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Koh Samui food & travel guides
Practical notes for eating well on Koh Samui, from our kitchen in Choeng Mon.
How to Read a Thai Menu: Decoding Dish Names
A decoder for the written Thai menu: the cooking methods, the main ingredients, the noodle types, the small modifier words, and the names that break the rules.
What Thai Breakfast Actually Is
There is very little in a Thai breakfast that belongs only to the morning. The two rice soups and how to tell them apart, fried dough with sweet coffee, rice plates, and where people eat them.
Thai Sweets on Koh Samui: Coconut, Palm Sugar and Banana Leaf
Thai sweets are built from a short list of materials, and Samui is a coconut island. Here is how to read the sweets on a market tray, including khanom krok, lot chong, the gold egg-yolk sweets and slow-stirred kalamae.
How to Order Food in Thai: Phrases That Actually Work
Phrases for ordering in Thai in the order a meal happens, with what staff say back to you, the difference between ขอ and เอา, and which of ค่ะ and คะ to use.
Southern Thai Food on Koh Samui: What It Is and What to Try
Koh Samui sits in southern Thailand, but island food guides often get the region wrong. Here is what sets southern cooking apart, which dishes to know, and what is genuinely local to Samui and Surat Thani.
How a Thai Meal Works: Sharing, Rice and the Table
Dishes go in the middle, everyone has rice, and the spoon does the work. A sourced look at what arrives at a Thai table, how it is eaten, how much to order, and how the bill and tipping usually work.
Big Buddha and Wat Plai Laem: A Half Day From Choeng Mon
Correct names, the Guanyin nickname explained, what to wear, and a realistic morning plan for Big Buddha and Wat Plai Laem from Choeng Mon.
How to Get to Choeng Mon, Koh Samui
How to actually get to Choeng Mon from Samui airport, Chaweng or Bophut: taxi and Grab options, songthaews, driving yourself, and the Chaweng Noi mix-up to watch for.
Vegetarian and Vegan Thai Food: What to Order and What to Ask
Jay, mangsawirat and vegan cover different rules, and fish sauce, shrimp paste and even pork stock turn up in dishes that look plant based. Here is what each term means, what to say, and which dishes usually adapt well.
Choeng Mon, Koh Samui: An Area Guide for Visitors
A practical orientation to Choeng Mon on Koh Samui's north-east coast: where it sits, what the beach is like, and how to get around.
How to Get Food Delivered on Koh Samui
A practical look at food delivery apps in Koh Samui: which ones run today, why coverage isn't uniform, and how to give a driver a location they can find.
How Much Does Food Cost in Koh Samui?
What meals cost on Koh Samui, tier by tier, with current sourced price ranges and a sample daily food budget you can adapt.
How to Pay With PromptPay as a Tourist
A practical guide to paying a Thai QR code as a visitor, from cross-border banking app links to a tourist prepaid card, plus exactly how PromptPay works when you order online from Khun Yak.
Thai Food Spice Levels: How to Order It Mild or Not Spicy
Thai food can swing from gentle to fierce in the same kitchen. Here is where the heat comes from, which dishes usually run mild, and the Thai phrases that get you the spice level you want.