Thai food is a celebration. It will always strive for a balance of flavor, texture and color in a dish. A Thai meal offers a combination of flavors; sweet, hot, sour, salty.  To Thais a well-composed meal comprises several dishes. A meal ideally consists of a soup, a curry, a side-dish, a salad and a dip. And, of course, rice.

The portion size will depend on the number of people eating. All the dishes are placed on the table at the same time and shared. They are not eaten in any particular order. Rice is the staple, not accompaniments and all other dishes at the meal are seen as condiments to flavor the rice.

To eat Thai food, only a little is taken from one of the other dishes at a time, using its serving spoon. This portion is then mixed with rice. Once this is eaten, the next dish is moved ont to - there is no set sequence in choosing, it is simply a matter of preference. 

The following is the classification of Thai dishes
Soups and Curries : Gaeng
Clear Soup : Gaeng Jued 
Curries : Gaeng Phed, Gaeng Khiao Wann, Phanaeng, Choochii, Gaeng Mussaman 
Sour Curry : Gaeng Som 
Thicken Curry Sauce : Gaeng Kua
Herbed Soups : Gaeng Liang 

Soups : Tom 
Spicy herbed soups : Tom Yum
Hot herbed soups : Tom Klong
Coconut herbed Soups : Tom Khaa 
Sweet and sour herved soups : Tom Som
Char-grilled herbed soups : Tom Plaa Raa
Cooked in herbed sauce :  Tom Kem
Cooked in five spice sauce : Pha Lo 

Stir-fried dishes : Phad 
Stir-fried vegetable : Phad Phag
Stir-fried in curry paste : Phad Phed
Stir-fried in red curry paste : Phad Phrig Khing
Stir-fried with holy basil : Phad Gaphrao 

Spicy Salad : Phlaa - Yam - Laab

Dipping Sauces : Kruang Jim
Spicy dipping sauce : Naam Phrig
Coconut sauce dips : Lon
Mock dips : Saeng Waa
Caramelized sweet and sour dip : Naam plaa waan

Side Dish : Krueng Kiang