My Pad or Yours?
People think they want authentic Thai food until they're eating unrefrigerated squirrel gristle salad made with partially rotted paddy crabs and fermented fish sauce. All of a sudden the gentrified stuff seems pretty appetizing. Eat what you enjoy!
Fascinating insights from telf on Thai nationalism, Pad Thai, the question of authenticity and "the concept of Thainess" in smoke's interesting post about the history of Pad Thai.