The Thai Book Fair has come and gone, and narry a page about exciting Thai food, chefs, food writers or critics—nothing but booklets of quick meals and stir-fry recipes. That’s because all the foodie joie-de-vivre is happening online, and here we round up some of the most promising Thai food blogs on the web.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Austin Bush Foodblog
www.austinbushphotography.com

Who: First arriving in Thailand in 1999 as a linguistics student on a study abroad scholarship, Austin Bush has stayed ever since, first in a practical nine-to-five, and later as a freelance writer and photographer. He has contributed to Lonely Planet, Thai Day, Saveur, among other publications.
Why we like it: With screenshots of Google maps, Austin shows you where all the good street eats are and does all the hard work of interrogating the stall cooks. So by the time you go, you know what you’re going to get. The professional photos are dazzling and the posts come almost every day. Go through the archives for other exciting write-ups on a Cameroonian restaurant in Bangkok, Laotian street stalls selling wild animals, savory pies in Auckland, dim sum in Hong Kong, and much else.

THE REGIONAL TRAVELLERS
Eating Asia
www.eatingasia.typepad.com

Who: Writer/photgrapher couple and intrepid travelers Robyn Eckhardt and David Hagerman are based in Malaysia and have spent over ten years in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, finding good eats and taking breathtaking photos of them. Robyn used to be the food editor for Time Out Kuala Lumpur and David has shot for companies like CIMB and Eletrolux—so they know what they’re doing. In fact, Eating Asia has been featured on Times Online’s “World’s Best Food Blogs.”
Why we like it: David is a great photographer, and Robyn is a vivid writer. Her posts read more like short stories. Not only are the food descriptions informative and tantalizing, we really get a feel for the people eating it. All posts are conveniently tagged by country, so if you like, you can read just all the Thailand ones—though we can’t imagine why you would skip Vietnam, Taiwan, the Phillipines, India and more.

THE JOURNALISTA
Bangkok Glutton
www.bangkokglutton.com

Who: Chawadee Nualkhair got into food as a child because her mother couldn’t cook. She received a cooking diploma from L’ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi and went on to cover much more serious things at international news agencies. Now a freelance journalist, Chawadee is also at work on her first book, about street food.
Why we like it: It’s brand spanking new, and we hope we don’t give her writer’s block by talking about it, but Bangkok Glutton is promising, with the goal of documenting street eating in Bangkok almost exclusively. Chawadee has a knack for hilarious and informative storytelling, with turns of phrase like “porky, piggy goodness” and a poetic ode to beef noodles, not to mention an eye for down-to-earth but beautiful pictures. Best of all, Bangkok Glutton regularly features actual over-the-shoulder videos of street cooks preparing their dishes, a seldom-seen perspective.

THE KITCHEN QUEEN
Riya’s Kitchen
www.riya-kitchen.blogspot.com

Who: An executive personal assistant by day and a self-taught cook, Riya TK is a veritable Thai Julie Powell. She became inspired by Singaporean food blogger Chubby Hubby and got her ex-boyfriend to teach her to build websites. She has been taught to be detail-oriented in the kitchen by her mother who said, “We can know where a woman comes from by the way she chops her chillies.”
Why we like it: Unlike the rest of the blogs featured in this round-up, Riya’s Kitchen is comprised primarily of recipes made in her own kitchen. She makes everything from pastas and self-concocted recipes to various nam prik and yam, all in addition to restaurant and street stall reviews from Bangkok, Phuket and elsewhere. Our favorites are posts where she waxes lyrical on individual ingredients. Check out the one on honey.

THE URBANITE
Hungry in Bangkok
www.hungryinbangkok.blogspot.com

Who: A born world traveler, Christopher Orcutt has enjoyed the cooking of relatives in France, California and Vietnam. Couple this with a mother who refused to cook and went only to fine restaurants, and you have the makings of a bonafide foodie. In fact, a child he had to take up swimming to combat his fondness for food, which eventually led him to the Junior Olympic team. He now works in advertising and documents his experience dining out in Bangkok with his partner.
Why we like it: The layout and photos may be modest, but Christopher’s daily blogging, multiple photos and range of food interests (he dines regularly at street stalls and at Michelin-star guest chef dinners) make Hungry in Bangkok a great food resource.

Start Your Own
1. Pick a camera from our Tech Guide.

2. Log on to wordpress.org, blogspot.com or typepad.com for a free blog. It’s all pretty self-explanatory and there are lots of pretty templates to choose from.

3. Comment on other food blogs to get them to visit yours. (I’m at innerkitchen.wordpress.com)

4. Post often and wait to become an internet celebrity.