Famously known as ‘The Land of a Thousand Smiles’, Thailand and its team of public relations professionals might do well labelling it ‘The Land of a Thousand Flavours’. The cuisine’s five tastes – spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter – are reorganised by region, resulting in a nation of dishes from creamy coconut curries in the coastal south to hearty noodle dishes rich with herbs from the mountainous north. While a culinary tour over land and sea is a worthy way to spend a vacation, the restaurants, streets and markets of Bangkok offer hungry tourists the opportunity for one-stop dining.

The capital of Thailand, Bangkok is sensory overload for foodies. Around every corner, street food vendors perfume the air with sweet smells of grilling seafood and roasting sausages. Heaving buckets of fruit, their skins gleaming with granules of sugar and spice, brighten sidewalks and storefronts. Papaya salad vendors pump out a symphony of delicious music, first cracking still wriggling crabs in half with their bare hands before obliterating the crustaceans in their thumping mortar and pestle. The market onslaught of sights, smells and sounds adds up to exceptionally edible wares.

To find the best street food Bangkok has to offer, get off the main thoroughfares. The most promising food carts and brick and mortar restaurants are usually located down soi (side streets) and trok (alleys). Wandering your way around these warrens of sweet and sour surprises can be a rewarding way to spend an afternoon, but if you’re more interested in the end result than the journey, head straight for Thammasat University.

Just a few blocks from the amulet market, the street food vendors cater cheap and fast eats from every corner of Thailand for the college students on a budget and locals in the know. Al fresco seating hangs over the Chao Phraya River offering a nice breezy view to pair with the wok-fried noodles and grilled meat skewers. For a late night bite, head to Huay Kwang. The open air market is famous for seafood and its salacious massage parlours that guarantee the district heats up when the sun goes down.

Culinary tourists looking for more than just food memories should head to The Oriental Thai Cooking School. Owned by the Mandarin Oriental, the bungalow kitchen is the oldest cooking school in town and their experience shines through every aspect of the class – from defining the foreign ingredients to demonstrating the new cooking techniques. Students walk away with a culinary curiosity piqued by knowledge and a binder of essential bilingual information that ensures they can hold their own in any market or restaurant.

Web: www.mandarinoriental.com