What's On This Page?

• More Than Just Sustenance [more]
• Thai Eating Habits [more]
• Soup [more]
• Do Thais Eat Rats and Dogs? [more]
• Hygiene [more]
• Som-tum Roulette [more]

Thailand - Food Page 1

The photo above ...

... is not representative of a normal Thai meal! I don't actually know any Thais who admit to eating insects but obviously quite a few do otherwise there wouldn't be so many for sale at the markets. I just thought it was a more interesting picture than a bowl of rice.

At the agricultural fair which is held once a year where I live there is no shortage of deep fried insects for sale. Although I find looking at them quite interesting, I can't imagine eating any. The Thais tell me they are healthy and that they are packed full of protein. A homosexual man who tried to hit on me many, many years ago told me the same thing about semen but funnily enough I have no desire to try that either.

The gentleman in the photo here did his best to convince me to try a fried grasshopper but sadly, when it comes to food I am not very adventurous. This was not a staged photo. I asked to take his photo as he was tucking into the bag of tasty snacks he had just purchased.

If, like me, you are a bit squeamish about food, this is one photo that you may not wish to click on to enlarge.

And now - if you are still reading - I will attempt to take a more serious look at the delicious cuisine of Thailand. This wonderful country offers many delights, not least the glorious food on offer anywhere and everywhere.

More Than Just Sustenance

Thailand is occasionally compared to France. The land mass is about the same and sometimes Thais demonstrate the same stubborn national pride as the French (which is by no means a bad thing I hasten to add). The Thai obsession with food is another similarity.

The Thai equivalent of "How's it going?" is "Gin khao reu yang?" - "Have you eaten (rice) yet?". You can reply, "Gin lair-o, khrap," - you've already eaten or "Yang mai gin," - not yet.

This simple phrase says a lot about the attitude Thais have towards food. For a start, it tells us what the staple of the Thai diet is. They don't just ask have you eaten but have you eaten rice. Asking you how you are is based on whether you have food in your stomach or not. The Thai way of thinking says that if you have eaten you will be happy and content. If you haven't eaten yet, well ... you need to eat soon!

In Thailand eating tasty food and having a full stomach is not just about keeping the hunger pangs away, it's an integral part of being happy and content in life.

Thais are hugely enthusiastic about food, especially Thai food. "Aroi" (delicious) is a word you will become very familiar with in Thailand. Whenever I am offered food in Thailand (which happens all the time) there are always encouraging comments of, "Aroi, aroi" as the food is passed to me. After and during every meal Thais will continually ask, "Aroi mai?" (Is/was it delicious?).

If I travel anywhere with my girlfriend and the journey is more than an hour she will pack food. I would never bother myself, I'm happy to buy food whenever the opportunity arises, but she has to have a supply of her own.

I was waiting in the departure lounge at Changi airport in Singapore for a flight back to Hat Yai. To pass the time I surfed the Internet for a while on the free terminals provided at Changi. Some Singaporeans waiting for the flight read their newspapers, worked on their laptop computers or waited patiently for boarding to begin.

There was a fairly large Thai family sitting near me. No sooner had they sat down when Mum broke out the food. She had a big box of what looked like Chinese pastries. As the box was handed around I heard lots of encouraging, "Aroi's". They then started to devour the pastries and this elicited lots of, "Aroi maak's". It was a lovely sight. After just a week in Singapore I was desperate to get back to Thailand and this was one of the reasons why. I sat there laughing to myself knowing that people probably thought I was mad but I didn't care.

Here's another anecdote about Thais and food. A Thai friend of mine sent me an e-mail with the subject 'Amazing Japanese Food'. It was a typical e-mail from a Thai and if your e-mail address falls into the hands of Thai friends you will understand what I mean.

The message had been forwarded to a million Thais already; all with very cute Hotmail addresses such as verysexynoi@hotmail.com although this particular Noi had probably never had sex in her life and the thought of doing so would horrify her.

Whenever I receive an e-mail from one of my Thai friends it is necessary to scroll down half a mile first before getting to the actual message because it has already been forwarded so many times and the message is normally a picture of a cute cat or some very 'uplifting' and 'heart-warming' anecdote straight from a born-again Christian in the USA that I delete straight away.

I wondered what this e-mail might contain. To be worthy of sending to so many people it had to be pretty weird I thought. Perhaps a group of Japanese sitting around a live monkey in the middle of the table with the top of its skull sliced open as they dip bread into it's brain?

It was no such thing. The pictures were of normal food; the kind of thing I see at the local branch of Fuji. The food was completely ordinary (ahaan tamada in my books) but was exciting enough for the Thais to send around the Internet apparently.

The only photo of note was one of bowls of strawberries and cream but, I have to admit, I was still fantasising over verysexynoi@hotmail.com at the time and doing my best to imagine a Thai version of Nine and a Half Weeks where Noi first gets smothered in som-tum before the desserts make an appearance.

Thai Eating Habits

One of the things you notice is that Thai people don't cook much for themselves. I have viewed condominiums in Thailand where there are nice bedrooms, bathrooms and living areas but no kitchen. In some there has been a small area where a work top could be added and a small kitchen put together but it is not part of the original design. This would be unthinkable in the West. An expat couple I was talking to had been looking to rent a house but couldn't find one that had an oven.

The reason for this is that Thais like to buy ready-cooked food and it is available everywhere for very little money. There isn't a place I've visited in Thailand that doesn't have an abundance of street food. Some of the vendors set up their stalls at the same location every day and some are mobile. Even the poorest people will buy rice or som-tum from a vendor and in a lot of cases it would probably cost more to buy the ingredients separately to make the dish rather than to buy it. To give you an example of costs I will describe just a few vendors a few yards away from where I live in Thailand.

One vendor prepares som-tum (spicy papaya salad) and laap-muu (spicy minced pork). A portion of som-tum with the usual accompaniments is Bt20. Another vendor sells pork satay. A stick of satay is Bt2. If I have a delicate stomach from eating too much spicy food I like a bowl of khao-tom-plaa (fish and rice soup), which costs Bt40. On those occasions where I want something sweet for a dessert I can buy a banana pancake with condensed milk and sugar for Bt10. Where I buy the soup, som-tum and satay they provide me with a cup of free hot tea so some days I might only spend Bt60 on my evening meal.

As I indicated in the paragraph above, street food is sold by vendors who normally specialise in one dish or a small selection of dishes. Even in many restaurants, especially in the provinces, the selection of food available isn't that great. Bangkok is a bit of an exception. If you want a particular dish it is often necessary to know where you can buy that dish.

Hygiene conditions at street vendors don't always appear to be too clever but I can tell you that I have never had a problem eating street food. I have only had three problems from eating food in Thailand. One was on my first visit to Thailand when I got food poisoning from eating a crab but it seemed strange that my two Thai dining companions suffered no ill effects. The second was from eating a western style Thai sandwich from an expensive outlet in an upmarket shopping centre and the third was after eating a dodgy fish.

I sometimes eat alone. This is quite a weird thing in Thailand and you don't see many Thais eating by themselves. A lot of Thais work ridiculously long hours so tend to eat with their work colleagues at their workplace rather than leaving work at 5:30pm going home and eating with their family.

From what I can make out there doesn't seem to be a lot of prior organisation about what they will be eating or with whom. Obviously they need to be hungry but generally Thais are always hungry! The cue might just be a mobile street vendor turning up outside. One of them will see it, go to get the food and whoever is around will join in. For Thais, eating is more than just sustenance, it's a bonding experience too.

Once the food has arrived at the table people will take a little at a time and eat it before taking more. It's not like the West where we put the whole meal on the plate to begin with. Desserts are not a normal part of the meal and authentic Thai restaurants do not serve them.

Street vendors, like the banana pancake vendor I mentioned above, sell sweet dishes and another favourite is sticky rice with mango (khao niaow ma muang). The picture shows a street vendor selling this particular dessert. Restaurants in Bangkok and other tourist areas will serve desserts though.

To the group of coiffured, northern-English tourists who looked and sounded like they had come straight from the Rovers Return who I saw in Bangkok on my last visit there, Thais do not use chopsticks when eating Thai food. They use a spoon in their right hand to feed themselves with and a fork in their left hand to push food on to the spoon with. An exception is in north-east Thailand where many rural folks eat with their fingers. If you eat Chinese or Japanese food then it is quite acceptable to use chopsticks and they will be provided.

Thai meals don't change much regardless of the time of day, unlike Western food. It's not uncommon at all to see Thais tucking into hot, spicy dishes and offal for breakfast. In some of the outlying regions this is something that can cause a problem for Western visitors. I could eat some of these dishes after lunch but my stomach is too delicate first thing in the morning. In the provinces the thing I get asked most for by visiting farangs who stop me in the street is where they can get bread and eggs for breakfast.

Western style breakfasts are available even outside of tourist areas but normally only in Chinese run restaurants. The picture shows what I eat for breakfast two or three times a week from one of my local restaurants. It's a little different from what you might get in a greasy spoon café in the West End of London but it's not bad at all.

You may have noticed glasses of orange juice in pictures on this page. Many restaurants serve it fresh. When you order a fresh orange juice (naam som kan) they will squeeze the oranges there and then.

Soup

Soup is popular in Thailand but it is eaten differently to how soup is eaten in Western countries. It comes with the main meal and not as a starter. One big pot of soup is put on the table for everyone rather than serving individual bowls. What is in the soup - the meat and vegetables - is eaten rather than the soup itself.

Dtom yum goong the spicy and sour shrimp soup with lemongrass is probably the best known Thai soup of all. It can be ordered with chicken (dtom yum gai) or seafood (dtom yum tha-lay). Seafood normally consists of shrimps and squid with maybe some mussels thrown in. Tom yum, depending how it has been prepared can be much too spicy for me. I like the taste but it can set my mouth on fire and set the other end on fire the next morning.

Dtom kaa gai is much more to my liking and actually is one of my very favourite Thai dishes. It's made with coconut milk and galangal (similar to ginger root). The coconut milk gives it a lovely creamy taste and if it is prepared properly it has a lovely bite without being too fiery hot.

Do Thais Eat Rats and Dogs?

This isn't a joke or something to enforce racial stereotypes, it's a genuine question that pops up from time to time. The answer in general is no, they don't. However, in certain parts of Isaan, canines and rodents are eaten.

Eating dogs is illegal in Thailand but the fact that any activity is illegal doesn't make much difference with the general Thai disregard for laws. The practice goes on mainly in the north-eastern province of Sakhon Nakhon. Dogs are rounded up to be slaughtered and sold at the local markets or exported to neighbouring countries where people also have a taste for mutts. I guess it's one way of keeping the Thai stray dog problem in check.

A highly educated Thai friend informs me Buddhist Thais do not eat dog meat, but that it only occurs in small Christian villages around Sakhon Nakhon. How true this is, I don't know.

North-eastern Thais also have an affinity for rodents but not the huge rats that can be seen scurrying in and out of storm drains all over the country. They eat what I imagine would be called field-mice elsewhere. What doesn't help with general perceptions is that there is only one generic term used for any mouse or rat-like creature - nuu.

Eating rats is obviously disgusting (and, I would imagine quite dangerous) but eating mice that have been living on a diet of corn is probably no worse than eating other rodents, such as rabbits, and I have eaten plenty of rabbits in my time.

Hygiene

Last updated: 17th June 2007

At the Fuji chain of Japanese restaurants in Thailand, all kitchen staff wear aprons, hats and face masks. On one occasion I spoke to a chef who works there and he told me that every month the kitchens are completely emptied and sprayed with insecticide. There are probably no cleaner kitchens elsewhere in the world.

However, the Fuji chain (unfortunately), is a major exception. On several occasions, I have been shocked and appalled at what I have seen (and what I have seen is no doubt only the tip of the iceberg). Quite frankly, food hygiene in Thailand is disgraceful.

It starts at the fresh markets where meat is sold uncovered and unrefrigerated. Even if you don't buy food directly from the fresh markets, this is where many small restaurants get their supplies from. Sitting in tropical temperatures, it is usual for the meat to be covered in flies. Sometimes the vendor will make a half-hearted attempt to keep the flies off by waving around a stick with a plastic bag tied to the end.

Brown rats originated from Asia and were carried to other parts of the world by ship. Seeing a rat in England was a fairly unusual event but in Thailand I see rats every single day of my life. I usually see them out on the streets foraging in garbage bins for food but it is not unusual to see them in restaurants.

I am actually writing this as a result of having eaten at a restaurant where the kitchen had a major rat infestation. Unfortunately, I didn't spot this until after I had eaten. The three young members of staff showed no reaction when I told them. Obviously, they already knew about the problem but just continued to prepare food.

Thais are remarkably tolerant of things that would 'gross out' many Westerners. At one food centre I ate at in a major department store there were cockroaches crawling over the cutlery tray when I went to get a fork and spoon with which to eat my rice.

If a Thai spots a cockroach they will just brush it off - end of story. Rats are also no big deal even though Leptospirosis, which can be caught from rat urine is a serious, life-threatening disease.

In Phuket many years ago, as a tourist, I remember being quite shocked by seeing a rat in a restaurant and then finding a sandwich I had been served was full of ants. The waitress looked decidedly pissed off with me when I mentioned it. She took it back to the kitchen where I think she just brushed the ants off before giving it back to me.

Earlier this year, a couple of Thais were attempting to sue the Hat Yai branch of Sizzler after eating steaks full of maggots.

Thailand is aware of the problem and there is a special government department for food hygiene but what you have to remember is that Thailand is the land of image, face and rhetoric; not of substance or action. You might hear or read about what is being done about food hygiene, and you might see signs in restaurants that say 'Clean Food - Good Taste', but what you won't see are regular health inspections or restaurants that have been shut down because of poor hygiene.

Having said all this, I have only had food poisoning in Thailand four of five times - which is fairly good - and only on two occasions did I need hospital treatment. Interestingly, the places you might suspect as being the worst offenders aren't necessarily that bad.

Many street vendors keep their uncooked meat in ice boxes and it goes straight to a sizzling wok that is so hot it will kill most bugs instantly. A seemingly clean restaurant where food is prepared on the same work surfaces that rats have been using as a toilet is far more dangerous. Outward appearances can be very deceiving when the real problem can only be seen with a microscope.

What precautions can you take? Unfortunately, food poisoning in Thailand is a bit of a gamble. You could eat at Fuji every day but that would probably get boring after a while. If you want to prepare your own food, buying from one of the big supermarkets should be less risky than from a fresh market.

Upmarket restaurants and hotels should have higher standards of hygiene but don't count on it. It's not something to get paranoid about but insects, cockroaches and rats alongside food is normal for Thailand. If you visit or decide to live in Thailand, get used to it.

The Nation published the following on 17th June 2006:

Coliform bacteria have contaminated utensils at many food shops around tourist attractions, according to the Health Department.

"The contamination can cause diarrhoea and food poisoning," the department's academic Anocha Charoenpornkijwattana said Sunday.

According to her, the information came from the Health Department's study on hygienic standards at 12 attractions across the country. As more than half of food shops in these attractions have participated in the department's 'Clean Food Good Taste' project, the study focused on the non-participating food shops only.

"We have detected coliform-bacteria contamination on their plates, ice tongs, cooks' hands and waiters' hands," Anocha said.

Update 24th March 2004 I spotted an on-line article today about street vendors in Bangkok. It said that some new legislation has been introduced that will take street vendors off the streets at the end of the month and into designated areas. I just can't believe what is happening with Thailand. As far as I am concerned this is an important part of Thai culture and should not be interfered with. It will affect tourists but not as much as it will affect the locals who eat and earn a living from street food. This is exactly what happened in Singapore where all the street vendors were moved into hawker centres. As a result Singapore is now incredibly sterile and dull. If the Thai authorities are trying to turn Thailand into another Singapore I just can't see it working as the two countries are very different.

There is hope. The Thai people are quite pragmatic and if a law doesn't make sense they will ignore it (they even ignore the ones that do make sense). The last attempt by the government to regulate people's lives failed miserably. They wanted to close bars early apart from ones in designated entertainment zones. This caused a bit of an uproar. The initial date the legislation was supposed to come into force was postponed and then they changed the ruling so it only affected very recently opened bars. That meant basically that everything just carried on how it was before. The same thing will probably happen with the street vendors.