Food & cooking

We build food into itineraries rather than bolting it on: a market walk before a cooking class, a curry paste pounded from scratch, a dinner at the stall a guide has used since childhood.

If you have dietary restrictions, say so early. Vegetarian, gluten-free and halal are all workable in Thailand, but they need to be planned into the specific restaurants rather than improvised on the night.

The regional distinction is the thing most visitors miss. A khao soi in Chiang Mai, a som tam in Khon Kaen and a gaeng som in Hat Yai are barely the same cuisine — different pastes, different ferments, different heat levels. Eating across regions over two weeks is more interesting than eating in one city for two weeks.

A cooking class is worth doing once, and the market visit is the reason. Learning to make green curry in a purpose-built kitchen teaches you a recipe; buying the paste ingredients in a wet market teaches you what to look for, which is the part that survives the flight home. Ask whether the class starts at a market before you book.

Street food is where the value is. A bowl of noodles from a cart costs 50–70 baht and is usually better than the same dish in a restaurant at four times the price, because the cart does one thing. The reliable signal is a queue of locals at 11:30am, not a TripAdvisor sticker.