Street food does more than fill stomachs -- it represents Thai cultural identity and attracts travellers from around the world. The government estimates Thailand's street food market is worth more than 261 billion baht.
Thailand's culinary appeal was further highlighted when Time Out ranked Bangkok the world's second-best food city in 2025, behind New Orleans, which was praised for its community-based casual, neighbourhood and festival food traditions.
To raise standards, the Anutin government has launched the "Thai Street Gold Star" project, introducing a certification scheme and mobile application that will allow customers to rate vendors based on three criteria: "Safety", covering food hygiene and safety; "Signature", recognising distinctive dishes and local identity; and "Service". Vendors meeting the criteria will receive gold star certificates.
The app will be developed by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP), Suan Dusit University and partner organisations.
While the initiative appears well-intentioned, it raises questions about whether it duplicates existing efforts by government agencies and local authorities. There are also concerns over the cost of developing yet another platform and whether it will become another layer of certification with little practical impact.
Thailand has never lacked campaigns or labels for food streets.
On food sanitation, the Ministry of Public Health launched the "Clean Food Good Taste" (CFGT) programme in 1998 as a nationwide hygiene certification scheme for restaurants, food stalls, canteens and street-food vendors.
The programme was later replaced by the more comprehensive "SAN" and "SAN Plus" labels in 2023, which assess areas such as hygiene, sustainability, packaging, ingredients, business licensing, utensils, and facilities.
For promotion, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has long supported food tourism through influencer campaigns and partnerships with international organisations such as Michelin to promote and upgrade the local food industry.
Meanwhile, local authorities in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai already conduct food hygiene inspections and run campaigns promoting local culinary scenes.
What Thailand's street food sector needs may not be another app or another assessment system.
As street food becomes an increasingly valuable cultural commodity, governments at both national and local levels should focus on helping small vendors adapt to modern technology and business practices.
Instead of spending budgets on overlapping campaigns, authorities should address deeper problems, including unfair fees charged by food delivery platforms and the growing encroachment of large corporations and foreign proxy businesses. Many famous street food areas have become increasingly commercialised, while traditional vendors struggle to compete. These vendors are not only part of the country's informal economy but also help preserve regional recipes, cooking techniques and local food traditions.
Without meaningful efforts to preserve authentic flavours and support small businesses, Thailand's famous food streets risk becoming places filled with certificates and banners -- but lacking the local character that made them famous.
