bangkok
images: stockfood; awl images; getty were growing up, especially the young chefs,” says chef Dylan Eitharong of popular restaurant Haawm, whose favorite place in Chinatown is rice porridge shop Jay Suay( incidentally right next to Nai Mong).“ Street food has influenced how we think of Thai cuisine, because we generally think of it all as street food, which isn’ t the case.”
ON THE CANALS
Perhaps a better way to understand how street food came to be is to imagine how Bangkok used to be, crisscrossed with canals that residents used as a means to travel around the capital. Back then, vendors sold food on rowboats, while touts offered snacks along the waterways. Sadly, most canals in Bangkok have been filled in, but visitors can get a glimpse of what the past might have looked like by traveling an hour and a half south of Bangkok to Amphawa Floating Market.
This market has proven the most popular tour offered by Chin Chongtong of Chili Paste Tour, which focuses on daily, highly personalized outings for small groups. It’ s little surprise why: Amphawa draws thousands of tourists each weekend with its colorful, fruit-laden boats and fireflies that start flickering by the roots of the lamphu trees as dusk comes around.
“ I like everything; the fruit, the snacks, the people, the ingredients— and also the fireflies,” says Chin. But even she’ s noticed a change in the street food scene in this new post-Covid Thailand.
“ Street food has changed a lot. The government has stopped some places from operating and also, due to ongoing construction, vendors are having to leave their former base because the rent is now too high and they can’ t find new premises.”
WHAT’ S THE FUTURE?
With the current street food scene divided by shopping malls with rival food courts and convenience store chains, Bangkok is at something of a crossroads in terms of a vision for what its street food will look like. After retracting its initial comments that street food vendors would be cleared from all sidewalks in the capital, the municipal government appears to be restricting operators to select areas, and lately, vetting potential vendors on their suitability. Initially, many assumed that the government would eventually set up hawker centers like Singapore, but prime real estate set aside for street food and not condos or shopping malls is hard to find.
Enter Bantad Thong Road, a street lined with restaurants, shophouses and vendors on both sides. The energy here is palpable: the same neon lights and plethora of options as in Yaowarat, without so many of the tour buses. Although it was meant to provide space for displaced vendors, critics say the street is simply more corporate fare dressed up in street food clothing, hosting major food chains, branches of street vendors who made it big and popular Chinese outlets.
“ I see this as a consequence of prioritizing corporate and private developer needs over the rights of street food vendors,” says University of Manchester lecturer Dr. Trude Renwick.“ I don’ t see this as the future of street food, but as a growing phenomenon that’ s part of the larger street food world.”
Others, like Phil Cornwel-Smith, author of Very Bangkok, seem more resigned, unsurprised that small independent vendors are being pushed out by bigger corporate interests.“ It’ s the next phase of street food becoming an institutional standard and branded identity.”
This means that a vendor like Jay Fai, who took to selling noodles after her seamstress shop burned down, wouldn’ t be able to make it in today’ s Bangkok. As a result, it leads to the kind of mentality some tourists have when on safari: experience this while you still can. And don’ t forget to visit the nearest 7-Eleven( there are more than 4,000 of them in the city) to pick up a packet of Jay Fai’ s very own Shin Ramyun instant noodles. fall 2025 • 55