Thai culinary art is based on a long tradition of cooking with ingredients provided by nature: fresh, natural, healthy.
These traditions evolved from the home cooking in Thai villages, which was based solely on fresh ingredients. Along the years, these traditions spread out to other regions in Thailand. External influences from other cuisines reached the country: Chinese, Malaysian and Indian. All this created the powerful modern Thai cuisine. Thai cooking uses a wide variety of beef, chicken, pork, fish and seafood, alongside tropical fruit like mango, banana, papaya, pineapple and coconut, together with fresh and blanched vegetables and balancing herbs.
The Thai tradition sees food as a central part of life. Long meals are a significant part of social family activities. It is customary to serve hot and cold dishes side by side and eat them together. Most are sharing dishes served at the center of the table, except for noodle dishes that are considered a personal dish, and for rice, which is the Thai equivalent of bread.