The Spiciest Thai Dishes: Thailand's Hottest Food and How to Survive It

If you are the kind of person who reaches for the extra chillies, Thailand is your paradise, and Phuket is arguably the best seat in the house. The island sits in Thailand's deep south, home to the spiciest cooking in a country already famous for its heat. The dishes below are not for the faint of tongue. Some of them will have you sweating, sniffing and reaching for a second bowl of rice, so consider yourself warned before you take on the spiciest Thai food the south has to offer.

Why Thai food, and Phuket, is so fiery

The heat comes mostly from one tiny culprit: the bird's eye chilli (prik kee noo), Thailand's hottest common pepper, which is used fresh, dried and pounded into pastes. Southern Thai cooking, the food of Phuket, leans on it harder than anywhere else, and many southern dishes skip the coconut milk that cools the curries of the central plains. The result is food with nothing to hide behind: pure, unadulterated spice.

The spiciest Thai dishes to brave

Here are the ones that earn their reputation, from the southern specialities you will find on Phuket to the fiery classics served all over the country.

Khua Kling

Often crowned the hottest dish in Thailand, this is a dry southern curry of minced pork or beef stir-fried with a fierce chilli paste. Crucially, there is no coconut milk to temper it, so the heat has nowhere to go but straight at you. A true test of nerve, and a Phuket favourite.

Gaeng Tai Pla

A pungent, powerful southern curry built on fermented fish, dried chillies, turmeric and southern herbs, loaded with vegetables. It is an acquired taste and seriously hot, and it is about as authentically southern as food gets.

Gaeng Som

A thin, soup-like sour curry that gets its punch from bird's eye chillies and shrimp paste and its tang from tamarind. Deceptively fiery, and a staple on southern tables.

Khao Phat Nam Prik Narok

The name translates as "fried rice with chilli paste from hell", which tells you everything. Traditionally made with catfish and an extremely spicy chilli paste, it is a favourite of spice hunters.

Neua Pad Prik

Thai pepper beef: strips of beef stir-fried with garlic and plenty of hot bird's eye chillies. Simple, punchy and popular across the country.

Kaeng Phet

The classic red curry. The coconut milk makes it creamy and slightly more forgiving, but a good one still packs a real kick from its red chilli paste.

Som Tam

Pounded green papaya salad, and the one dish where you control the damage. The vendor pounds in as many chillies as you ask for, so this is your chance to prove yourself, or to play it safe.

How to survive the heat

A few things every spice tourist should know:

• Order the heat you want. The magic words are mai phed (not spicy), phed nit noi (a little spicy), phed (spicy) and phed mak (very spicy). Be careful with that last one: "Thai spicy" is a different universe from "farang spicy", and cooks will happily take you at your word.
• Cool the burn the right way. Reach for dairy (milk, yoghurt, coconut) rather than water, which just spreads the capsaicin around. Plain rice, cucumber and a little sugar all help too. Beer, sadly, does not.
• Pace yourself. The burn always passes, and capsaicin is harmless even when it does not feel that way. If you have a sensitive stomach, build up gradually rather than diving straight into khua kling.

The "burning ring of fire" the morning after is a real risk with the hottest dishes, so ease into the deep end.

Where to eat spicy food in Phuket

Because Phuket is southern Thailand, the island is one of the best places in the country to test your limits. Its Southern Thai kitchens do the fiery classics properly: try One Chun, Krua Praya and the family-run Gorjan, or Mor Mu Dong for spicy southern seafood. The markets and street stalls are just as good, and cheaper. If you would rather cool it down, our healthy Thai food guide has the lighter, milder end of the menu, and for more culinary adventures see our guide to Thailand's most unusual foods.

Frequently asked questions

What is the spiciest Thai dish?

Southern Thai curries top most lists, especially khua kling (a dry curry with no coconut milk to soften it) and gaeng tai pla (a pungent fermented-fish curry). Both are staples on Phuket.

Why is southern Thai food so spicy?

Southern cooking uses lots of bird's eye chilli and often skips the coconut milk that tempers central-Thai curries, so there is nothing to soften the heat. Phuket, being in the south, gets the full force of it.

How do you say "not spicy" in Thai?

Say mai phed for not spicy, or phed nit noi for a little spicy. Bear in mind that even "a little" Thai spicy can surprise a first-timer.

How do you cool your mouth after spicy Thai food?

Dairy works best, so milk, yoghurt or a coconut drink, along with plain rice, cucumber or a little sugar. Water and beer actually spread the heat rather than kill it.

Is spicy Thai food bad for you?

For most people it is perfectly fine, and chilli even has some minor health perks. If you have a sensitive stomach or a medical condition, ease in gradually and listen to your body.

Where is the best spicy food in Phuket?

Phuket's Southern Thai restaurants and its markets and street stalls, where the region's fiery classics are cooked the way the locals like them.

So there it is, a tour of the spiciest Thai food the south can throw at you. Order bravely, keep the yoghurt close, and maybe think twice before you say phed mak. Got a dish that beat you, or a heat tolerance to brag about? Tell us in the comments below.