One of the most memorable, cheapest and spiciest dishes I've ever had was also the first bite I ate in Thailand. It was a few years back, on an island south of Bangkok. We had just arrived at our hotel and bolted to the beach. A cook had a cart set up (it was more or less a wok) on the sand and the aroma was more distracting than the myriad bodies dumped beside the sea. I had a papaya salad. It nearly blew my head off, but man alive, what a welcome to Thailand.
At Baan Suki, papaya salad was the first order of the night, but it didn't come right away: The kitchen, our waitress informed us, was waiting on ingredients. The promise alone kept me in situ for nearly three hours.
I like my spicy food spicy — the more pepper icons on the menu, the better. With spices, it's about the anticipation as much as the punch. I relish the intensity and individuality of spices: Some are sweetly deceptive, while others have atomic powers. At Baan Suki I was eating with a friend who has been to Thailand often; his addendum to every order was a request to make it spicy.