What would you bring back to your family and friends after a satisfying trip in Thailand? To further experience the wonder of this vibrant, exotic land with taste, tourists tend to cram snacks, processed food, or seasoning packs into their luggages as much as they can.

The World Gourmet Platform team had paid a visit to Thailand. Besides all the fun, we brought back some Thai snacks as well; therefore, in this article, I’m going to share with you some personal reviews of popular Thai snacks in the hope of making the content referable for those who’re ready to travel to Thailand.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 “Poo Thai” is childhood food for most Thai people. In addition to its accessibility at stores, Poo Thai’s TV advertisements have given Thai people serious nostalgia. Since I regarded Poo Thai as food for children, I presumed the flavor would be light. Yet, I smelled an unexpectedly strong odor of seafood the moment I unpacked it. I was as shocked as the first time I sniffed fish sauce. “Can children really handle this level of umami?” The question occurred to me as I tasted it. Later I realized the flavor is already hinted at by how it’s shaped: the crab-like design indicates that it has a crab flavor.

I soon got used to its umami. So far, the smell of seafood is fine for me.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The product resembles any snack from Don Quijote, a Japanese discount store chain, but it’s undoubtedly a Thai snack. These little marshmallows could be stuffed with strawberry, melon, grape, or cherry jam. What brings you gratification is the moment when you gently gnaw the marshmallows, watching the jam ooze out. I personally prefer strawberry flavor. In contrast to the strawberry flavor, the chemical whiff makes the melon flavor not my cup of tea.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Every portable package includes ten bars of wafers. The snack consists of several layers of wafer cookies. The sweetness of coated chocolate is just fine. However, the product overall doesn’t impress me. And, I’m not sure if it’s just me, or if the wafer is too hard to be unpacked. Even if the snack tastes good, I don’t think the wafers are qualified to be brought back home as souvenirs.

Rating: ★★★★☆

When I was little, my favorite snack was Lotte custard cream cake. The fluffy cake filled with sweet custard constituted the sweetest and most wonderful taste in my childhood; therefore, biased or not, this is irresistible for me. The fluffy cake and the filling have the color of pandan. I thought the cake would be too sweet at the first glance, but the moderate sweetness of the pandan custard from the first bite drove me to eat one after the other. Especially as I had the impression that any pandan desserts are only for sugar cravers, this one is surprisingly refreshing. 

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The corn cheese flavored one is the best seller of this brand. When I opened the package, Wang-Wang Senbei rice cracker, a famous Taiwanese snack, occurred to me immediately. It’s obviously a foreign snack, but somehow gave me nostalgia. However, I guarantee that after you bite into it, what you taste will be totally different from the Taiwanese treat! It's a whole other kind of snack!

The light sweet aroma of corn combines with the overwhelmingly strong smell of cheese. My childhood snacks wouldn’t bring such a shock to my taste buds. You will be stunned by the uncanny richness of cheese, which makes you wonder how a small piece of cracker contains the power of a bomb. Although it doesn’t taste bad, the tastiness of the flavor is a matter of opinion. I personally think it’s too strong.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

To tell you the truth, this is my favorite one among all the snacks! When I ate it, I soonly remembered the exact same sour and spicy tastes I would have at any Thai restaurant. It blew my mind how the wavy chips could perfectly present the quintessence of Thai cuisine. The two flavors I tried included “ebiko cream salad (รสสลัดไข่กุ้งมายองเนส; the red one)” and “spicy seafood salad (รสยำซีฟู้ดส์แซ่บซี๊ด; the blue one)”. The spicy seafood salad fascinated me, as every bite of the chips reminded me of Thai shrimp salad. If you’re bringing snacks to your friends and families to tell them: “Most things I ate in Thailand tasted like this,” then Sun Bites would be your optimal choice.