Though brought up in Australia, David Thompson’s heart, soul and taste buds are firmly rooted in Thailand, where he is hailed as one of the country’s foremost authorities on all things food.

A holiday for the classically trained chef in the 1980s turned into a lengthy culinary education, taking in everything from street food to ‘royal cuisine’. Two cookbooks and a clutch of restaurants on three continents later, Thompson opened his first outlet in Hong Kong – Aaharn, in the renovated Tai Kwun heritage and arts complex in Central – in September 2018, and it picked up a Michelin star two years later.

Thompson is passionate about his adoptive homeland and its cuisine. Nahm, the Thai restaurant he founded at Como Metropolitan hotel in Bangkok (and left in 2018 to focus on new projects), is regularly lauded as one of the world’s best. ‘Some people think Thai food is a jumble of flavours, but Thais delight in the complexity,’ says Thompson.

Here, he picks the places – from highfalutin to high energy – that make the cut for his Bangkok food tour.