Bangkok is a main stop for those travelling in and out of Southeast Asia. With a population of almost 11 million, most of whom are Buddhist, it is a paradise for vegans and vegan food lovers. Read on for more vegan food Bangkok.
TLDR; I’m here for the food recommendations!
The night before I flew to Bangkok for the first time I had a panic attack. I was in bed, drenched in fear, crying my eyes out in my confused boyfriend’s arms. Seeing me overcome with emotion and sweating like a beast, was not new to Bob, but the night before I flew to Thailand on a free work trip? This was a new one. And honestly, just how I roll. I am emotional.
Sometimes my brain mixes up emotions. As soon as I calmed down and behaved like a functioning human again, I was able to articulate to both of us that I was not terrified, I was excited. I had been dreaming about Thailand since I was a young teenager and now it was happening. Not only was it happening, work was paying for it. It was too good to be true in my little anxious brain so my little anxious brain threw a wobbler.
But true it was. In April 2019 I flew to Bangkok for a week-long work meet-up. I extended my stay for 3 extra weeks and Bob joined me to explore the country. I had been to the States and China the year before and extended both by a few days but this was different. It was a full month in Thailand backpacking (after I packed away my professional hat that is).
Bangkok Baby
I arrived a day before my coworkers, stayed in the old part of the city, and wandered the streets until my legs begged for mercy. Bangkok blew my mind! Actual explosions between my temples. Gruesome. I had to sweep my brain up off the street and put it back in. When it rebooted, it turned out I had caught a travel bug. I knew this wouldn’t be my only time wandering this city, I had to see it all. I was addicted already.
Falling in Love
Bangkok has a distinctive smell, like hot sewers mixed with traffic, incense, and sweet spicy street food. It’s intoxicating. Back then I was still eating fish and dairy. (It was actually on the plane home that I decided to go plant-based.) So when hunger hit it wasn’t too hard for a first-timer to find somewhere to eat. I did like any weirdo who’s afraid of making a decision on her own would do, I saw a long queue for a street stall and joined it.
The queue was at least 30 people deep so the food had to be good, right? Right! The stall wasn’t a street stall; it had a large seating area inside, but the cooking took place on the street. Large steel woks were being moved through open flames with noodles tossed back and forth and up into the air. Chilli caught in my throat and I knew I was ordering whatever was in those woks. Hello Pad Thai! I don’t know how it had not crossed my palate before but this, on my first meeting with Pad Thai, was love.
I sat down, ordered my shrimp Pad Thai, and waited. On the table, there were bowls of condiments unlike any at a restaurant back home. Little bowls of chilli, sugar, peanuts, and soy and fish sauce bottles.
Seeing the Goods
A white plastic plate of noodles arrived with a side dish of beansprouts, chives, limes, and a yellow un-bloomed flower thing. The server, noticing my Western ignorance, pointed from side plate to noodle plate and giggled. (You’d be surprised at how you become used to being giggled at in Southeast Asia.) I translated that they were toppings and added lime and bean sprouts, but left the banana blossom alone because I hadn’t a clue how to work that. I felt absolute joy as I tried to get food from plate to mouth with the plastic chopsticks, staining my t-shirt along the way with (what I now know is) tamarind sauce. Chopsticks are a skill I have now, thankfully, acquired. I cleared my plate and ordered a second.
Don’t you know these plates were twice the price of any Pad Thai I’ve had since? The place was full of tourists but it was still an outstanding meal and I was high on life being in Bangkok. It only became real to me that I was actually there, in Thailand, that evening in Thipsamai restaurant. My first meal in Bangkok is up there with one of the greatest meals of my life.
Over the following days, between work meetings, I managed to do some sightseeing. Jim Thompson’s house (beautiful but turned me off silk), the reclining Buddha, tuk-tuk rides, Thai massage, all that fun stuff. But I only scratched the surface of my guidebook. As I flew up to Chiang Mai after a week, I was already planning how and when I could get back to Bangkok to explore some more.
Hey COVID, is that you babe?
Bob and I were living together less than a year when our viral friend COVID-19 hit the streets. Lockdown was grim after we all sobered up and realised this wasn’t ending in a few weeks. To keep sane, Bob and I fantasised about where we’d travel once allowed again. “I’m off to Japan” was repeated around our flat. As the weeks turned into full-blown years our savings grew. So, fully hypnotised by our Japan mantra, we decided F* it, let’s go to Southeast Asia for 3 months. No, make it a YEAR! We deserve it, COVID owes us!
(Full disclosure, we had little to worry about during COVID. We were fit and healthy in a happy relationship with jobs that allowed us to work from home. We were grand.)
In 2022 I left my job and we flew into Bangkok for my second time. I was anxious as F*, but with reason this time. I had quit a good job with a vague plan of bouncing around Southeast Asia for a year. Being caught between the excitement of travel and a pension left me nauseous on the plane. I had a pension for F*’s sake what was I doing? But you know, it was nothing a quiet drink on Khaosan Road wouldn’t fix.
We Go Boom Boom?
Well Holy God, wasn’t Khaosan an experience and a half? The last time I was there a curfew was in place so everything shut at 11 pm. There was no curfew this time let me tell you. Bangkok now smelled like hot sewers, traffic, incense, sweet, spicy street food, and weed. There was weed everywhere, out in the open, newly legalised. We guzzled booze and laughed our heads off, half deafened, sitting on the street in little plastic chairs surrounded by other travellers. Our taxi driver from the airport had asked “You go boom boom?” when we told him our destination. On arrival I understood immediately what he meant. The music blared from speakers in every bar, the songs blurring together into booming noise. I was yet to find out that this madness was a quiet night on Khaosan, tourism was still very low after the pandemic.
We moved things indoors down in Khao San Centre where we played pool against other tourists and locals. Locals whose faces I would come to recognise time and time again when stopping in here for a Chang beer and a game. Hours passed midnight, we collapsed happily into our cheap hotel bed. This was a new wonderful world to me. Things were going to be alright.
Over the last year, we’ve passed through Bangkok many times as we crisscrossed Southeast Asia, returned home, and came back again. Lately, on my 7th visit to the city, I smiled to myself as we dipped into a cafe to wait out a monsoon shower. I was still full of amazement and joy at just being in Bangkok.
Get to the Food Already
Vegan in Bangkok
My favourite thing to do anywhere is eat and Bangkok is no exception. I’ve already told you about my first Pad Thai, it wasn’t vegan but it was a memory I’ll never lose. You can easily order vegan Pad Thai on the street, just ask for it with tofu and no egg or fish sauce. The dish will come with fried noodles and vegetables. Add lime, chili, and peanuts to suit your taste. It’s one of my favourite dishes and my first order in Bangkok every time.
OK, Other Than Pad Thai
On my latest visit I ordered from a small place called My Friend’s on Chakrabongse Road. We’d been there the year before and the owner was super nice so we dropped in again. The menu had many veggie options and they were happy to omit the egg for me. It came with lots of veg and the noodles were slippy not slimy or sticky which stops the dish feeling heavy. A Pad Thai with sticky noodles and little veg tends to sit in my stomach too long.
I look for a vegetarian menu section when ordering vegan-friendly Thai curry to avoid sneaky fish sauce. A lot of the time you’ll see a vegetable or tofu option on a standard menu and you’ll taste the fish sauce when you try it. “Gin jay” means I eat strictly vegetarian/vegan, and will let your server know to exclude fish sauce. Jeng Noodle has a great vegetarian menu with lots of curries at very affordable prices. I’ve had the Massaman with tofu, it was a lovely bowl of soup packed with veggies and tofu. The soup was sweet, rich, and warm like a hug.
I can’t mention food in Bangkok without mentioning I Love Thai food. It’s proper street food and cheap. There is no specific vegetarian menu but lots of things can be with veg and/or tofu. Make sure to specify that you don’t want fish sauce or egg. I haven’t had an issue (that I know of) here.
Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants
If you want to eat Thai food without risking any accidental fish sauce or shrimp paste, I suggest May Kaidee’s vegan/vegetarian restaurant. The food is cheap and the chef adds her own touch to classic dishes. For example, she uses a sweet peanut sauce instead of crushed peanuts when making Pad Thai. I took a cooking class in the sister restaurant in Chiang Mai, we made the peanut sauce and now I make it at home a lot. It’s so good on top of roasted veggies or salads.
In every blog about vegan food in Bangkok, you’ll find Mango mentioned and rightly so. We’ve eaten here a few times and every time we pass the place is packed. On our first visit, we arrived early, around brunch time, and we had the place all to ourselves. At main meal times, you’ll most likely be sitting at a table with others. No harm in that either. The food here is either vegan or vegetarian. The menu is color-coded to differentiate. It’s a bit more expensive than our usual backpacker budget but still reasonable and worth it in my opinion. Zoodle kung pao and garlic butter chicken were 2 big favourites.
Final Thoughts…
Most of the places I’ve mentioned are in the old part of the city near Khaosan Rd. This is where I found it easiest to find vegan food in Bangkok. It’s worth mentioning that I have stayed in the Silom area and found it quite difficult at the weekend. This is a business area and their customers tend to leave on a Friday. We ended up eating in a few chains in malls which isn’t what I want to do in Thailand. I’ve seen a couple of places we ate recommended on blogs and I don’t know why. I have found food in chains to be bland and unexciting but hey, that could be me, you do you!
I have no doubt there are tons and tons more great places to eat vegan food in Bangkok. Maybe you completely disagree with my blanket chain food statement? That’s what the comments are for. Tell me your thoughts.
Heading to Chiang Mai? Read our post on vegan food in Chiang Mai.
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