How to enjoy Thailand's street cuisine - safely

Korakot Punlopruksa was savouring her favourite green papaya salad and summer sausages at Bangkok's Chatuchak weekend market when her bliss was shattered. "Suddenly a rat ran underneath my leg," says Punlopruksa, a seasoned local food writer who eats on the street every day. "I freaked out."

Thailand has one of the world's most inspiring cuisines and much of it can be found at the tens of thousands of stalls vying for business down the bustling sois (side streets). Even the most unadventurous of diners can be tempted by noodles or crêpes being freshly made on makeshift burners.

Street food is the lifeblood of Thailand, particularly Bangkok, where the volume of foot traffic means a hardworking stall holder can turn enough profit to send their kids to university. While the odds are high that a one-man venture next to an exhaust-choked car park will serve you the most memorable chicken rice dish of your life, it's just as likely that the neighbouring stall is heavy handed with the MSG or harbouring nests of vermin.

Eating a bad meal usually results in a grumbly stomach or, in extreme cases, a trip to the hospital with a case of food poisoning. It even happened to the country's prime minister in 2011 (although that was likely the result of shellfish eaten at a Bangkok restaurant). Very rarely, it results in death, like that of the New Zealand tourist who ate toxic seaweed from a food market in 2011.

Dylan Jones, who owns Bo.lan restaurant in Bangkok with his wife and fellow chef, Duangporn Songvisava, used to eat at street stalls much more frequently. "I'm a bit dismayed by the street food these days," says Jones, whose own cooking emphasises traditional techniques and local produce.

"Because it's so price sensitive, so price competitive, when everyone is selling a bowl of noodles with pork and fish or whatever for 35 baht [HK$8.40] I can only imagine what they're using. It's a bit scary to eat on the street these days."

Jones recounts a few horror stories he's heard over the years. Stall holders squeezed by competition might buy cheap seasoning in bulk from unscrupulous dealers, who find a use for dried mouldy chillies. "They pound them up and sell that to people as white pepper," says Jones.