Is All Thai Food Spicy?

If you don’t like spicy food, that doesn’t mean you have to avoid Thai food. Yes, most authentic Thai food is served extra spicy because that is the preferred way and culture in Thailand.

But there are many Thai dishes that are not spicy at all, or only mildly spicy. If you are traveling through Thailand and want to eat at real Thai restaurants but avoid the hot and spicy foods, I have a few recommendations.

How to say “not spicy” in Thai

First, you can order any Thai dish and recommend that it be prepared in a non-spicy way. In Thai language, the word for spicy is “pet”. So if you want your dish non-spicy you can say “may yow pet”. That translates to “I don’t want it spicy”.

Any Thai restaurant you go to will understand that request. It is common for them to cook their meals differently for foreigners because they know that many of them cannot tolerate how spicy hot Thai meals are.

A few Thai foods that are not hot and spicy

You can also order one of the Thai dishes that are mild and not spicy. One of my favorites is called “pad pak luam”. That phrase means fried mixed vegetables in Thai, and that dish is one of my favorites. Every Thai restaurant will have that, and it is a good standby to fall back on.

You can also order “khao man gai”, which is a steamed chicken and rice dish. There are no spices in it and and it is very mild. The only problem is that not all Thai restaurants are going to have this.

Usually khao man gai is served at certain roadside stands where you see the whole chickens hanging from inside a glass case. They usually open at night and they are pretty prevalent and not hard to find. Actually khao man gai is one of my favorite Thai meals as well.

And, of course, you can always order fried rice which is not spicy at all. Fried rice in Thai is pronounced “khao pad”.

If you don’t like spicy food I would definitely recommend staying away from most of the Thai soups. The soups are heavily spiced except for simple chicken and rice soups.

Conclusion

Most Thai food is spicy, yes, but there are many options for those of you who don’t like your food fiery hot. You just need to make it clear when ordering that you prefer your food not spicy.