Originally Posted by
Davvidd
I have studied and live there and live there now as well. My experience and also talking to my Thai friends and going out with them has been this. Go to food courts in the tourist belt and less spicy and they tell more it is more local taste. Go further away from CBD and is different. It is not only the Thai food but other South Asian food and Arabic food too.
Your Thai friends must think I am a fake Thai then! (Unfortunately given my politics it would not be the first time someone accuses me of being a fifth columnist. If only I could acquire a global north passport based simply on these accusations.) Your friends probably have a spicier palette than I do—perhaps partially for the reasons I have suggested above.
I will not let anyone slander Sukhumvit, Ratchaprasong, and Siam as the “tourist belt” though. Real locals live, eat, and work here. Khaosan on the other hand, feel free to drag that place any day of the week and twice on Sundays.