| Dining in Chiang Mai, Thailand vs. North America | | | | making anything taste good. |
| George Dowhan | | | | So take fresh ingredients combine that with rice and |
| Begin | | | | special sauces which are the key to the taste and |
| Foreigners love their hamburgers, French fries, soft | | | | there you have it - Healthy, Tasty, and Inexpensive |
| drinks and Thai's just have to have rice with every | | | | meals. |
| meal. But which would I prefer after living most of | | | | Top if off with locally grown fresh pineapple, |
| my life in Canada and now having retired to Chiang | | | | watermelon, mango, strawberries or a dozen or |
| Mai, Thailand? | | | | more fruits and you have a meal you will enjoy and |
| As with any large city there are an abundance of fine | | | | which is good for you. |
| restaurants catering to different tastes and budgets. | | | | The funny thing about foods is that whatever you |
| Chiang Mai is no different. Thai people love to eat. | | | | really like is NO GOOD for you. What are your |
| Restaurants are full of Thai's and foreigners enjoying | | | | favorites? Cake, pies, French fries, hamburgers, |
| all types of cuisine. Rather than deal with fine | | | | ice-cream. Well they are not that good for you in |
| restaurants which we all dine at but not every day | | | | terms of eating them regularly. What do you hate to |
| this article deals with the day to day dining of the | | | | eat? Broccoli, asparagus, spinach, brown rice, boiled |
| Thai people here in Chiang Mai. | | | | chicken. Well these are good for you. |
| Popular restaurants in North America are Harvey's, | | | | So if you come here to Thailand. do try several |
| McDonalds, and Burger King. Here we have the street | | | | different types of Thai foods. You may find a soup |
| vendors. The end result is a quickly prepared | | | | that you just cannot get enough of, or a Thai |
| affordable meal. | | | | dessert that you have no idea what it was and |
| The street vendors may sell fresh fruits such as | | | | which you absolutely enjoyed, or fresh fish which is |
| pineapple, mango, watermelon, strawberries (locally | | | | abundant here. Prawns, sea bass and more cooked |
| grown), and more. Each fruit is cut up into small | | | | up on a large plate will leave you wanting more. |
| pieces and placed in a plastic bag and you are | | | | I have eaten meals, snacks and fruits sold by small |
| provided a long wooden stick with which to eat it. | | | | roadside food vendors and never experienced any |
| Cost is normally 10 baht which comes to about 25 | | | | problems. The ingredients are fresh, kept on ice if |
| cents U.S. and the fruits are kept cool and are | | | | required and cooking areas cleaned regularly. So I see |
| delicious. Also vendors here sell fast foods and | | | | this as a safe, inexpensive way to buy snacks and |
| snacks. Get a meal of cooked rice, meat and veggies | | | | meals. I would recommend that you carry a bottle of |
| again placed in a plastic bag but this time wrapped | | | | water which can be purchased at 7-11 for only 13 |
| tightly by an elastic band for about 20 baht or 50 | | | | cents as you may get a bit dehydrated especially if |
| cents U.S. Take your pick of a rice dish, or a noodle | | | | you are doing a lot of walking and this if anything |
| dish or a soup. Tasty and normally already prepared | | | | may be the cause of a quick jaunt to the rest room. |
| and wrapped and still warm or if you want to wait | | | | Are there things that I do not eat that Thai's eat? |
| one minute they will take it out of the pot and put it | | | | Yes there is a fruit called Durian, the Thai's just love |
| into the bag while you wait. So a cooked meal and a | | | | it but it has such a foul odor that when I gave it a |
| tasty snack for a total of about 75 cents U.S. For | | | | try I had to breathe through my mouth. Apart from |
| many Thai's in Chiang Mai this is there most common | | | | the odor it has the texture of a pudding and is rich in |
| meal. They then proceed to drive home, unwrap the | | | | flavor. What I did not have the courage to try and |
| elastic, put some rice in a bowl, place several cups of | | | | which I expect would be healthy to eat was the |
| the table with a bottle of water and that is one of | | | | fried insects. I suppose that it is just a matter of |
| their meals. | | | | getting used to the sight of them. Perhaps I could |
| We all love fast foods and we all want it to be | | | | dine on both the fruit and insects regularly if I kept |
| affordable. That we have in common. What you will | | | | breathing through my nose and kept my eyes shut |
| find different between here and there is the price, | | | | while I ate. |
| quality and service. | | | | But you should try what we call Suki. It is a soup |
| Price. The price of meals whether it be at | | | | that you cook on your table in a pot with hot coals |
| restaurants, or street vendors is cheap compared to | | | | underneath. You decide on the ingredients such as |
| what we are used to. A filling meal can be had for | | | | chicken, beef, liver, fish and add them and take them |
| less than a 1US dollar for a meal I described above | | | | out when they are cooked. Normally the meats go in |
| which includes a bowl of rice, cooked meal from | | | | first as they take longer to cook and then the |
| street vendor and fruit from street vendor. For only | | | | vegetables. In about 5 minutes you have your soup. |
| $2.50 U.S. you can dine out at an all you can eat full | | | | Two small bowls will accompany the meal. They are |
| course buffet, desserts, coffee, tip and taxes | | | | both made of hot peppers. One has the appearance |
| included as well as a tip for the parking lot attendant | | | | of a green paste and the other a red paste. You can |
| The prices are low because the ingredients are locally | | | | either dip your meat or fish into the paste or put a |
| grown and because the labor cost is inexpensive. | | | | teaspoonful into your soup. The green paste is spicy, |
| Quality. The quality of the food is much healthier here | | | | makes me perspire a bit and gives me a longing for a |
| than back home. Back home KFC, McDonalds, and | | | | cold glass of water during I eat my soup. The red |
| Harvey's are popular lunch and dinner restaurants. If | | | | paste I do not touch and would not recommend you |
| you think you are thinking healthy foods there think | | | | try it unless you are accustomed to eating it or you |
| again. Here you do not have the greasy French fries, | | | | are Mexican. My girlfriend eats her Suki with the |
| Hamburgers stuffed full of ketchup, mustard, onions, | | | | green paste and admits to making trips to the |
| mayo and more to hide the taste of the meat you | | | | washroom during the middle of the night and not to |
| are eating. Here you eat rice, fresh vegetables, fresh | | | | brush here teeth. A filling meal for 4 people for about |
| fish, drink water with the meals as opposed to a | | | | $3 U.S. and that includes taxes, tip, and bottled water |
| bucket sized plastic container packed full of ice and | | | | with a bucket of ice. |
| watered down sugar flavored soft drink. | | | | Remember how earlier on I said that the Thai's have |
| Service. A teenager earning a few extra bucks in a | | | | a reputation for making any food taste delicious. That |
| fast food restaurant or an adult making a living out | | | | is true. The KEY is the sauce. I do not know what |
| of working full time in a restaurant here. Which one | | | | ingredients go into the sauces but I do know that I |
| would you expect to provide the best service? | | | | was not a rice eater and now with I will be scraping |
| Nothing more needs to be said. | | | | the bottom of each bowl of food that is served to |
| If you come to Chiang Mai do not go searching for | | | | me. Normal white rice cooked in a rice cooker |
| restaurants that have what you normally eat. You | | | | combined with fried vegetables and meat with the |
| may as well stay home and buy a video about | | | | special sauce is simply delicious. |
| Thailand, or watch a TV program about Thailand. | | | | And if you want to know where I would eat given |
| The foods here are tasty, healthy, and inexpensive. | | | | the choice now, a fast food restaurant there or a |
| The basic ingredient in all the meals is rice. Yes rice | | | | street vendor here? My reply would be a street |
| for breakfast too. I have never been one for rice. | | | | vendor here. After the meal here I am filled up, the |
| Potatoes was my staple. But here potatoes are | | | | food is delicious, the fruits are fantastic and prices |
| pricey and although I admit to buying them and | | | | are so low and I feel fitter. |
| making potato soup and french fries it is the | | | | Want to learn more about Thai foods. Check out our |
| exception and not the rule. | | | | Thai foods and recipes on our website: http.// and |
| As I have said before, the Thai's are known for | | | | they are on the Living in Chiang Mai page. |