Thai Street Food: 15 Dishes to Try and How to Order Them

Thai street food is the best argument for travelling to Thailand on almost any budget. For 40 to 80 baht you get a plate cooked to order in front of you, often by someone who has made the same dish every day for twenty years. This guide covers the dishes worth seeking out, how to order them and where they’re easiest to find.

How do you order street food in Thailand?

Most stalls do one thing: a noodle soup, a rice dish, grilled skewers. Point at what the people around you are eating, or at the pictures on the cart. You pay at the end, in cash, to whoever is cooking or clearing plates.

A few phrases help:

Say	Meaning
mai phet	not spicy
phet nit noi	a little spicy
sai tung / glap baan	to take away
gin tee nee	eat here
mai sai pak chee	no coriander
kaw bin	the bill, please

Tables usually hold a condiment caddy: fish sauce with chillies, dried chilli flakes, sugar and chilli vinegar. Thais season their own noodles, so taste first and adjust.

Rice dishes

1. Pad kra pao

Minced pork or chicken stir-fried with holy basil, garlic and a lot of chilli, served over rice with a crispy fried egg (kai dao) on top. It is the everyday lunch of Bangkok, and the dish to order when you don’t know what to order.

2. Khao man gai

Poached chicken on rice cooked in chicken fat, served with a clear soup and a ginger, garlic and fermented soybean sauce. Stalls often sell only this, with a pink uniform or a row of whole chickens hanging in the window.

3. Khao moo daeng

Sliced red barbecued pork and crispy pork belly over rice, drizzled with a sweet, thick gravy. A Chinese-Thai classic, very common around Yaowarat.

4. Khao kha moo

Pork leg braised for hours in soy, star anise and cinnamon, sliced over rice with pickled mustard greens and a boiled egg.

Noodles

Pad thai, the most famous Thai noodle dish. Photo: Index Librorum Permissorum, CC0

5. Pad thai

Rice noodles stir-fried with tamarind, egg, tofu, shrimp, bean sprouts and peanuts. Street versions come with lime and extra chilli flakes on the side so you can balance it yourself.

6. Pad see ew

Wide rice noodles charred in a very hot wok with dark soy sauce, egg and Chinese broccoli. Smoky, savoury and not spicy, a good choice for a first night.

7. Kuay teow (noodle soup)

The most common street food in the country. Choose your noodle (thin sen lek, wide sen yai or egg ba mee), your meat and whether you want it in broth (nam) or dry (haeng). Boat noodles (kuay teow reua) come in small bowls with a rich, dark broth; locals order several.

8. Khao soi

The signature dish of Chiang Mai: egg noodles in a coconut curry broth, topped with crispy fried noodles and served with pickled greens, shallots and lime. Look for it in the north, though Bangkok has good versions too. More in our Chiang Mai travel guide.

Salads, grills and snacks

9. Som tam

Green papaya pounded in a clay mortar with lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, tomatoes, long beans and chillies. Som tam Thai adds peanuts and dried shrimp; som tam pu pla ra, with fermented fish and salted crab, is the funkier northeastern version. It is usually very spicy unless you ask.

10. Gai yang and khao niao

Grilled marinated chicken with sticky rice, the natural partner to som tam. Eat the sticky rice with your hands, rolled into a small ball.

11. Moo ping

Sweet grilled pork skewers, sold from carts in the morning with a bag of sticky rice. Breakfast for commuters all over Bangkok, for roughly 10 to 15 baht a skewer.

12. Tod mun pla

Fried fish cakes with red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves, served with a sweet cucumber relish.

Something sweet

Mango sticky rice with coconut cream. Photo: Arthur Taksin, CC BY 4.0

13. Khao niao mamuang (mango sticky rice)

Sweet sticky rice soaked in salted coconut cream with ripe mango. It is at its best in the hot season, April and May, when mangoes are in peak season.

14. Roti

A thin, crispy pancake fried on a griddle with banana and egg, finished with condensed milk and sugar. A late-night favourite in tourist areas.

15. Cha yen (Thai iced tea)

Strong black tea with condensed and evaporated milk over ice, bright orange and very sweet. Ask for wan noi for less sugar.

Where is the best street food in Bangkok?

• Yaowarat Road (Chinatown): the most famous strip, at its best after dark, with seafood, noodles and desserts. It gets very crowded at weekends.
• Victory Monument: the boat noodle alleys are the best place to try them.
• Ari: a residential neighbourhood with morning and lunchtime stalls for office workers, fewer tourists.
• Or Tor Kor Market: next to Chatuchak, a covered market known for fruit and prepared food, cleaner and pricier than most.

Some stalls now hold Michelin Bib Gourmand or even star ratings, and the queues and prices at those can be long and high. The stall next door is often almost as good.

How much does street food cost in Thailand?

Street food is the cheapest way to eat well in Thailand. Prices below are typical for Bangkok stalls and markets in 2026; famous stalls and tourist areas charge more, and the north is a little cheaper.

Dish	Typical price (baht)
Pad kra pao or khao man gai	50 to 80
Bowl of noodle soup	40 to 70
Boat noodles (small bowl)	15 to 25 per bowl
Som tam	40 to 70
Moo ping skewer	10 to 15
Mango sticky rice	60 to 150
Thai iced tea	25 to 60

A full day of street food, three meals plus snacks and drinks, costs around 250 to 400 baht. See our Thailand trip cost breakdown for a complete daily budget, and our two-week Thailand itinerary to plan where to eat along the way.

How do you avoid getting sick?

• Choose stalls that are busy, cook to order and have a steady turnover.
• Tap water isn’t safe to drink, but ice in tube shapes, made in factories, is generally fine.
• Carry small notes and coins. A 1,000-baht note for a 50-baht dish is a problem for a street vendor.
• Many Bangkok vendors take Monday off, and stalls can shut on Buddhist holidays. See our Thailand holidays guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Thai street food safe to eat?

Generally yes. Choose busy stalls with high turnover, where food is cooked to order in front of you. Drink bottled or filtered water and go easy on raw salads and ice for the first few days if you have a sensitive stomach.

How much does street food cost in Thailand?

Most single dishes cost 40 to 80 baht at street stalls and markets in 2026. Seafood dishes and famous stalls in tourist areas cost more, and some well-known Bangkok vendors charge several hundred baht.

How do I ask for food that isn't spicy?

Say 'mai phet' (not spicy) or 'phet nit noi' (a little spicy). Many dishes can be made milder, but som tam and some curries are built around chilli.

Where is the best street food in Bangkok?

Yaowarat Road in Chinatown is the most famous street food strip, busiest after dark. Victory Monument, the Ari neighbourhood and markets such as Or Tor Kor are good alternatives with fewer tourists.

Can vegetarians eat street food in Thailand?

Yes, with care. Say 'gin jay' for vegan food, and look for yellow flags with the character 'jay', which mark vegan stalls. Fish sauce and shrimp paste are in many dishes, so ask.

Useful links (2)

1. Tourism Authority of Thailand— tourismthailand.org
2. Michelin Guide Thailand: street food— guide.michelin.com