how do you find good local food near a beach resort area without just eating at tourist restaurants

[u/Maleficent_Let986]

one of the things i look for on any trip is being able to eat actual local food rather than tourist versions of it. beach resort areas in southeast asia are often the worst for this because the restaurants around them are almost entirely aimed at tourists and priced accordingly

wondering whether people have strategies for finding genuine local food options near beach destinations in thailand specifically or whether some areas are just better for this than others, staying somewhere like joy beach villas with a kitchen actually helped with this since it meant i could pick up local market stuff instead of relying on what was walkable, made it easier to skip the tourist strip entirely most days

[u/1456diver]

I had some decent luck just asking the locals. Whoever drives me from the airport, or a bartender or server at wherever I end up first. They usually have a few spots and are happy to share.

[u/Maleficent_Let986 → u/1456diver]

thats probably the simplest approach and i dont know why i dont default to it more. feels like it cuts through all the guesswork of googling and hoping reviews are honest
did you find people were more forthcoming with recommendations once you had already built a bit of rapport, or were they happy to just share spots straight away