Before my first trip to Bangkok, the one thing my whole family kept asking was: "But what will you eat?" I get it — Thai food has a reputation for pork and shrimp paste, and as a Muslim traveller you do not want to be guessing at every meal. So I made halal food the backbone of my week, and honestly it turned out to be the easiest part of the trip.

Start at Soi Arab (Nana)

If you do nothing else, base yourself near Sukhumvit Soi 3, known locally as Soi Arab. The moment I stepped out of Nana BTS station I could smell grilled meat and cardamom. The lane is packed with Middle-Eastern, Pakistani and Thai-Muslim restaurants, and there is a mosque right there. I had mutton biryani that genuinely reminded me of home for around THB 180 (≈ PKR 1,450), and a mixed grill platter that easily fed two for about THB 400 (≈ PKR 3,200).

Don't skip halal Thai food

The mistake I almost made was eating only desi food. Thai-Muslim cooking is its own delicious thing. At a small certified place near Ramkhamhaeng I had halal green curry with chicken and a plate of pad thai with prawns — fragrant, fresh and nothing like the watered-down versions back home. A full meal with a fresh lime soda came to around THB 220 (≈ PKR 1,750).

How I stayed safe

• I looked for the green halal certification logo in the window — Thailand's certification is well organised.
• I used a maps app to save halal spots in advance, so I was never hungry and stranded.
• When a place looked unmarked, I simply asked "halal?" — staff were used to the question and honest about it.
• I avoided street stalls where I could not confirm the meat, and leaned on seafood or vegetarian dishes when unsure.

A few favourites

Beyond Soi Arab, I loved the food courts in the big malls like Terminal 21 — several stalls there are halal-certified, the prices are low (THB 60–120 a dish), and the air conditioning is a blessing in the afternoon heat. For dessert, mango sticky rice is naturally fine and costs almost nothing from a street cart.

What it cost me

Eating three solid meals a day, I averaged around THB 500–700 (≈ PKR 4,000–5,600) on food. You can go lower with food courts or higher at sit-down restaurants, but I never felt I was compromising to stay halal.

My advice to any Pakistani traveller: pick a hotel near Nana or a BTS line, save your halal spots before you land, and stop worrying. Bangkok feeds Muslim visitors very, very well. If you are still planning, sort your hotel near the Skytrain first — everything else falls into place from there.