The main food in Thailand is rice. Everyone has eaten it since they were born. But we can't really eat rice alone so we have to have something to go with it. There are many dishes of food to go with rice. Most of them are hot and spicy and that is what Thai food is famous for.
Thai people are used to eating rice with their meal. Most Thai people can't have sandwiches for their meal. They call sandwiches a snack. Also, most Thai people do not sit down to eat a proper meal because they usually eat when they are hungry, especially kids and teenagers. If you know some Thai person, you might hear them say "gin khao yung" every time you meet them. It means "have you eaten yet?" or more precise "have you eaten rice yet?". If you come to Thailand and stay with a Thai family then be careful you don't put on too much weight! All of the visitors that have come to stay at our school always go home weighing more
EATING IS ALWAYS an adventure in Thailand, but one part of the adventure that foreign visitors to the Land of Smiles may not venture very far into is the myriad variety of Thai sweets, called in Thai khanom. The main reason for this, perhaps, is the lack of recognition factor for all of those attractive little sweets in cups that look so appetizing on their bed of green banana leaf and all the rest. Thai cookbook writers have lamented about the eagerness with which the Thai people have abandoned aspects of their traditional customs and gone helter-skelter to take on the trappings of Western culture, but note with pride that the sometimes humble and sometimes elaborate Thai traditional sweets and desserts remain high on the preference list of indigenous Thais to the present day. 
It would be a misconception to say that these multitudinous products of this aspect of Thai cuisine are only desserts. The usual dessert after a Thai meal is a plate of attractively arranged mixed, cut fruit. It has been said that eating is the Thais national sport, and Thais are likely to nibble at one of the finger-sized sweets as a between-meal shack or take a bowl of one of the mixed sweets prepared with chopped ice as a refreshing treat on a hot tropical day. Some Thai sweets are also especially prepared for festivals such as the lunar new year, or as special treats to be offered to monks on special occasions. 
Thai desserts are usually simple and most of the ingredients can be found in any Thai marketplace. Basic ingredients for starting from scratch often include plain rice flour, sticky rice flour, or legume flour of various sorts. Sweeteners include cane sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar, and the ubiquitous coconut cream. There is a whole class of khanom made from egg yolks, such as foi thong which are golden threads of egg yolk cooked hard in a sugar syrup flavored with essence of jasmine. Delicious, but not for those watching their waistlines or cholesterol levels. Sometimes aspects of khanom cooking can be exotic, such as used of the lowly pandanus leaf, which can be plaited into mats and other household items but finds its way into Thai khanom as a pleasing flavoring agent in anything from the small agar jelly snacks to ice cream. 
haracteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking. 
Thais were very adapt at 'Siamese-ising' foreign cooking methods, and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other daily products. Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galanga. Eventually, fewer and less spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting dinners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes. 
because the greater the number of diners the greater the number of dishes ordered. Generally speaking, two diners order three dishes in addition to their own individual plates of steamed rice, three diners four dishes, and so on. Diners choose whatever they require from shared dishes and generally add it to their own rice. Soups are enjoyed concurrently with rice. Soups are enjoyed concurrently with other dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes are "balanced" by bland dishes to avoid discomfort. 
The ideal Thai meal is a harmonious blend of the spicy, the subtle, the sweet and sour, and is meant to be equally satisfying to eye, nose and palate. A typical meal might include a clear soup (perhaps bitter melons stuffed with minced pork), a steamed dish (mussels in curry sauce), a fried dish (fish with ginger), a hot salad (beef slices on a bed of lettuce, onions, chillies, mint and lemon juice) and a variety of sauces into which food is dipped. This would be followed by sweet desserts and/or fresh fruits such as mangoes, durian, jackfruit, papaya, grapes or melon. 
>> Titbits 
>> Dips 
>> Salad Dressings 
>> Soup Stocks 
>> Curries 
>> Single Dish Meals 
Halfway between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, the mountain road makes a winding descent into a large green valley. Here you''ll find a small town called Pai, named after the river that runs through the valley. 
Many travellers are drawn to Pai by its village atmosphere and cheap, easy living in scenic surrounding and don’t want to do much more than kick back and take it easy. But for the more energetic the Pai River itself produces some pretty raucous rapids from July to January and trekking is also popular, with 2 and 3 day treks to Karen, Lahu, and Lisu villages.
Fly to Pai
When it comes to the open markets of Chiangmai, most newly arrived foreigners are steered directly either by guidebooks, travel agencies, hotel desk clerks and even tuk-tuk drivers to the Night Bazaar on Changklan Road between Tha Phae and Loi Kroh Roads. This sizeable market, with a gigantic, well-lit sign in English and surrounded by many familiar food chains of the west, is no doubt most oriented to foreign tourists. It's here where most western visitors get their first taste of a traditional Northern Thai shopping experience. Everything appears to be a willy-nilly sprawl of shopping, dining and entertainment both inside the main building and outside along Changklan Road after nightfall. Once amongst the tightly packed stalls stocked with handicrafts and foodstuffs, clothing and shoes, jewelry, ceramic knick-knacks and more, visitors very soon become acquainted with the bargaining game. 
One of Chiangmai's most interesting and easily accessible markets is the Warorot Market, located several blocks north of the Night Bazaar where Changklan Road intersects with Changmoi Road. Parking is nearly impossible, so it's best to arrive via tuk-tuk or songtheaw. If walking, you will no doubt be distracted from your destination by the abundance of shopping stalls on the blocks surrounding Warorot everything from gold jewelry to tennis shoes to fresh flowers. Unlike the Night Bazaar, the Warorot building is not marked in English. Look for the pedestrian overpass connecting two 3-storey buildings. Enter on the west side of the street under the overpass at the ground floor, or climb the stairs to go directly onto the second floor. Warorot rivals the Night Bazaar in size and variety. The ground floor is devoted to foodstuffs and produce. If you plan to stay awhile and have access to a kitchen, this is the place for pickled goods, herbs, spices and dried goods (More of these, as well as culinary utensils, produce, meat and fish, can be found in the Tohn Lumyai Market building just across the street). Clothing, handicrafts, beauty supplies, shoes, and anything else you could possibly be looking for aside from high-end electronics are available on the second and third floors. There's even a modest food court on the third floor where you can relax with a very inexpensive Thai lunch, snack or dessert. 
A single, high ceiling makes it possible to see the floors below, which circle like large balconies around the ground floor. It's clear that this old, tried-and-true shopping center layout is the prototype for Chiangmai's two newer, western-style shopping malls (Airport Plaza and Kad Suan Kaew).
phrik khi nu suan is the hottest. Take care when chopping them, and do not rub your eyes. Chillies stimulate blood circulation and are reputed to help prevent heart disease and cancer. 
