Sweet sugar silk in a pandan crepe
From its origins to its makers — the whole story, one piece at a time
1
At its heart there are only two parts — the sugar floss (sai mai) and the crepes. The floss is made from palm sugar boiled to the right point, then kneaded and pulled by hand over and over until it becomes fine, soft strands that look like silk thread, in sweet pastel colours: pink, white, green, orange. The crepes are paper-thin pancakes, in both a green pandan version and a milder plain white.
The way you eat it is the whole charm — you lay a crepe on your palm, sprinkle on just a little floss (don't overload it, or it won't roll), then roll it yourself like a small cigar and eat it in one bite. You get the soft crepe, the floss melting on your tongue, and a faint scent of pandan. It's a sweet you have to assemble yourself, not just pop in your mouth.
2
Here's the honest history: roti sai mai didn't appear out of nowhere — it has Thai-Muslim roots in Ayutthaya. Several accounts trace the roti recipe to Muslim traders in the Ayutthaya-kingdom era, after which it was developed within Thai-Muslim families into the form we see today. The word "roti" itself hints at where it came from.
The maker most often credited as the Ayutthaya originator is Bang Pia, or Salem Saeng-Arun, a Muslim born in Ayutthaya who sold roti around the country for years; it took him a long time to master pulling sugar into long floss, and only then did he settle back home to sell it. To this day, many of the original makers are still Thai-Muslim families, and several long-running shops sit in the old quarter near Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital on U Thong Road — the area regarded as the home of this sweet.
3
To be straight with you, there are dozens of roti sai mai shops around the old city, and most taste fairly similar. But if you want the names that are best documented and most talked-about, two come first.
Roti Sai Mai Abeedeen-Pranom (the Sangaroon family) sits opposite Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital on U Thong Road. It has run for over 70 years, made by the same family across generations, and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand — many credit it as the maker behind the green pandan crepe. The other is Roti Sai Mai Mae Pom, near Pridi Thamrong Bridge, an old wooden shopfront open since 1985, also recorded by Michelin, with a queue of buyers.
4
The thing to be honest about: roti sai mai is best when it's fresh. The floss is pure sugar, so once it sits in the air and humidity for a while it slowly dries out and clumps into a hard mass, while the crepes turn chewy and stiff. So if you're buying a snack by the roadside, roll and eat it right there for the best texture.
But the other side of its charm is that it's a genuinely easy souvenir to carry — the box is light, it doesn't make a mess, it needs no refrigeration, and it's cheap. That's why it became Ayutthaya's signature take-home sweet, the thing everyone passing through picks up. If you're taking a box home, seal the bags tight and keep them somewhere dry and it'll last around 2-3 days, though sooner is always better. Once home, roll and eat it fresh, bite by bite — don't pre-roll it in advance.