Ho Anh Thai gained recognition as a teenage author with his early publications, which primarily focused on the experiences and quests of youth.
His notable works from this initial period include the novels Men and Vehicle Run in the Moonlight (1986), The Women on the Island (1986), and Behind the Red Mist (1989), as well as short story collections like The Goat Meat Special (1988) and Fragment of a Man (1991).
In the early 1990s, Thai transitioned to a more autobiographical narrative style, encapsulating his six-year residency in India through a series of comedic tales, including The Man Who Stood on One Leg and The Barter.
His novels from this period—The Apocalypse Hotel (2002), Ten and One Nights (2006), RHT is Rat Hunt Team (2011), Erased by the Wind (2012), His Children are Scattered on the Road (2014), Burning Van Gogh (2018), and Five Letters of Credence (2019)—exemplify this evolution.
His literary contributions have garnered international attention, with translations in over ten languages, including English, French, Korean, and Swedish, reflecting a robust global reach and cultural resonance.