How to Enjoy the Best Thai Food on Your Vacation

No matter where you travel in Thailand, you will never run out of opportunities to enjoy the best Thai food on your vacation. However, before you travel, there are a few terms that you should come to learn that will help you decipher the menu at a restaurant or know how to ask for a snack from a market stall during your outings in any area of Thailand.

Ordering your Thai food should always start with the way that you want your food prepared. Therefore, you will find three key terms for cooking, including "gaeng" for curry, "pad" for fried, and "tom" for boiled. Then, you will want to add the key ingredients, like khao for rice, gai for chicken, moo for pork, pla for fish, and gung for prawn.

Now, as you ask for your Thai food, you will request the entrée as "khao-pad-gai" for fried rice with chicken or "pad gai" for fried chicken. Other popular combinations include "gaeng gung" for curried prawns and "khao-pad-moo, which is fried rice with pork.

After you discover the basics of how to order your Thai food, you will next want to learn that there are a few types of Thai curry, as well as different versions of other types of ingredients, especially if you plan on traveling to different areas of Thailand and enjoying different types of food from different cultures. Still, there are some popular dishes that you will find while travelling in Thailand from which you can choose.

As you travel in Thailand, one of the best things to do is visit the markets. Not only do they allow you to sample different types of food, but you can also watch the different types of cooking that are going on at any given time and learn some techniques that you can take back home with you to prepare authentic Thai food after your vacation.

The most important part of ordering what you want is learning the language. It can be quite difficult when you try to speak Thai, especially if it is not a language that you plan to speak often. Therefore, if you plan to visit the markets or make any trips that will take you off the beaten track where a tour guide will not be with you, a simple Thai phrase book or dictionary with a good pronunciation guide is a wise investment. You can often get dining recommendations from your resort or hotel.