Do urban Thais ever eat at home now?

[thaiguest]

I find it amazing that more and more Thai people in Bangkok and Pattaya (at least) eat on the sidewalk. Of late new ad hoc kitchens have opened up all over Pattaya and they're all doing well. The cafe scene and restaurant scene in the west is basically a causual option between home cooked meals but here it looks like it has become mainstay eating. Could it be that eating out on a massive scale has become a necessary option due to the incresing costs of vegetables , meat and fish?

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I don't recall reports of General Prayuth eating regularly at roadside stalls but I'm sure someone can produce the evidence to support thaiguest's interesting conjecture

[fedssocr]

is this really something new? Thai street food has been a topic of discussion for many, many years among travelers. And since the vast majority of customers have always been locals this seems like something that has been part of Thai culture for a long time.

Maybe they don't have kitchens? Or don't want to do the work...especially when food on the street is fairly inexpensive.

[bruce_nyc]

Exactly. It's simply cheaper and easier than cooking yourself.

My boyfriend and his friends even buy food from the street food stalls and bring it home.... when they want to eat at home.

Be thankful he's not filling your place with grease fires and filthy wok smoke!

It may of course be that Thais are worse off recently http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/op ... onomy.html

[christianpfc]

ould it be that eating out on a massive scale has become a necessary option due to the increasing costs of vegetables , meat and fish?

The cost of ingredients is irrelevant, either you or the restaurant has to pay for ingredients.
Most Thais eat out, or take-away from restaurants (lots of plastic waste!).

[bruce_nyc]

It's just a big huge time consuming mess to cook in your own kitchen.... if you even have a kitchen. And everyone wants to eat something different every time. So if it's cheaper..... or even if it's the same price..... it works out better than cooking.

It's not very surprisingly really. The same is true of apartment dwellers in New York City. They eat only carryout, delivery, or at a restaurant.

[cdnmatt]

And everyone wants to eat something different every time. So if it's cheaper..... or even if it's the same price..... it works out better than cooking.

Except the stuff you get from the market stalls is generally garbage. Wilted vegetables, meat that is questionable, rice that is sometimes a day old, etc.

They eat it because it's cheap & easy, to support their community, and because they have the mindset of living day-by-day. They don't know to stock up for the future.

Even to this day, when I go buy say 4 chicken breasts from the local market, I still hear people saying, "wow, look at how much that farang eats" with them not knowing I know Thai. Obviously, I don't eat 4 chicken breasts in one sitting. I bag them up individually, and throw them in the freezer. I just don't feel like going to the market every day like they do.

[bruce_nyc]

They probably assume it's fresher to buy it every day. And I'm talking about fully cooked meals from what I call, "street restaurants".... not ingredients from any market. Yeah, it's cheap and easy. It's the "McDonalds" of Thai culture.

[lukylok]

There is one big difference : Thai food is usually tasty, healthy, freshly made and served in smaller portions.
And cheap, 35 or 40 bahts.
I won't even try to qualify MacDonalds products.