A food boat on Railay Beach in Thailand

Is there anything better in the entire world than street-food in Thailand? How about a pad Thai on the beach, cooked fresh on a floating restaurant…

I snapped this shot of a Thai food boat at Railay Beach – a small peninsula between Krabi and Ao Nang – that was anchored in the surf, hawking fresh-cooked food to order. As you can see, it manages to drum up quite a bit of business from beachgoers.

Sandwiches, baguettes, pancakes, hamburgers, French fries, fried rice, barbecue and, yes, even pad Thai can be purchased from this entrepreneurial boat restaurant. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that hamburgers cost just 60 baht, that’s less than $2 US (£1.20 in the UK) and pancakes cost even less.

You can’t beat those prices in the West – especially not at a floating restaurant on a beautiful beach, if such a thing exists outside of Thailand.

I found myself at Railay Beach after taking a full-day sightseeing trip from Krabi, getting in a bit of snorkelling at Chicken Island (so-named because it does in fact look a little like poultry) and some other near-by islands.

Though I’ve seen plenty of shacks on beaches and islands around Thailand, where you can get things like fruit shakes, beer and Coca-cola, I’ve never seen any other boat restaurants like this one.

Have you seen anything like it before?

While you’re here, check out the best places to visit in Thailand and attack of the giant crabs of Krabi.