The main reason we went to Thailand so short after the previous visit was the (street) food, for which I have no words to describe other than delicious and cheap.
Okay… we didn’t mind the sunny 30 degree C weather either!
Last year we got hooked to street food after finding some great spots in Koh Samui, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. For that reason we were determined to find it on this trip also. However, after a week in Phuket and only one meal worth being mentioned as 'local Thai food’ we were a little discouraged.
Not ready to give up, we continued the search in Ao Nang and Krabi. We got a few tips of our host, which we followed up in the course of the week. The first brought us to the night market of Krabi, which was mostly a touristic attraction, so after one quick round we practically power walked into an empty side street to escape the crowd. One block away we did found a market that was more our scene (read: for the locals), so we walked through it a couples times and tasted a few things. Though it was much more what we were looking for, we still didn’t feel like this was it.
The second tip we got was a little closer to home – practically around the corner – and was a night market as well. Curious of what this market had to offer, and with good hope because we (temporarily) lived in the non-touristic part of Ao Nang, we got the motorbike and headed to our destination. Somehow I expected it to be small, but when we walked for a minute Raymond started laughing for some reason. I didn’t get it (he told me to wait and I would find out myself), until we reached a point where we could oversee the entire market, which was stretched out over this gigantic field.
Still a little overwhelmed, we ended up where we started and I realised I hadn’t taken a single photo yet (hence the lack of some proper ones), which is quite odd because it’s safely to say that I have the camera glued to my eye pretty much all the time. So we started again, this time to get the food where we had our eyes on the first time around and to take some photos.
During the first round we bumped into a sushi stall (score!), to which we had great memories from Chiang Mai, so we had to try this as well. It was not as cheap as up in the North (8 Baht instead of 5 Baht), but still cost nothing compared to western prices and it was just as tasty! She just closed up when I wanted to take a photo (during the second round), but I snapped one of her stall anyway. Next to that we had kebab, which tasted slightly different than what we’re used to, but in a healthier way. If that makes sense at all… What I loved most about getting this kebab was that the vender prepared it like it was a work of art, so delicate and precise. It seemed like this is the way they do things in Ao Nang (or maybe in the entire region), because when we got a Halal burger later that week (which was finger licking good by the way, make sure to get one at 'Burger Bung' if you're in the neighbourhood!) it was prepared with the same delicacy. Definitely made with love!
Though we didn't find the street food as good as we know it can be, we did find some spots that offered delicious things! We’d already read about – and experienced – Thai food being different per region, and it seemed that the food in the western part of the country just doesn’t excite our taste buds. Of course, everybody’s taste is different, and it is also what people are used to – I mean, we had food in places where locals ate as well, while it didn’t satisfy us in a way we’d experienced before. But if you would ask me where in Thailand to find the best street (and Thai) food I would definitely say Chiang Mai (maybe this spreads out over the entire northern region)! And Bangkok and Koh Samui, if you know where to go!
Are you a Thai food lover? And do you have any experience with the differences between regions?
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