If there is something that fills all Thais with pride, it is their cuisine. Thai food is undoubtedly among the best in the world, and that’s the reason why most of the world’s large cities abound with Thai restaurants. Stroll through cities as far away from Bangkok as San Francisco, Sydney or even Budapest, and you will see many Thai restaurants. Even in cities like Guatemala City or Bogotá I have eaten in good Thai restaurants that serve delicious Thai food dishes.
Thai cuisine mixes different flavors in the same dish in a unique and very distinctive way. Thai dishes can be sweet, sour, salty and spicy all at the same time. This characteristic, which at first tends to surprise those who are unfamiliar with Thai food, is one of the reasons that makes many travelers enthusiastically fall in love with Thai food. Even if you are one of those travelers who get extremely food-homesick and try at all costs to avoid any unfamiliar dishes, I recommend that you open your mind a bit in Thailand, and try different Thai specialities.
It would be a real shame to miss out on Thai food. Just be careful with the chili peppers! If you didn’t yet acquire a taste for Thai spicy levels, remember to ask for mai phed –not spicy– or phed nit naoi –just a little spicy–. Even though you’ll probably find that ‘just a little spicy’ doesn’t mean the same to you and Thais!
Below you have a list of 10 Thai dishes that I recommend you to try on a trip to Thailand. I choose 10, but they could easily be 100, since the variety of recipes in Thailand is almost infinite. Believe me: Thai food is one of the greatest reasons to travel to Thailand!
