Burger King's marketing team may have obtained inspiration for their slogan in Bangkok because with Thai food you can always "Have it your way!"
The underlying highlight of any visit to Bangkok is the provision of street food that seems to sprawl indefinitely. It's sometimes hard to imagine that the demand can even profit from the seemingly endless supply.
Stall after stall, all abundant with wonderful food and spewing heavenly aromas into the street can be an intoxicating experience for the senses.
On the streets of Bangkok there's such a food fury of delight, that it's easy to slip into confusion, wanting to eat everything, but hesitant to dive in and choose anything.
In the peak food rush hours, stall owners might notice you are a foreigner, and make a conclusion as to what dish you want to eat (the dish that every foreigner wants...right?...WRONG).
In order to take full advantage of Bangkok's exuberant array of street food, there are a few things to keep in mind.
If a street stall or restaurant is packed with business elsewhere in the world, there are three possible reasons: lovely ambiance, cheap food, or delicious food.
In Bangkok, there's only one reason, delicious food. Price can help, but in the end, Thai people are willing to dish out for what is most delicious.
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Look to the Locals
Local people know what to eat and where to eat it.
A great method of determining what new dish to try is to simply walk around and see what people are ordering and what looks good.
Don't hesitate to converse with the street chef to inquire about what that person just ordered.
It's beneficial to even point to a dish he has cooked up and ask him to make the same thing for you.
Go on Food Adventures
An adventure with a determination to strictly focus on eating will always bring rewarding effects.
Lots of street stalls specialize in only a few dishes, so don't be ashamed to eat a few small portions and then head to the next stall to sample the next specialty.
Sample a Wide Range of Dishes and Complimenting Flavors
Thai's love to mix and match a meal order until it is balanced to perfection. In order to take full advantage of Thai food, it's a necessity to order a wide range of dishes that will make full use of the taste buds that are embedded within your mouth.
A red chicken curry (panang gai), stir fried pork with basil (pad ga pao moo), stir fried morning glory (pad pak bung), and lastly, a palette cleansing sour spicy soup (tom yum), is an example of a well rounded Thai style meal.
Save Room For Dessert
Thai sweets are not usually the airy fluffy type.
Popular dessert options are more in the form of sweet snacks or dessert meals, characterized by sweet sticky rice, super-ripe fruit, and sugary creams.
Exploring the world of Thai desserts is exciting and needs to be fully taken advantage of.
Eat Lots of Fruit and Vegetables
Thailand, like all of South East Asia, produces a dazzling array of tropical fresh fruits and vegetables.
Some of these naturally grown delicacies are specific only to the region.
To take full advantage of the supply, balance the porky goodness with some freshly cut fruit and odd-looking vegetation.
Get in Touch with Local Bloggers and Tweeting Foodies
Bangkok is full of local and expat Bloggers and Twitter fanatics that are obsessed with eating Thai food.
There's a community of eaters that frequent the latest street food stalls and aim to devour all forms of Thai food.
Use social media searches to take advantage of locating Thai food, and browse user food finds.
Though street food is rampant throughout all of Bangkok, there are a few streets that offer mind-blowing arrays of glorious food.
For a few suggestions on where to get Bangkok street food head to the Victory Monument area, Chinatown Yaowarat, Ratchawat Market, or Sukhumvit Soi 38.
Luckily, developing a habit for eating Thai street food is not an expensive addiction.
Even with a low Thai food budget, there are endless street opportunities to indulge in deluxe meals for just a few dollars!
It can take years to fully explore the range of street food in Bangkok, but if you can leverage your advantage and sample a wide range of Thai foods, you will at least take part in that everlasting supply of Bangkok street food!
