Foreigners love their hamburgers, French fries and soft drinks etc. and Thai’s, of course, just have to have rice with every meal.
Having lived most of my life in Europe and now having retired to Northern Thailand, which would I prefer well, I have to say Thailand, why?
As with any large area there are an abundance of fine restaurants catering to different tastes and budgets.
Northern Thailand is no different.
Thai people love to eat, & restaurants are full of locals and foreigners enjoying all types of cuisine.
Popular worldwide franchises such as KFC, McDonald’s, and Burger King abound in the larger cities but, here in Northern Thailand as in all S.E. Asia, we have street vendors.
These vendors provide an end result that is, a quickly prepared but, extremely affordable and healthy meal.
The street vendors may sell fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango, watermelon, strawberries (locally grown), and more.
Each fruit is cut up into small pieces and placed in a plastic bag and you are provided with a long pointed wooden stick with which to eat it.
The cost is normally 10 baht which comes to about 25 cents U.S. and the fruits are kept cool and are delicious.
You can get a meal of cooked rice, meat and veg, again placed in a plastic bag but this time wrapped tightly by an elastic band for about 20 baht or 50 cents U.S. Take your pick of a rice dish, or a noodle dish, or soup.
Tasty and normally already prepared and wrapped and still warm or, if you want to wait a minute, they will take it out of the pot and put it into the bag while you wait.
Thailand is a very modern country it has all the usual amenities that you would expect to find elsewhere in the west of world.
The number one problem travellers face is that they cannot always obtain the food they’re used to, it’s not so simple as merely rocking up to a restaurant and ordering your customary food.
Restaurants cook in different ways in different parts of the world, so perhaps, we need to be able to visit a supermarket to get the ingredients that we can cook at home.
Thailand is ideally served buy supermarket chains, the main ones are, Tops, Big C, and Lotus. Of course there are others but you will have to find these where you’re travelling but, a supermarket looks like a supermarket anywhere in the world.
So a cooked meal and a tasty snack for a total of about 75 cents U.S. For many Thai’s in Northern Thailand, this is their most common meal, very few people cook at home, they simply find this a more simple and better choice for an evening meal. Once purchased they will hang it on the handlebars of the bike & then proceed to drive home.
There they will simply, unwrap the elastic, put the rice in a bowl, place several cups on the table with a bottle of water and that is their meal prepared.
We all love fast foods and we all want it to be affordable. That we have in common. What you will find different between here and there is the price, quality, and service.
Price. The price of meals whether it be at restaurants or street vendors is cheap compared to what we are used to. A filling meal can be had for less than a $1US for a meal as I describe above which includes a bowl of rice, cooked meal, and fruit from a street vendor.
For only $2.50 U.S. you can dine out at an all you can eat multi-course buffet, desserts, coffee, tip, and taxes included as well as a tip for the parking lot attendant.
The prices are low because the ingredients are locally grown and because the labor cost is inexpensive.
The quality of the food is much healthier in Northern Thailand than back home. Back home KFC, McDonald’s, and Harvey’s are popular lunch and dinner restaurants. If you think you are thinking healthy foods there, think again.
Here in Northern Thailand, you do not have the greasy French fries, Hamburgers stuffed full of ketchup, mustard, onions, mayo and more. Mainly to hide the taste of the meat you are eating. Although in the larger cities the main franchises are here.
Here in Northern Thailand you are better advised to eat rice, fresh vegetables, fresh fish, drink water with the meals as opposed to a bucket-sized plastic container packed full of ice and watered down sugar-flavoured soft drink.
Service. A teenager earning a few extra bucks in a fast-food restaurant at home, or an adult making a living out of working full time in a restaurant here.
Which one would you expect to provide the best service? Nothing more needs to be said.
If you come to Northern Thailand do not go searching for restaurants that have what you normally eat. You may as well stay home and buy a video about Thailand, or watch a TV program about Thailand.
The foods here are tasty, healthy, and inexpensive.
The basic ingredient in all the meals is rice. Yes, rice for breakfast too. I have never been one for rice. Potatoes were my staple. But here potatoes are pricey and although I admit to buying them and have my wife make the best French fries in Northern Thailand it is the exception rather than the rule.
As I have said before, the Thai’s are known for making anything taste good.
So take fresh ingredients and combine them with rice and special sauces and there you have the key to the taste – Healthy, Tasty, and Inexpensive meals.
Top it off with locally grown fresh pineapple, watermelon, mango, strawberries, or a dozen or more fruits and you have a meal you will enjoy and which is good for you.
The funny thing about food is, that whatever you really like, is NOT GOOD for you.
Let’s test that statement!
Ok! What are your favorites? Cake, pies, French fries, hamburgers, ice-cream.
Well, they are not that good for you if you are eating them on a regular basis.
What do you hate to eat? Broccoli, asparagus, spinach, brown rice, boiled chicken.
These are all good for you but, can you honestly say you really like and enjoy them.
So if you come here to Thailand do try several different types of Thai foods.
You may find a soup that you just cannot get enough of, or a Thai dessert, that you have no idea what it was, and which you absolutely enjoyed, or fresh fish which is abundant here. Prawns, sea bass, and more, cooked up on a large plate that will leave you wanting more.
I have eaten meals, snacks, and fruits sold by small roadside food vendors and never experienced any gastric problems.
The ingredients are fresh, kept on ice, and visible until required.
In my experience, the cooking areas are cleaned regularly but, if you are at all worried you might suffer some discomfort later, don’t be afraid to ask the vendor to wash any utensils and equipment before preparing your food.
They will not be offended.
So I see this as a safe, inexpensive way to buy snacks and meals.
I would recommend that you carry a bottle of water, which can be purchased at the local 7-11 for around 13 cents, as you may get a bit dehydrated. Especially if you are doing a lot of walking.
Are there things that I do not eat that Thai’s eat? Yes there is a fruit called Durian, the Thai’s just love it but it has such a foul odour that when I gave it a try I had to breathe through my mouth. They tell me it tastes like ice cream.
Well, frankly I don’t see how something so foul-smelling can be so delicious.
Apart from the odour it has the texture of a pudding and is rich in flavor.
The amount of time taken to get it out of its casing and ready to eat is everlasting.
It starts off as an enormous great fruit but, only yields about four segments of fruit finally.
A lot of trouble but, the Thais love it. I hope the reward is worth the trouble.
Grubs!!
Something I have never had the courage to try but, which I understand are healthy to eat, is the fried insects and grubs. Supposedly full of protein, be that as it may, I still do not have the courage.
I would imagine that it is just a matter of getting used to the sight of them. Even Farangs tell me they are delicious to eat and very nutritious.
Sorry, but I don’t see it, to me they are still critters.
I understand that in the next couple of decades we are going to have to get used to them in order to be able to feed the world’s population.
Perhaps as well I am at the latter end of my existence, that way I won’t have to worry about it.
My wife will gladly sit snacking on them all day and every day. She eats them in the car as we would potato chips.
Perhaps I could dine on both the fruit and insects regularly if I kept breathing through my nose and kept my eyes shut while I ate but, I think my arms would need to be tied behind my back.
Earlier on I said that the Thai’s have a reputation for making any food taste delicious. That is true.
The KEY is always their sauces. I don’t know what ingredients go into their sauces but I do know that I was never a great rice eater, yet now I will be scraping the bottom of each bowl of food that is served to me.
Strange isn’t it?
Normal white rice cooked in a rice steamer combined with fried vegetables and meat with the special sauce is simply delicious.
If you want to know where I would eat now, given the choice, a fast food restaurant there or a street vendor?
My reply would be a street vendor here. After the meal in Northern Thailand, I am filled up, the food is delicious, the fruits are fantastic and the prices are so low and I feel fitter.
Another very enjoyable evening would be a Kantoke Supper.
They usually take place in a Kantoke hall or restaurant, where guests can sit around round tables and enjoy a traditional northern Thai meal while being entertained by performers.
During a kantoke evening, guests are typically served northern Thai cuisine, including dishes such as nam phrik ong (a chili-based dip) and kanom jeen (noodles with curry).
The meal is accompanied by dance performances, comedy skits, and live music. Kantoke evenings often feature traditional northern Thai instruments, such as fiddles and xylophones, as well as modern instruments.
A traditional Kantoke evening can last for several hours and usually includes a variety of traditional northern Thai dances, such as the Ramwong, Fon Haw and Kham Kuen.
Your hotel or guest house will surely be able to reccommend one for you or, you could ask at any of the several tourist desks around the city.
Thailands Plastic Curse
Eating from roadside food vendors is a way of life in Northern Thailand. As soon as the regular shops close for the day the food vendors roll out their carts and promptly set up at the roadside.
They are extremely popular and are well patronised by the local Thai populace. Once you have tried eating from these carts you will not eat anywhere else.
In order to ensure you don’t get a case of the trots, it’s a good idea to ask to see the wok washed in clean water.
The Thai vendor will not be offended. They understand we have delicate stomachs and need to be careful.
Nowadays, everywhere in Thailand, the vast majority of street vendors serve food and drink in plastic bags. McDonald’s has nothing on this fast-food experience.
Whatever you order, be it a rice or noodle dish even soup, is scooped up into a plastic bag and then sealed with a rubber band. This also includes drinks.
Smaller bags of sauces and spices are also provided. You can even get fresh sliced fruit to go in a small bag with a skewer to stab each sweet morsel.
Shopping on the streets, markets, and malls will also expose you to bags and bags of plastic. It doesn’t matter what the size of the item, it will go in a plastic bag.
I have had numerous occasions where I acquired a large plastic bag to hold a variety of articles and each successive purchase resulted in a small plastic bag being put into the larger one.
Despite my objections that the smaller plastic bag was not required, I am sent on my way with a confused look and a smile. Eventually, you realise it’s best to just go with the flow.
Needless to say, after a day or two in Thailand, you tend to acquire a pile of plastic bags. I do manage to use a couple of them for dirty laundry or to keep items separated, but most of the plastic goes straight into the trash.
I really don’t know what the Thai people would do today without plastic bags. If the tree-hugging environmentalists ever came to Thailand, they would have a “dickie” fit.
Where would they put their sticky rice and beef jerky? How would vendors sell coke in a plastic bag to carry out? How would the copied software and DVDs be distributed? How would I get my bowl of Thai soup home?
Would they be able to revert back to banana leaves and yesterday’s newspapers? I don’t think so.
I understand the furore in the West today about plastic in the sea etc. I further understand we have made a real problem for the ocean’s wildlife but, I don’t think that the Thai people could live without plastic bags, I think their survival instincts come in front of their environmental credentials and any attempt to stop the practice would result in disastrous economic results.
The Thai’s in my experience only live for today, as long as they can see their way clear to the next meal they are content. Not a bad philosophy I think.
