Food: the good manners
In a typical Thai meal there are several dishes at the center of the table, and a plate of rice for every guest. You are supposed to help yourself with the spoon in the dish, not with your personal spoon. It’s better to help yourself small portions several times, rather than a big portion. The fork is used to push the food into the spoon, and the spoon is used to eat. Don’t eat rice with your fork. There are no knives on the table, as Thai food is already eminced and you have nothing to cut. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups.
At the restaurant, Thai people usually order several dishes which are put in the middle of the table, and everybody can eat from any dish. So it’s very different from what we do in Europe or USA, where every guest at the table orders his own dish and you have to ask politely if you want to taste what somebody else ordered!
Last but not least, because rice is difficult to grow and harvest, and because it is essential in Thailand, it is considered impolite and disrespectful to leave some rice in the plate. So don’t help yourself too much rice, to be sure you will finish it all.
Also check our article about Thai food.