I'm mainly with dsquared37. I've been married to a Thai for nearly 25 years, lived in SE Asia for around 6, and lived in Bangkok for 3. I have had both great food (to my taste) and lousy food in all of big cities, tourists locations in small towns and tiny villages. In part the great experiences have been as m much about the environment (friends, circumstance, personal mood) than it has been about the 'quality' of the food (and that is always affected by past experience and preconception).

My observations is that Thais aren't that different to anywhere else in the world when it comes to food - at least in the most most general of senses. Congregations by Thais at breakfast/Lunch dinner can be for any/all of the following reasons other than simply the "best food" (which is, of course, a common reason!):

• can be about convenience to home/work than about quality
• being seen to be eating in the 'right' place'
• exhibiting 'kreng jai'
• ....and so on.

I reckon you either 'follow your nose' or dtaam jai (follow your heart).

Cheers, TK