Some might not be the size you'd expect in a "complete" eatery, but they nevertheless offer all the essentials - pad thai, rice and curry, tom yum - to eat there or take home.

No one should be surprised in the near future if there are pushcarts lining Wall Street and Lexington Avenue selling kanom pheang - the crepes with cream and coconut - and khuai khek, the deep-fried, coconut-coated banana chips. There may even be kanom crok on sale right alongside the hot dog stands for those who fancy some rice and coconut-cream cupcakes on their stroll.

You never know: There's limitless magic in the Big Apple, and Thai cuisine has the kind of creativity needed to survive there.

In the 1970s and '80s, says Prakit Paul Prem-on, who owns Blue Chilli, a Thai restaurant with a sushi bar, New Yorkers wanted to eat authentic tom yum and pad thai. Whoever it was that sampled the originals in Thailand wanted it just the same when they returned home.

"Their taste buds wouldn't let them venture away from what they'd been exposed to," says the 20-year restaurant veteran. Prakit is second generation, and he knows that Thai food is famed for its innovation. "You have to be creative in mixing different flavours to please the palates of New Yorkers - otherwise you die."

As a chef in top Bangkok hotels, he learned the Western way of cooking and presenting Thai dishes to foreigners. That's why he added a sushi bar to his trendy restaurant near the theatre district.

"The first generation who set up their restaurants in the '70s served traditional Thai food. They got rich and bought property, which helped them later on in their business."

Being able to afford huge Manhattan rents is crucial, Prakit points out. Pongsri, the oldest family-run Thai restaurant in New York, succeeded in large part because of its location among the playhouses of the East Village. After more than three decades it's still going strong, with four branches across the city and more properties awaiting future openings.

In the past 15 years, of course, there's been a sea change in the US in terms of international cuisine. Foreign foods are embraced with gusto, sometimes the more unknown the country the better. "But not all ethnic foods make it," Prakit says.  Thai cuisine is popular because it has the full scope of tastes and preparations, making the food of other countries plain by comparison. But other Asian foods, Prakit observes, are adept at adjusting.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand says New York has 350 to 400 Thai restaurants on the island of Manhattan and in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. There may well be more, but many open and close so fast that it's difficult to keep tabs on the exact number. Suffice it to say that Manhattan is jam-packed with them.

Now, backed by plenty of money, the third generation of Thai restaurants is making inroads. Restaurants like Sea, Spice and Peep are changing the way the New Yorkers regard Thai food and received rave reviews.

Food bible Zakat has regularly commented favourably on these new, flashy Thai restaurants, which emphasise ambience and experience. How exactly are these restaurants defining the wave of Thai cuisine? More on that next week.

Cookman Relux

The Nation

The writer can be contacted at cookman@nationgroup.com.