Thailand Chips and Salty Snacks

Lay’s Thai-Flavored Potato Chips 

52 baht for 158 grams

$1.53 for a 6.5 oz bag

Lay’s is a global snack company, and they have customized their potato chips for their Thai market.  While in Thailand, we found various flavors including: Hot Chili Squid, BBQ Prik Zab Zeed, Mieng Kam Krob Ros, Grilled Prawn & Seafood, Nori Seaweed, Sweet Basil, and Salted Egg. We really enjoyed trying the unique flavors in Thailand.  Our favorite was the Hot Chili Squid flavor, which had a mild spice with a fishy overtone.

Manora Fried Chips

24 baht for 32 grams

$.068 for 1 serving

Manora is a Bangkok-based Thai company that makes a variety of packaged food.  They have various fried vegetable chip options made from  pumpkin, taro, and corn.  We tried the pumpkin chips.  They were a lightly salted chip with a slightly sweet taste – similar to the US Funyons snack.

Greennut Crispy Green Peas

22 Baht for 35 grams

$0.62 for 1 serving

Sweet green peas are coated with a savory batter and fried. The result is a crunchy, slightly salty snack low in calories but packed with vitamins.  In addition to the original flavor, they offer shrimp, cuttlefish, and wasabi. We tried the shrimp flavored Greennuts.  We didn’t get an overwhelming seafood taste.  It mostly tasted like the salted and roasted chickpeas we’ve had in the US.  A nice snack food that has some substance.

Seaweed Paper Snacks

20 baht for 2.6 grams

$0.59 for 6 sheets

Seaweed is pressed and dried into paper-thin sheets.  This is a nutrient rich snack without a lot of substance.  The sheets are so thin they almost melt in your mouth – but also have a tendency to get stuck to the roof of your mouth when you try to swallow.  The flavor is interesting and not bad, but the palatability made these a snack we didn’t enjoy.

Thailand Savory Snacks

Bento Squid Snack

22 baht for 36 grams

$0.65 for 1 serving tray

These squid-based snacks are quickly gaining in popularity.  They are sold in different forms but the original are strips cut into ¼” wide slices.  They are covered in bento sauce, a slightly sticky flavored substance.  The original version is simply called “bento“ and has a bit of spiciness.  There is also hot and spicy, sweet and spicy, Thai chili paste, Mexican BBQ, and the latest – larb flavor.  At first glance, these look like a form of chip.  However, they have a strong seafood smell and slightly sticky texture.  Two serving variations are to dip the bento strips in a cold beverage or to freeze before eating. We tried the hot and spicy flavor, and boy was it hot!  The snacks come in rectangular chip-like form, but are covered in a sticky substance.  Sometimes they stick together and you have to peel them apart.  The spice doesn’t kick in right away and seems to gain in intensity for a few minutes after you eat them.

TARO Fish Snack

53 baht for 20 grams

$1.56 for 1 serving

These fish snacks are a popular healthy snack high in omegas and low in fat.  They are strips of dried fish that come in four different flavors: original, spicy, hot chili, and barbecue.  They look like shoestring potatoes, but they are soft and bendable rather than crispy.  We enjoyed the hot chili flavor, which had a bit of zip but was not unbearably spicy.

PeeRee Watermelon Seeds

21 baht for 40 grams

$0.62 for 1.5oz

These watermelon seeds were sold in the same section as sunflower seeds.  They are roasted and lightly salted.  They have not been hulled, so you need to crack open each shell to get to the seed inside.  They are slightly fruit and the “meat” is not as big as a sunflower seed.  Overall, while roasted watermelon seeds are a unique concept, we felt these were more trouble than they were worth to eat.

Thailand Sweet Snacks and Candy

Tang Fruit Gummies

14 baht for 20 grams

$0.40 for 7 pieces

Tang is a popular powdered beverage drink found in many SE Asian countries.  In 2022, in response to increased beverage tariffs and falling profit, the company launched a new snack product to expand their market.  Tang Fruit Gummies are vitamin-C fortified gummies that come in two flavors: orange or mixed fruit (strawberry, mango, and orange).  These are made in Malaysia for distribution throughout SE Asia.

We tried both flavors and really enjoyed them.  They taste exactly as expected, an intense orange flavor in a gummy form.  We hope these will be introduced to the US market soon!

Jeedjard Gummies

29 baht for 10 grams

$0.82 for 3 servings

A Thai company specializing in chewy candy made from real fruit.  Jeedjard makes four different styles of candy in a variety of fruits, including plum, grape, lychee, melon, pineapple, passionfruit, and mango.  They also have a line of tamarind fruit, combining this popular Thai seasoning with plum or mango.  We tried the spicy tamarind plum gummies – a combination of three flavors we aren’t used to.  Any one on its own might have been OK, but the combo was too weird for us to enjoy. 

My Chewy Milk Candy

18 baht for 67 grams

$0.50 for 18 pieces

These marble-sized candies have a soft chewy inside coated in a white, semi-hard outside.  The official description is “milk candy stuffed with flavored jelly”.  They come in a whole range of flavors.  There is the typical chocolate, coffee, and yogurt as well as an assortment of fruit: banana, coconut, grape, strawberry, watermelon, mango, durian, and lychee.  The most unusual are tea, matcha, corn, and taro flavors.  We tried the taro flavored candies and thought they were quite good.  They were chewy without being overly gooey, and had just the right amount of sweetness.  

Pocky Sticks

20 baht for 39 grams

$0.60 for 1-2 servings

A biscuit stick dipped in a cream coating.  There are a lot of flavors available: chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream, matcha, almond, chocolate and almond, blueberry yogurt, chocolate banana, and mango.  We tried the matcha flavor and thought it was decent.  It has a mild flavor, possibly a bit minty.  The coating is similar to what you find on yogurt-covered pretzels.  

Collon Biscuit Rolls

16 baht for 46 grams

$0.47 for 1-2 servings

A bite-sized sweet snack created by a biscuit rolled around a flavored cream filling.  It comes in three flavors: cream, chocolate, and strawberry.  We tried the chocolate flavor.  This snack was a bit underwhelming – it wasn’t a very great chocolate taste and overall just seemed uninspired compared to many of the other great treats in Thailand.

Giant Caplico Chocolate Cone

16 baht for one

$0.47 for one

This was the best surprise in our bag of Thailand treats. It looked like a Drumstick ice cream cone that we enjoy in the US, but since we found it in the candy aisle, we knew it couldn’t be ice cream. When we unwrapped it, we were quite disappointed because it looked like the chocolate top had all deflated (or melted!). But biting into it, we discovered the most chocolatey brownie concoction in all of Thailand. Definitely a winner!

Thailand Snack Drinks

C-Vitt Jelly Drink

20 baht for 150 grams

$0.59 for 1 serving

These drinks come in a small foil squeeze pouch with a twist-off cap.  Inside is a mix of liquid and gel that can be drunk directly from the package.  They are enriched with 200% RDA of vitamin C.  They come in orange, lemon, grape, and mixed berry flavors.  We have tried all the flavors and loved each one!  The first time you drink one, it is a bit of a surprise to find chunks of jello where you expected only juice.  But once you realize this, each drink is a special treat.