According to legendary accounts, the Portuguese brought chilli peppers from the Americas, back to Europe, and then to the hands of the Thai people in 16th century. Similar accounts state that the sailors coming to South East Asia from Europe used chili peppers for warding off bacteria in the food, as well as for their immune-boosting, high concentrations of vitamin C.

The prik kee noo, a Thai-bred variety of chili, is small and slender in size and immensely hot and spicy. Some forms of the chili are as thin as the head of a nail but have an enormous amount of concentrated spiciness. These tear-bringing chilies are not only incredibly hot, but are famously fragrant and used as much as Americans use black pepper to garnish food at a Thai dinner table. Added to many sauces, soups, curries and oils, these chilies change from a deep green to a shocking red when they ripen. Other forms of chilies in Thai cooking include prik leuang, an orangish yellow chili, prik chee fah, a deep green or bright red chili, and prik yuak, a large light green pepper similar to the common green pepper found in the Americas.