Anonone posted an interesting question on the breakfast thread but it can get too lengthy so I separated it.
So here is Anonone's question:
I am curious.
For those that live in Thailand...or maybe are on extended visits....what percentage of the time do you eat local versus falang food / tastes of home?
For me, 70% Farang vs 30% Thai. Usually because my farang friends prefer Western food and so does the boyfriend.
I tend to eat more falang food only because the Thai's do not seem to understand the words "pet nit noy!" :tongue3:
It depends on where I am in Thailand. When outside of BKK/Pattaya I eat Thai food and enjoy trying the various different regional specialities such as the BBQ sausages in Issan, or Khao Soy in Chiang Mai or Shrimp with frest Thai peppercorns when near the sea. When in BKK/Pattaya I eat mostly Falang (but International Food). including Indian, Greek, Italian, Japanese, etc. I almost never eat at any of the major fast food restaurants or chains.
So I would estimate 50/50. But I have gone for as long as a month eating only Thai food but I had to eat egg over rice for breakfast as I could not stomach fish for breakfast. My last trip I had Thai food for solid two weeks while at a resort and I actually got used to eating soup with breakfast. But I watched the chef pick the ingredients used in making the soup and it was made fresh for that meal. I loved it.
When I return home, I crave something with lots of tomato sauce and a high quality thick burger!
If you burn your neighbors house down, it doesn't make your house look any better. - Lou Holtz
I'd say 80% Thai, but I've never been able to stomach rice or noodles for breakfast.
I live here and I will only eat fried rice with eggs, or some Penang shrimp or chicken, local seafood is good but he carefull of hepititas from shell fish, when in Chiang Mai I will eat the local food so I guess it's 97% farang food for me.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Eat local; that's good advice in most of the countries I visit....though one or two places in West Africa are exceptions due to the poverty of the inhabitants.
In the case of Thailand, we have one of the world's great cuisines at our disposal and even the most basic places in the tourist areas provide Thai food that is half as expensive and twice as tasty as Thai restaurants here in London.
I'm surprised to hear that Pattaya restaurants don't understand "mai paet"... this isn't my experience. Thais complain that the food is too modified to our tastes. The only exception to this comes when sometimes my squid salad is too spicy for me. I put that down not to a misunderstanding of my lamentable Thai (according to my boyfriend) but to national pride- in much the same ways as a Parisien waiter would refuse to find a bottle of HP sauce for a Briton to put on his steak au poivre.
For me, the anticipation of Thai food is one of the great pleasures as my next trip approaches. And the best moment is that first dinner in Bangkok soon after my plane arrives. I can taste that squid salad (mai paet) already....
I have the opposite problem. I love phet phet. In Pattaya, because so many of you pussies, they see a white face and tone the food down (and add more sugar) based on racial stereotypes. I can solve this problem at regular places when they get to know me and know I am serious. Yes, I happen to like Thai food even more spicy than most Thais. Living here of course Thai food all the time gets very boring. So you need to mix it up. Thankfully, restaurants like Pao: My Kitchen exist to fill the need for world class non-Thai food!
The longer I live in Thailand, the less Thai food I eat. Generally, daily I eat brekkie at home, cook one meal at home (Asian fusion mostly using Chinese and Thai ingredients), and eat one meal out. The meal out is Thai about two times a week, three at the most.
I do think tourists should stick to Thai food for most of their food here though that is if they like Thai food, and no reason not to like it, there is plenty of variety. Being here for a limited time, they would be foolish to not take advantage of it while they can.
Cunt Pride!
The only farang food I eat in Thailand, on both long and short stays, is breakfast, everything else is thai food.
I can understand, if you are living as an expact, that you like the taste of your homecountry sometimes, but I am sure when I retire nothing will change for me. Maybe I will then even eat thai breakfast.
So I will say 20% farang food and 80% thai food.
I will say, that just after the boys, thaifood is one of the biggest attractions of Thailand, so I don't understand those people who almost only eat western food.
I don't eat as much Thai food as I used to. I never touch Issan food, then got bored with the same Thai dishes all the time.
Eat farang food maybe once a week, such as spaghetti, or a nice italian pasta, or fajitas, or whatever. Rest of the time I cook other food that isn't Thai, but I know Kim will like. Spicy pork goulash, almond chicken stir fry, chinese beef & broccoli, a nice indian curry, teriyaki salmon filets, and things like that.
I like cooking. It's my wind down time from work.
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