While preparing to live in Thailand, one of the things I was quite worried about was the food. I’m known to get an upset stomach often after eating in Wisconsin, so I was expecting this to only get worse in Thailand after reading about some of the differences in food preparation and safety. I had also been advised different things from different sources from “do NOT eat the street food,” to “if you go to Thailand and don’t eat the street food — you didn’t even go to Thailand.” You can see how I was a little concerned. In the end, I just prepared myself for whatever issues may arise by bringing plenty of western medications.
However, I’ve been living here two months now (and yes, eating plenty of the incredible street food, fruit, snacks, and drinks) and I’m really happy to say I’ve felt healthier and more energized after eating than I typically do in the states! This might because of the practically nonexistent gluten and dairy in all the food products here, both things that are seemingly impossible to avoid when you live in the beer and dairy capital of America. Thankfully, I’ve dealt with very, very few instances of questionable food. Of course, I’ve also avoided some food entirely – like the live turtles you can pick from the market or the pork intestines you sometimes find in your soup or the fried-to-a-crisp-insects you can get on Khao San. But for the most part, I’ve come to absolutely love Thai cuisine.
I really worried that I would be missing Western food by this time, but I’ve truly been so satisfied with my meals here. Besides the occasional lasagna or pizza craving, it’s somewhat amusing that my mega-cravings haven’t even been for American food, but Mexican food instead. Seriously, all I want is a big plate of tacos and chips and guac and a margarita (I’m one month away from being legal in the U.S. ok?) from La Mex. The only Mexican restaurant I’ve found so far was in Georgetown in Malaysia – months ago now. I have even been searching out avocados in Thailand to be able to make my own guac to subside my craving. No luck so far, but I will not give up the hunt.
For the first few weeks after my arrival, I knew almost no Thai dishes, so when I’d go to eat my Thai friends would ask me, “Chicken or pork? Rice or noodles?” and that’s what I would get. Thankfully, I have begun to try and taste more dishes and have started to be able to differentiate what makes them each unique. But in all honesty, this is really the basis of almost any Thai meal – chicken or pork and noodles or rice.
(Scroll over the photos to see what the food is)
One thing I’ve really come to embrace about Thai culture is how the day, and many conversations, center around food. I can’t count how many times one of my Thai friends has greeted me with the phrase, “Are you hungry?” or “Have you ate yet?” It’s a beautiful thing. And I think this is largely because eating is such a social activity too, especially for students. Almost none of the apartments/dorms have kitchens, so we eat out for every single meal of the day. Before you think, “Holy cow, Mckenzie. You’re paying to eat at a restaurant every meal, every day?” Meals in Thailand cost anywhere from 20-150 baht. Mine are usually around 40 baht… this is the equivalent to $1.20. So I’m paying around $4 a day to eat full-blown plates of chicken and rice or pork and noodles — I’d say that’s doable. So typically, I meet up with a group of friends for meals around campus and we eat together and talk for awhile and have a good time. So, food is the center of my days because it usually determines when I will be seeing everyone next.
Luckily, my campus does not have a shortage of yummy and cheap places to find a meal at any point of the day. Here’s the layout:
So the big red house is where I live at Skyview. Across the street from me, you can see…
View down my road towards campus
Zone 1: I don’t have much over here but I do have a small restaurant under my building that will deliver food to me at my room. However, I do have to have a Thai friend call and order it for me because they only speak Thai. Then, I have a 7-11 which is very frequently visited by me. I often go if I’m feeling lazy or low on time. You can get food warmed up for you there, and as pre-packed meals go, they aren’t half bad. I usually go for the garlic chicken or basil chicken stir fry, always with sticky rice included. Although, after a night of drinking nothing beats a ham and cheese toastie. They are ALL the hype for drunk, Western food in Thailand. 7-11 has even teamed up with Lays to make a 7-11 special, ham and cheese toastie flavored bag of chips.
I also have a few small food vendors around here. I finally worked up the courage to order food from one of them the other night. I have been admittedly quite shy to order from some food vendors because I’m often wary of the language barrier. I mean sometimes people genuinely look terrified when I approach them knowing that I’m going to speak English to them! But I keep pushing myself to not give up because of it! Pointing and nodding works very well.
Fried chicken over rice and some type of sauce (siracha mayo maybe?) over the top that I got from a small vendor near my apartment. Came with a baggie of cabbage with a lemony-mayo dressing – delicious! Plus, nothing better than dinner in bed with Netflix.
Zone 2: This area is called U-Village. It has a nice set of proper restaurants and cafes but for one reason or another, it’s not very popular. I have yet to try anything here. But it’s nice to know it’s available and close!
Zone 3: U-Square. Ahh, the heart and soul to cheap eating at TU-Rangist. U-Square is basically just a large market area with a bunch of outdoor vendors who are set up permanently in their locations. But the food is delicious, there are lots of options (from fish to salad bars to crepes to noodle soup to steak) and it’s all very cheap. This is my most common stop for dinner. I can also find freshly cut fruit bags or fruit shakes here at almost any hour of the day, which I love.
Zone 4: Zone 4 has a set of proper shops underneath the apartment buildings here. There is also a small bar (the only one located so close to campus) that gets pretty popular on weekends. I have two restaurants I like a lot here. One is called Poon Poon (supposedly, named after the sound of a train whistle) and it has some good Italian-style dishes. The other is called Clean Food. I was struggling for a while to find a well-balanced meal with enough vegetables to satisfy me — Clean Food has it. You get a large portion of lean meat, jasberry (whole-grain) rice, a side salad and cooked vegetables — all for $2.20. This is my favorite place to eat on campus by far because it’s healthy and so tasty.
Chicken breast, side salad, cooked veggies, jasberry rice and a sweet teriyaki sauce. Mmmmm
Zone 5: Another set of proper shops under apartment buildings. I haven’t tried a ton of these but you can find almost any craving (besides for Mexican food) you need to be fulfilled down here. They have sushi, dim sum, boat noodles, shabu, curry, American food, pizza, etc. A lot of these places are on my mental list of places to try when I’m craving something specific.
Zone 6: This area has a little market available on Tuesdays that I tend to stop by on my way home from class. There I can grab fresh fruit drinks or little sweets or my dinner for the evening, typically I can get all of the above for about $2.50. Plus they have some little boutique/thriftshop clothing vendors that can be fun to look through.
Zone 7: This is the canteen (aka cafeteria) I eat most of my breakfasts and lunches at. It’s right next to my faculty (in the dark pink circle.) The food here is super inexpensive (about 90 cents per meal) and very tasty! When I’m low on time, I’ll have a mug of granola with chocolate soy milk at my apartment, but if I have the extra time I’ll typically go here for a plate of rice, fried chicken, stir-fried veggies and egg for my breakfast in the morning.
Two weekends ago, I took a Thai cooking class that was offered through the Thammasat Office of International Affairs out in the countryside of Bangkok. It was so interesting getting to see what ingredients make up some of the dishes I’ve begun to enjoy so much, like spicy papaya salad! The menu, recipes, and ingredients are below. It was fun for me to read them and see how many I didn’t recognize, yet lots of these ingredients are very common in traditional Thai cuisine.
Now, this entire post was really for my mom because I know she likes details and photos and maps and getting to feel as much as possible like she understands what my daily life is like here. Love you, Mom! But I also wanted to make a post about this just because of how different the culture surrounding food is! Getting my food from markets and small vendors and trying things I would probably avoid in the U.S. has been such a rewarding experience for me! I’m also proud to say that my spice tolerance has dramatically increased since when I left. So for those of you who stuck around till the end, thanks so much — I hope you learned something new!
Mckenzie Lena Halling 
We, too, found the cuisine in Thailand interesting. I remember our first morning there I went to a street vendor located under the apartment building where Jay lived to get a bottle of milk. Turns out it was sweet milk! We really enjoyed the fresh pineapple available almost anywhere. I don’t think I’ve found pineapple since that tastes as good. Glad you’re enjoying your experience.
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