The Best Places in Thailand for Foodies, Ranked City by City

The Best Places in Thailand for Food

Ranked for a traveler who comes to eat. I've weighed how much good food there is, how different it is from what you'd get in Bangkok, and how easy it is to eat well without local help. I haven't eaten my way through these cities myself, so the picks below come from our own records, the MICHELIN Guide and the food guides on this site.

1. 1. Bangkok, Central Thailand

   Best overall

   Every regional cuisine in the country cooks here, from Isan som tam stalls to southern curry shops, along with a Chinese-Thai food culture of its own in Chinatown and the old city. It has 39 Michelin-starred restaurants, 32 Bib Gourmands and the only street stall in the country with a star, Jay Fai.

   Eat boat noodles by Victory Monument, crab omelet and pad thai in the old city, mango sticky rice at K. Panich, and Yaowarat's street food after dark. The Michelin Restaurants in Bangkok guide lists every star and Bib, and the Best Street Food in Bangkok list ranks the stalls.

   Getting there

   Every international flight lands here.

   When to go

   Year-round. Chinatown is thinnest on Mondays.

   Hotels in Chinatown

2. 2. Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

   Best for regional cooking

   Northern food is less sweet than Bangkok's, with more herbs, smoke and pork, and Chiang Mai is the only place to eat it properly. Khao soi is the headline at ฿50–80 a bowl, and the rest of the table is sai ua sausage, nam prik noom chili dip, hang lay curry and larb muang, with larb houses that feed you for under ฿200 a person.

   The MICHELIN Guide gives the city no stars but 18 Bib Gourmands, from Khao Soi Mae Sai to Huen Muan Jai's northern dishes and Roti Pa Day's late-night roti. It's also the best place in Thailand for a cooking class, many of them on farms outside the city.

   Getting there

   A short flight or the overnight train from Bangkok.

   When to go

   November to February, before the burning season.

   Hotels in Old City

3. 3. Phuket Old Town, Phuket, southern Thailand

   Best food town

   Phuket was Thailand's first UNESCO City of Gastronomy, in 2015, and the reason is the old town, where Hokkien tin miners and the Peranakan families who descended from them built a cuisine of their own. Order moo hong (pork belly braised in black pepper and soy), crab meat in yellow curry, o-tao (an oyster omelet with taro) and Hokkien noodles.

   Most of Phuket's 19 Bib Gourmands are in town, One Chun and The Charm for Phuket-Chinese cooking, Go Benz for crispy pork late at night and Roti Chaofa for breakfast. On Sundays Thalang Road becomes Lard Yai, 300 stalls of Phuket food from 16:00 to 22:00.

   Getting there

   Fly to Phuket. The old town is on the east side of the island, away from the beaches.

   When to go

   November to April for the beaches, any month for the food.

   Hotels in Phuket Old Town

4. 4. Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Korat, Isan, northeastern Thailand

   Best for spice

   Isan food is the hottest and sourest everyday cooking in Thailand, eaten with sticky rice by hand, and its som tam, larb, grilled chicken and nam tok are what Bangkok's street vendors grew up on. In Isan's cities it's the default rather than a specialty. The MICHELIN Guide counts 28 Bib Gourmands across the region.

   In Khon Kaen, order som tam pu pla ra with fermented fish and eat at Ton Tann market after dark. Korat has its own pad mee Korat noodles, and Udon Thani is known for VT Naem Nueang's Vietnamese pork rolls. Very few tourists come, so prices are set for locals.

   Getting there

   Fly from Bangkok to Khon Kaen or Udon Thani, or take the train.

   When to go

   November to February is coolest.

   Hotels in Khon Kaen

5. 5. Phetchaburi, Between Bangkok and Hua Hin

   Best for Thai desserts

   A provincial town about 160 km south of Bangkok and a UNESCO City of Gastronomy since 2021, built on toddy palm and palm sugar. The desserts are why to come, khanom mor gang (a palm-sugar custard), khanom tan (a toddy palm cake) and lod chong with palm sugar, along with savory dishes like toddy palm curry, khanom jeen with fish cakes and khao chae.

   It's an easy stop on the way to Hua Hin, with Phra Nakhon Khiri, the hilltop palace, for the morning and lunch in town.

   Getting there

   On the road and rail line from Bangkok to Hua Hin.

   When to go

   Year-round, as a day stop.

   Hotels in Hua Hin

6. 6. Hat Yai and Songkhla, Deep south

   Best for southern Thai-Chinese food

   Songkhla became Thailand's third UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2025, and its food mixes Thai, Chinese and Malay cooking. Hat Yai fried chicken, buried under crispy fried shallots and eaten with sticky rice, is the dish the city is famous for, and breakfast here is dim sum.

   Songkhla's old town adds roti, southern curries and hole-in-the-wall dim sum shops. It's a long way south and few foreign travelers go, so it's for the second or third trip.

   Getting there

   Fly from Bangkok to Hat Yai.

   When to go

   Year-round.

7. 7. Ayutthaya, An hour north of Bangkok by train

   Best day trip for food

   Ayutthaya is famous for boat noodles, small bowls of dark beef or pork broth, and Pa Lek on Bang Ian Road has a Bib Gourmand. Its sweet is roti sai mai, spun-sugar threads wrapped in a thin pancake, sold along U-Thong Road. The province has eight Bib Gourmands in all.

   Eat at the Bang Ian night market from about 17:00 to 21:00, or at the riverside restaurants for the big river prawns the province is known for.

   Getting there

   Train or van from Bangkok.

   When to go

   Year-round, cooler in the morning.

   Hotels in Ayutthaya

Which Thai Food City Suits You