Bangkok is a paradise for those who love casual dining on the street. Wherever you go during a holiday in Thailand, food booths and street food stalls are easily spotted.

Chawadee Nualkhair, the food blogger and writer who never stops eating has just released her lastest book, Thailand’s Best Street Food, which was expanded from her previous book, Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls, to cover mouth-watering food stalls in other major cities all over Thailand.

Chawadee revealed that the concept of the book was developed by the readers who, like herself, are street food beginners: tourists and first-time expats who are not familiar with street food.

“I felt really intimidated when I first came here. I wanted to go to street food places, but I didn’t know what they were serving or how to order,” she told The Jakarta Post from Bangkok in a conversation via Skype recently.

“So I wrote the book out of those concerns I encountered.”

Despite the fact that she has Thai blood, Chawadee felt alienated when she relocated to Thailand in 1995 after growing up in the United States. “I’m Thai and my parents are Thai, but when I moved here I felt really disconnected to the culture, like I wasn’t really Thai culturally,” the mother of two said.

However, she discovered an easy way to immerse herself into the culture through getting involved in food. “Learning more about my own culture through food and street food was an immediate way of connecting to people and feeling like you’re one of the community. That’s how I started my interests,” she said.

Chawadee collected the list of yummy food stalls around Thailand by chatting with locals and asking them where their favorite food places were.

“Having a knowledge of street food and where to eat is important to Thai people. It’s a way for people to bond,” the writer said.

‘Gang Keow Wan Gai’: Green curry with chicken(JP/Kwan Saleephol)

The food writer traveled around the country trying out every appetizing place that came to her ears before narrowing down the list.

Chawadee explained that she sometimes did a Bang Bang, the term for eating double meals, with her friends. “We had one meal at a restaurant and then another meal directly after at a different restaurant. It takes a lot of effort actually because we’re not as young as we used to be. We can’t digest well,” she joked.

It took her several years to pare the list of places down. Her final list was compromised of the food stalls that she thought most people would like. Nonetheless, location was also an important factor as some street food locations are quite complicated for non-locals to access.

Unavoidably, when speaking of Thai food, people generally have the perception of deep fried bugs and scorpions at the famous backpacking-area of Khao San Road. “I think a lot of TV shows say that they want to go off the beaten track, but they always go to the same places like Khao San Road and sky bar. It’s just the same old things,” the author said.

Chawadee believes that exploring street food and writing cook books are ways of educating people “It’s great that people are learning that there’re more to Thai food than Pad Thai. There’re so many other things,” the writer said.

She thinks that there are still prejudices against street food in Western culture such as in Europe where street food is considered as something that people who don’t care about nutrition eat.

“That’s also a kind of thing in the States. Even though there is food-truck trend going on, it started out as places for those with budget concerns like hotdogs and pizza slices,” Chawadee said.

‘Gung Nueng Nom Sod’: Streamed shrimp with fresh milk.(JP/Kwan Saleephol)

On the other hand, she added, street food is a big tradition in Asia. “Very good cooks get involved in street food because it can make a lot of money for your family.” The writer believes that street food culture will eventually spread to other continents, “People are going to put more thought into food that are also low cost, but delicious,” she said.

One of the changes that she has seen during the past 10 years in Thai street food is an increasing influx of international travelers, which has an impact on the city’s food culture.

“My parents just complained to me about a week ago that their favorite food stalls are full of farang [Thai word for foreigner] now. That means more and more people are enjoying street food and they’re not as afraid as they were before,” she said.

Chawadee also pointed out that fusion street food, such as Japanese stalls, Korean wanders, including kebab trucks, are starting to appear in Bangkok.

Besides tasting street food, Chawadee is occasionally a chef too. She prefers to cook dishes that are quick and easy like Yum, salad in Thai cuisine, rather than Gang, Thai curry soup. “Gang — you have to make it from scratch. It takes forever to get all the ingredients, cut everything up and it makes my hands yellow for weeks,” she laughed.

Her first culinary training was being a prep cook for her dad back in the USA. Due to the unavailability of ingredients, they used carrots instead of green papaya to make Somtum, Thai spicy papaya salad. “You make do with what you have. I have always had to improvise,” Chawadee recalled.

“I have to admit I don’t cook Thai food very much because I can just go five minutes down the road to buy something and it taste so much better than anything I could do,” she said.

‘Hoi Shell Yang’: Grilled scallops in the half shell(JP/Kwan Saleephol)

Chawadee Nualkhair - Courtesy of Chawadee Nualkhair

Bangkok is a paradise for those who love casual dining on the street. Wherever you go during a holiday in Thailand, food booths and street food stalls are easily spotted.

Chawadee Nualkhair, the food blogger and writer who never stops eating has just released her lastest book, Thailand'€™s Best Street Food, which was expanded from her previous book, Bangkok'€™s Top 50 Street Food Stalls, to cover mouth-watering food stalls in other major cities all over Thailand.

Chawadee revealed that the concept of the book was developed by the readers who, like herself, are street food beginners: tourists and first-time expats who are not familiar with street food.

'€œI felt really intimidated when I first came here. I wanted to go to street food places, but I didn'€™t know what they were serving or how to order,'€ she told The Jakarta Post from Bangkok in a conversation via Skype recently.

'€œSo I wrote the book out of those concerns I encountered.'€

Despite the fact that she has Thai blood, Chawadee felt alienated when she relocated to Thailand in 1995 after growing up in the United States. '€œI'€™m Thai and my parents are Thai, but when I moved here I felt really disconnected to the culture, like I wasn'€™t really Thai culturally,'€ the mother of two said.

However, she discovered an easy way to immerse herself into the culture through getting involved in food. '€œLearning more about my own culture through food and street food was an immediate way of connecting to people and feeling like you'€™re one of the community. That'€™s how I started my interests,'€ she said.

Chawadee collected the list of yummy food stalls around Thailand by chatting with locals and asking them where their favorite food places were.

'€œHaving a knowledge of street food and where to eat is important to Thai people. It'€™s a way for people to bond,'€ the writer said.