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One of the highlights of living in Thailand is all the remarkable and reasonably priced eats and culinary treats on offer. Even if you haven’t acquired the taste buds to appreciate rice base dishes featuring Asian herbs, spices, pastes, and various jungle style soups and sauces, it’s not likely you’ll go hungry in the Kingdom of Thailand.

If you were expecting a read glorifying popular Thai dishes like the spicy shrimp soup or Tom Yum Goong (often spelt Tom Yam Kung) or Thai style fried noodles, Pud (also spelt Pad) Thai, this isn’t it. As a Thai American who has been living in Thailand going on six years, I rarely eat such dishes and don’t know many Thais who regularly order or make such items, though if you’re ever in Phetchburi city, be sure to sample the tasty Pud Thai on offer there.

For newbies to Thai cuisine, I’d recommend other less-mentioned Thai central dishes such as Pud Gra Pao (Basil, Chilli, and Garlic stir fry), Prick Pao (Roasted Chilli paste), or Put Poang Garee (sweet coconut yellow curry) which can be prepared with your choice of meat base i.e. pork, beef, chicken, or sea food. And of course, Isarn (Northeastern region of Thailand)style food is great grubbing, whether Som Tum (Papaya Salad), Barbecued Chicken (Gai Yaang in Thai) or Minced pork or beef salad (Laap in Thai).

And then what about those people who can only have so much Thai food and need a burger, fried chicken, or pizza in their diet? Plenty of that in Thailand too. Particularly major fast food chains like KFC, Burger King, Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, and Pizza Company can be found all over the country. Personally, I have American style fast food once a week on average. Usually, KFC, Macdonalds, and recently, a lot of pizza as the buy one get one free card usually makes it more value worthy. Matter o fact, I just finished off two medium pizzas from Pizza Company which cost me almost 300 baht (nearly 10 $USD).

Though, western food is generally cheaper in Thailand than back in the states, it is still considerably more expensive than Thai food, and if I had to choose from one or the other for the rest of my life, I’d choose Thai food.

Though in Thailand, you don’t have to choose only one type or style of food. Even the local food varies in selection–from herbal vegetarian mystery dishes to battered and deep fried meats, seafood, curries and soups galore. And we haven’t even covered local exotic fruits and deserts, which deserves its own log…coming soon.

When I first came to Thailand, I was pretty committed to avoiding the fast food chains, as I told myself it was all corporate crap poison, yada yada ya…It wasn’t so difficult to restrain myself then, as I was still so in love with Thai food, I rarely had craving for the junk from back home. Over the years, being away from the states so long, I stopped fighting the urge to indulge and sate my western food cravings, but still try to keep it in moderation.

While authentic or near-authentic western food is abundant in Thailand, finding authentic Thai food back in the states might prove difficult as the Thai restaurants there serve adapted Thai food, which I find a disgrace in many cases–but hey, that’s business. If you’re overseas and want to try real authentic Thai food, your best bet is to head to the nearest Thai temple around lunch time. As monks begging for alms on the street is not common in western societies, local Thais head to the temple instead and prepare a buffet for the monks, and they usually make enough for themselves and others to indulge when the monks have finished.

In Thailand, there’s plenty of things cooking on the grill or in the pot, no matter where you happen to be–on a busy Bangkok street, or out in the sticks, certainly you’ll find something palatable, that won’t likely put any dents in your wallet.

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