A food trail along Thailand's eastern seaboard makes for rewarding travel

Fresh, savoury salads form the bedrock of the region's meals, which are usually had with meat and sticky rice

Durian is the king of fruits in Thailand and mangosteen the queen. As the former is considered ‘heaty’, you’re supposed to pop in a ‘cooling’ mangosteen after each bite of the durian,” guide Khun Pat advises me as I take in the cornucopia of fruits at the 100-year-old Chanthaburi street market, a four-hour drive from the capital, Bangkok.  

Chanthaburi is the first stop on my food trail along Thailand’s eastern seaboard that will later take me to Rayong and Pattaya. Pat tells me that in the olden days, Thais used to wrap durian skin around their fists for Muay Thai (Thai