As the end of 2023 hurtles towards me, I am frantically typing up the 13th edition of my annual specialty coffee and food awards, in which I share my favourite coffee shops, eateries, bars and individual dishes from among those I visited for the first time in 2023 — in London and on my travels around the world.

During my two-week stay in Thailand I spent four days in the capital, Bangkok: three at the start of my trip and a Friday night and Saturday at the end. Bangkok is a large, sprawling city with so many things to do and places to eat, drink and shop. This trip was an introduction to the city for me rather than a completion but I covered a lot of ground, visited the main attractions on my list, ate many delicious meals from 50 THB (£1.10) street food dishes to rather more than 50 THB tasting menus, shopped, wandered and visited nine specialty coffee shops. 

My main holiday this year was a very long-awaited trip to Thailand. I spent two wonderful weeks in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Andaman Islands and I'll be blogging about each of these destinations over the next few weeks. First up is my specialty coffee guide to Bangkok, a city that has some seriously impressive — and beautiful — coffee spots.