🌶️ Thai

Beef massaman you shouldn't skip, plus duck confit, sea bass and French toast

On the Thai side of the menu, the beef massaman is the dish worth the drive, with nam tok and tom yum beside it. Anyone wanting to step outside the curries will find duck confit with a crunch closer to good fried chicken.

ℹ Closed Wednesdays

Some of the island's best fried fish, with massaman and pomelo salad right behind

The fish goes two ways here — fried with herbs, or steamed for anyone who wants less oil — and beside it massaman, larb gai and som tam. On the soup side the tom yum is the order, and the pineapple fried rice finishes the table.

ℹ Opening hours vary — call before you go

The island's talked-about khao soi at a modest price, plus massaman and lime-steamed fish

Beyond the khao soi — which arrives with the chicken already off the bone, and can also be ordered with tofu — the menu rewards digging: nam tok, red curry with duck, pineapple and grapes, som tam rolls, and stir-fried mushrooms loaded with garlic. The plating is striking, and the dishes travel well for delivery.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Khao soi built on a house mushroom curry paste, no MSG

Not only khao soi: the pomelo salad stands on its own, the massaman delivers, and the som tam has had spells when it was among the island's best. And if you came for the classic — there's a khao soi with fish as well.

⚠ Opinions are divided, and it can be better as takeaway

Thai fusion in a designed room — beef massaman and lemony fish lead

Fish is the strength here: seared barramundi that stays crisp even under a generous sauce, and the three-flavour fish for anyone chasing sour and hot. The massaman is a contender for the island's best and the cashew chicken is a safe pick — the desserts you can leave aside.

⚠ Opinions on the food are divided

Slow, home-style Thai: sweet-and-sour chicken and a vegetable soup worth the wait

What to order: sweet-and-sour chicken, tom yum, cashew chicken pasta and a fried papaya salad that arrives as a bit of theatre. The kitchen cooks everything fresh to order and works table by table, which is why the food is worth a real wait — this is not a place for anyone in a hurry.

ℹ Very slow service and shifting opening hours

Home-style Thai — pad thai, mini schnitzels, fried rice, and they deliver

When you want everyday Thai with no gamble, this is the safety basket: fried rice, vegetable gyoza and chicken nuggets, and for sick days, chicken soup that comes to the door. The pad thai splits opinion: less sweet than the norm, which some count in its favour and others find too soft.

ℹ Two branches — the Srithanu one is far better than the beach one

Khao soi with chicken, crispy schnitzel or fish — in a shaded yard by the sea

Khao soi is the name of the game, in three versions: the classic that beat rivals from across the island in a blind tasting, one with crispy schnitzel in place of cooked chicken, and the only one on the island made with fish. The chicken comes on the bone rather than pulled apart — thigh and breast both — and the broth is very rich in coconut milk. On the side, a good tofu larb.

⚠ Opinions are divided; in the yard, long sleeves are a good idea

The broth is built around your order — noodles, chicken or pork wonton

At the entrance to the food court, opposite the clothes stalls: you stand at the pot and put your own bowl together — noodles, chicken, beef, shredded meat, wonton or pork dumplings — and the broth is built around whatever you asked for. The tom yum sits on a vegetarian base, and the meat goes in only for those who want it. On the side you can add a bag of crispy pork, and finish with a fried banana. Skip the meatballs, and anyone arriving at the end of the day may find too much fat in the broth.

ℹ Closes early — by around five there is almost nothing left

A menu of one dish: pad thai, wrapped inside an omelette

An elderly man stands over the pan, and the whole menu is a single dish: pad thai wrapped inside an omelette. The pad thai itself doesn't always land, and can come out watery. It all happens in the corner by the exit that leads to Mandolino's back entrance.

Smoked chicken roasted inside a jar, with a plate of som tam beside it

The chicken comes out of the jar and is sold by the piece, and the difference between the pieces is the whole story: the quarter chicken is soft and juicy, the breast tends to dry out. The gap is wide — the leg can be the best and best-value plate on the island, and the very same bird can also arrive bone dry. Som tam alongside turns it into a full meal, and you look for it beside the shawarma stalls.

ℹ Opens at 11am, closed on Mondays, and not always open in the evening

Classic pad thai loaded with fresh vegetables, and mini schnitzels by the pile

Pad thai is the reason to come — classic, loaded with fresh vegetables, one of the few on the island that gets this dish right. Alongside it, schnitzel strips that arrive half a bowl at a time, khao soi you can ask for with tofu instead of chicken, fried tofu and chicken soup. On delivery it all still arrives the way it should.

A café whose khao soi runs red, barely any coconut milk, among the island's best

Reddish, with barely any coconut milk and a flavour that travels north towards Chiang Mai and Pai — that's the khao soi served here, and it stays consistent over time. The chicken arrives as a whole thigh on the bone, and anyone who'd rather not work for it takes the tofu; the heat is left in your hands.

ℹ The chicken version comes as a thigh on the bone

Duck with green noodles and pomelo salad, facing the sunset

Two dishes justify the trip: duck with green noodles, and a pomelo salad that stays fresh and balanced in its seasoning — none of the overload familiar from other versions on the island. And if you get to pick your hour, the food tastes even better as the sun goes down.

Duck noodle soup and tom yum noodles — a local spot, cheap and very good

The duck soup and the tom yum noodles — a cross between tom yum soup and a noodle bowl, excellent in the salmon or tofu version too — are the main orders here. Round out the table with the Burmese salad or the black pepper fried rice with cured egg yolk and crispy garlic.

ℹ Closes in the afternoon and dishes run out early

Everyday Thai in Srithanu, with precise fried rice and tofu khao soi

Khao soi is the right order here, tofu version included for anyone skipping meat, and the fried rice comes out precise in a way that's rare. Those two alone are worth the stop, without opening the rest of the menu.

⚠ Opinions are divided, mainly on the pastas and the service

Chicken breast and pasta in lemon butter — the dish you come back for, by the sea

The Thai dishes here are tasty and the fresh spring roll stands out among them, but the visit is aimed at one plate: chicken breast and pasta in a lemon butter sauce. A hotel-restaurant bonus — you can pay by card.

ℹ The pool is for hotel guests; breakfast is less successful

A beach restaurant with burgers, massaman and barbecue on Mondays and Fridays

From the Thai menu, the massaman is the dish to come for, and the seating facing the water completes it. A mixed group gains from the Western wing — burger and breakfast burrito — and Mondays and Fridays add a barbecue evening.

⚠ The burger divides opinion

Thai seafood on the sand — fish in Thai herbs and crab curry

This Thai kitchen is built around the sea: fried fish in Thai herbs or as larb, crab curry, and a generous plate of garlic shrimp. The character is more local than beachfront restaurants usually manage.

ℹ Quality swings from one day to the next

Fish, aubergine salad with prawns and seafood curry — plus an Indian menu

A beachfront resort restaurant in Thong Nai Pan, and one of the safer stops in the area for a proper meal. The aubergine salad with prawns and egg is essentially a Thai take on sabich — the dish to open with. Not everything holds the same level, and the fried fish with basil is fine and no more, but if you are on this side of the island it is the obvious stop.

Grilled fish across from the Ban Tai pier, with mash that takes the spotlight

One of the local Thai kitchens that tunes its flavours for a Western palate — and the pad kaprao, the house test of the genre, comes out tasty here. Alongside the local dishes there's a whole grilled fish with salad and a side of your choice, 200–250 baht all in.

Panang with extra vegetables, and breakfast on the sand in Haad Rin

The panang is the dish people come for — and you order it with extra vegetables, that is the way to do it. Thai food sitting right on the beach, so a lunchtime curry rolls easily into a few hours in the sea. In the morning there are syrniki instead of another routine pancake.

A hillside terrace above Thong Nai Pan — mango duck at sunset

Two dishes carry the menu: roast duck with mango and prawns in tamarind sauce — and both are best eaten on the terrace as the sun drops. Beyond them the results are less consistent, so it is better not to spread yourself across the menu.

⚠ The food is hit and miss — the view never is

Simple roadside Thai, and the pomelo salad is the standout

Local Thai on the police station road, the kind of place where you can spread the table with all the familiar dishes and find every one of them good. The cooking feels healthy and simple, with no tricks. It travels well too, for when you want dependable Thai without leaving the house.

A home kitchen doing Thai in Chaloklum, with schnitzel fingers fried in butter

The schnitzel fingers, fried in butter, are the menu's happy anomaly — crisp in a way that's hard to find on the island. Around them, the Thai dishes are cooked one by one to order, so come hungry and patient — or have it delivered.

ℹ The wait for food is long

Sea bass fried with garlic and pepper, out on the Chaloklum pier

The decision here is simple: sea bass fried with garlic and pepper, at a local place sitting on the Chaloklum pier, out over the water. Go at midday, when the light on the sea turns one plate into a meal with a view.

Authentic Thai with southern-kitchen curries and an enormous menu

The southern dishes are what set it apart: unusual curries that don't appear on every Thai menu on the island, an aubergine version among them worth marking. The flavours are strong and authentic, sometimes hot, and the enormous menu needs navigating — the right choice is the difference between an ordinary meal and a careful one.

⚠ The flavours are strong and hot, and it doesn't land for everyone

Evening Thai in Hin Kong — tofu larb, pad krapow and khao soi

Larb is the headline — the tofu version especially — with pad krapow, a Burmese salad and a good khao soi beside it. Just watch the clock: they're open mainly in the evening, so this is a Thai dinner stop rather than a lunch one.

⚠ Open mainly in the evening, and opinions are divided

Home-cooked Thai by delivery — cashew chicken, pomelo salad, turmeric soup

Cashew chicken is the strong dish here, alongside pomelo salad and a turmeric chicken soup worth an order of its own. Since the restaurant closed the cooking has moved home — order a delivery, or arrange a table in the yard in advance for a Thai meal that is genuinely home-cooked.

ℹ The restaurant has closed — the cooking continues by delivery and home hosting, on request

Local Thai right by Lotus — khao soi and massaman at local prices

Simple Isaan cooking at a local pace, from the kind of kitchen that would rather do one thing slowly and properly. Khao soi lovers will find a bowl here that competes seriously for the island's best — even if not everyone comes away in love with it. And a surprise for anyone planning a celebration: birthday cakes to order in advance.

⚠ Bring patience — the food comes out slowly, and it divides opinion

Pad krapow and panang curry both come out excellent — start with either

The Thai woman behind the counter turns out two dishes that work especially well: the pad krapow and the panang curry. The stall is immediately to the left of the salad bar.

Organic Thai cooking with a delicate touch, and excellent khao soi

Thai cooking built on organic produce, with delicate flavours and a menu that keeps changing. The khao soi is the real reason to come, and an average of around 100 baht a dish keeps the meal firmly in market-food territory. It stands to the right of the pasta stall.

Beachfront Thai with a garden for the kids and plenty of vegan options

One of those places families adopt as a weekly habit — an unhurried Thai meal while the children disappear to play and come back only when the food arrives. The owner isn't always the warmest host, though on most evenings that doesn't spoil anything. A natural pick for a family dinner at the end of the week.

⚠ Service divides opinion

Plain-looking Thai with a precise tea-leaf salad and pad krapow

Excellent cashew chicken, precise larb and pad krapow, and grilled fish in miang style for anyone who came for fish — but the opening slot goes to the Burmese tea-leaf salad with prawns, which costs only 80 baht. It all leaves the kitchen without pretension and with a smile.

A Thai chef who cooks in your own kitchen — or sends the meal to your door

You arrange it with her directly by phone: agree on a menu, and the food is either cooked in your kitchen or arrives ready at the house. The base is Thai, but she's open to other styles and to a vegan menu; pricing runs between 400 and 600 baht per person, and seafood costs more. A natural solution for a Friday night dinner or hosting at a villa — you entertain without going near the stove.

Air-conditioned Thai, with a green mango salad that justifies the visit

The green mango salad is the opening order here, and the rest is a Thai menu that answers the dinner question neatly. The room is air-conditioned — an unusual advantage in this genre.

A Thai workers' canteen — chicken noodle soup and pad thai, with a local crowd

Authenticity is the whole game: a mostly Thai crowd and the look of a roadside workers' canteen. Order the chicken noodle soup — hard to beat anywhere on the island — or the pad thai, and come before mid-afternoon: they close at three or four.

ℹ Daytime hours only

Grilled chicken and basil prawns, and a chicken soup for a cool day

Prawns stir-fried in basil and chicken off the grill are the obvious order, and the chicken soup is saved for cooler days. There's a liver pâté too for anyone after something less routine, and on the whole it's hard to go wrong here with any plate.

Good Thai for delivery, with some of the best spring rolls on the island

An answer for an evening at home — Thai that comes to you rather than the other way round, relevant mainly around Thong Sala. Add the spring rolls to every order, whatever else ends up in the bag. And before you count on it, check they still deliver to your area.

MSG-free Thai kitchen in Srithanu, with a few Indian-style dishes

Pum Poy's neighbour in Srithanu, one of those neighbourhood Thai places it's good to have near home. The interesting part of the menu is the Indian corner — yellow dal and a few more dishes in that style — and anyone who avoids MSG can order here without a second thought.