Street Food in Thailand

Street Food in Thailand...A Smorgasbord For All The Senses Like other Southeast Asian countries, food stalls are everywhere in the streets, markets and festivals of Thailand, providing an endless smorgasbord of aromas, color and flavors - food in Thailand is a feast for all of the senses.
Picture a barbecue hotdog stand outside a North American sports stadium. Now, instead of hotdogs and buns sizzling on a grill, the food cart is laden with fresh bananas, which are slathered in batter and deep-fried to golden in a giant wok, then scooped into a paper bag like a super size order of extra thick homecut french fries. That was my first breakfast in Thailand while I watched hundreds of beautifully costumed elephants play soccer and tug-of-war in an annual Elephant Round-up in Surin, in the far northeast of the country!
The next 'hotdog stand' does have a grill, placed over a large bin of charcoal, with flattened chicken quarters sizzling on sticks that you eat like a Popsicle; next door to that is yet another steel cart heaped with fresh, ripe pineapple, mango and papaya, and sporting a huge mortar and pestle for transforming the greener papayas into a crunchy, sweet-sour-spicy salad with morsels of shrimp or squid, chiles, garlic and sugar.
What makes Thai food so delicious and distinctive among other Southeast Asian food is this unique blending of fresh herbs, spices and other ingredients that combine for a perfect balance of sweet, sour, salt and heat that leaves your mouth feeling clean and your tastebuds popping in the afterglow.
Fresh fruit, salads and even soups and noodles are ladled into plastic bags with a skewer, fork, spoon or straw for eating on the go or perched on a folding chair at a nearby metal card table in the market.
Thai buses and trains become moving picnic grounds, with everyone chatting, eating and sharing the fare hawked through the vehicles' windows at roadside stops and terminals: Gai Yang, the flattened barbecue chicken on a stick, skewered meat and fish balls and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.
Carnivals and markets feature huge woks at knee-height, bubbling with deep-fried critters of all sorts, many unidentifiable. Are they grasshoppers? crickets? spiders? baby birds? small frogs? -- my mouth and eyes were constantly wide open in wonder and amazement!
I spent an inordinate amount of time in the fresh produce and night food markets -- exuberantly fascinated and often visibly discombobulated, to the great amusement of the vendors and shoppers.
After traversing every aisle of food carts and woks on my mission to find the freshest, most interesting and tasty-looking dishes, I was often met with earnestly shaking heads or "No, you don't want that - that's Thai food!" by English speaking cooks or bystanders when I pointed and gestured and tried to ask for a meal I knew I truly wanted. On my first such adventure, I did not know that the custom was for the cook to show the ladle with the amount of the garlic and chili for you to indicate how much you wanted: thinking she was simply asking if I wanted those Thai ingredients, I nodded vigorously at the heaped display, and in it all went! Yes, it was Thai food, and I enjoyed every sizzling touch to my lips under the watchful, laughing eyes of the vendors and bystanders who had gathered.
I spent as much time learning about, admiring and experiencing the food as I did with major tourist attractions, often spending hours strolling through streets and markets taking in the sights and smells and sounds: quiet clucking rising up from a heap of vibrantly coloured roosters or hens tied together at the feet - a Thai rooster's plumage is extraordinarily beautiful; plastic tubs and buckets just full enough of murky grey water to keep the fish, frogs or turtles alive until a sale was clinched; mounds and mounds of green and red, and purple and orange; the pleasant stench of durian and jackfruit - pleasant because I was just so thrilled and in awe of it a

Amazing Thailand

AMAZING THAILAND ! THAILAND embraces a rich diversity of cultures and traditions. With its proud history, tropical climate and renowned hospitality, the kingdom is a never-ending source of fascination and pleasure for international visitors. THE KINGDOM of Thailand lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it is a natural gateway to Indochina, Myamar, and Southern China. Its shape and geography divide it into four natural regions: the mountains and forests of the North; the vast rice fields of the Central plains; the semiarid farm lands of the Northeast plateau; and the tropical islands and long coastline of the peninsular South. The country comprises 76 provinces that are further divided into districts, sub-districts and villages. Bangkok is the capital city and center of political, commercial, industrial, and cultural activities. It is alsothe seat of Thailand's revered Royal Family, with His Majesty the King recognized as Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and Upholder of all religions. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or King Rama IX, the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty, the present king. The King has reigned for more than half a century, making him the longest reigning Thai monarch. Thais are well-known for their friendliness and hospitality. A large majority of over 62 million citizens of Thailand are ethnic Thai, along with strong communities whose ethnic origins lie in China, India, an ...........................................................
SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT : A BACKGROUNDER IT TOOK Suvarnabhumi Airport 40 years to be completed; the foundation stone for the airport was laid by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on jan, 19, 2002. On Sept. 28 last year, Suvarnabhum Airport has been officially opened for commercialpurposes. The airport, built with an estimated total investment of Bt 120 billion ($us 2.7 billion), was designed by the MJTA group of consultants. It is locatied in an area of 20,000 rai (8,000 acres) on km. 15 of Bang Na-Trat Road in Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan Province just east of Bangkok. It is five times larger than Don Mueang, which at its peak, was the 22nd busiest airport in the world, and the busiest in Southeast Asia. Suvarnabhumi (pronounced "soo-wan-na-poom") boasts the world's longest runway:75.3 meters by 4,000 meters long. It full operation, the airport is expected to help boost Thaliland's economic, social, communication, and tourism development, and advance the government policy of making Thailand an aviation hub in Southeast Asia. Suvarnabhumi Airport can handle up to 45 million passengers annually but this will rise to 120 million passengers a year in the final phase. The two parallel runways have a total capacity of 76 flights per hour. Upon full completion of all the phases, the airport will have four runways. At 563,000 square meters, the passenger terminal is the world's largest single building structure . The airport has a public transport center consisting of a bus terminal, parking lots for buses, coaches, limousines, cars for rent, and taxis. The center also includes service areas for convenience stores and fod shops. Roughly 25 kms form downtown Bangkok, the expected travel time by road is around 40 minutes. A number of roads are being constructed all around the airport to boost accessibility from various sides and make travel to the new airport easier and quicker. New routes link Suvarnabhumi to the popular tourist spots of Pattaya and Rayong. .......................................................
SUVARNABHUMI Airport. By now the name of Thailand's new international airport must be a by-word among international travelers. Described as the "Pride of Thailand," the airport replacing Don Mueang International Airport has been built to become a regional aviation hub, a geteway for visitors from around the world. Bangkok is by far Thailand's most important geteway. About 70 percent of all visitor arrivals come through Bangkok. Many of them use the Thai capital as the gateway for taking onward flights to numerous other destinations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Certainly one of the biggest airports in Asia today, Suvarnabhumi boasts two runways that are able to manage about 76 flights per hour and a 563,000 sqm-passenger terminal that can accommodate up to 45 million passengers a year. The airport, run by the Airports of Thailand Plc. (AOT), has 51 parking space for the aircraft connected to the buildings and 69 more remote aircraft parking space. The airport also has a cargo area, which is named Free Zone, a cargo system facility with the ability to handle three million tons of cargoes per year, as well as other facilities. As the airport marks its first anniversary this September, the airport management continues to further develop its services, particularly as regards concerns for security and better facilities. Serirat Prasutanond, General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, assured Lookeast Magazine editor Percy Roxas in an exclusive interview that in two years time, Suvarnabhumi Airport will be among the top 10 best international airports in the world. ............................................................Things about Thailand and flight to Thailand