Sawadee ka! Food spots to try in Bangkok

MANILA, Philippines — If there were three things that Thailand is best known for, these would be its temples, elephants and great food, and there are many places to find the latter right in the heart of the country.

Philstar.com was invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Cebu Pacific to see what the capital city, Bangkok, had to offer in terms of cuisine, culture and everything in between.

Bangkok is pretty huge in comparison to other cities in Thailand. There are many places to try out local delicacies. Here are just a few suggestions:

SookSiam

This indoor market on the ground floor of the ICONSIAM mall beside the Chao Phraya river has stalls and restaurants serving food from the four regions of Thailand: Northern, Southern, Central and Northeastern.

Restaurants with seating areas make up the outer rim of the market while in the center are the stalls selling all kinds of Thai food, which can either be eaten standing up or, if one is lucky enough, at a spare table near the Lan Muang courtyard.

Streetfood options range from assortments of rice and noodles, the ever-present coffee and milk tea, and items on sticks from seafood and vegetables to meats, including grilled crocodile.

Some other attractions to spot at SookSiam are the Mala Villa, the Naga staircase, a Sino Mansion and the Rice Barnyard.

Jodd Fairs

SookSiam may have lots of food options, but the popular Jodd Fairs night market tops it because it also has stalls selling clothes, souvenirs, accessories and bags.

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The original Jodd Fairs is at Rama XI road, but there is a new one along Phahonyothin Road where an old theme park called "Magic Land" or Dan Neramit used to be located. Hence, the name Jodd Fairs DanNeramit. A stone castle also still stands near the market area.

Both night markets are fairly new and are post-pandemic venues, but tourists and locals alike have been flooding the stalls for a quick bite and window-shopping.

Siam Square

If Metro Manila has Katipunan and Taft Avenues, Bangkok has Siam Square for the many students of Chulalongkorn University to hang out after classes.

The area is full of designer stores, ala Ginza in Tokyo, but a key draw for students are the many coffee shops to choose from.

Originally from South Korea, the fairly new coffee shop Dosan Dalmatian has such Instagrammable corners and spots that one cannot resist snapping a photo while sipping on drinks.

Siam Square is also connected to other shopping areas like the MBK Center, Siam Paragon and the Ratchaprasong shopping district.

Sompong Thai Cooking School

Instead of going out to find some Thai food, why not make your own?

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This family-run cooking school has been around since 2008, growing from a makeshift kitchen in front of their house into a full-fledged cooking institution.

The cooking school teaches visitors four dishes, usually including the typical main dish and a curry, on top of fruit carving, a trip to a local market and making rice.

Some of the appetizer taught are curry pastes of varying spice levels and salads, while mains include red, yellow, or green curry, soups and fried noodles.

Dessert options could be banana fritters or egg custard, but almost everyone will go for the crowd-favorite mango sticky rice.

Cebu Pacific flies twice daily between Manila and Bangkok, as well as from Clark to Bangkok six times weekly.

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Editor's note: The tour to Bangkok was hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Cebu Pacific to promote tourism in the area. At no stage does the host organization have a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.

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