung (a sour shrimp soup), khao phat (fried rice), different kinds of satay (grilled skewers), and various curries. You might even find Japanese chikuwa (fish cakes) and German sausages sold in Bangkok!
In most cities and towns, you'll find stalls selling sweet roti. This is a thin, flat fried dough that can be filled with things like banana, egg, and chocolate. The roti is similar to a dish found in Malaysia and Singapore. These stalls are often run by Thai Muslims.
Tasty Street Snacks
Sweet snacks, known as khanom, are often displayed on large trays in glass carts. These include tako (coconut cream jelly), khanom man (coconut cassava cake), and khanom wun (flavored jellies). Other sweets, like khanom bueang (crispy pancakes) and khanom khrok (coconut pancakes), are made fresh when you order them.
In the evenings, mobile street stalls, sometimes just a scooter with a side car, drive around. They often set up shop outside bars, selling kap klaem ("drinking food"). Popular kap klaem dishes include grilled items like sun-dried squid, meats on skewers, or grilled sour sausages. Deep-fried snacks like fried sausages are also common.
You can also buy peeled and sliced fruits from street carts. They are often kept fresh on a bed of crushed ice. Salapao, which are steamed buns filled with meat or sweet beans (like the Chinese baozi), are also commonly sold by mobile vendors. And yes, you might even find fried insects for sale!
Keeping Street Food Safe and Organized
In 2017, the Bangkok city government and police started asking street food vendors to move off sidewalks and roads. They wanted to make the city cleaner, safer for people walking, and ensure shop owners could use their storefronts. Some researchers believe this policy has changed Bangkok's special character. They found that most street food customers are workers and students who don't earn a lot of money. Also, many street vendors are older than 40 and have few other job choices. These researchers suggest that the city should find a way to balance clean sidewalks with allowing Bangkok's street food vendors to continue their important role in the city's life and economy.
