Thailand

[Michael]

The place to dicuss local topics and to meet others in your area.

[Walter]

Oh, I Thai thread... How unusual that they had this here... how terribly coincidental, eh? :D

Thanks Michael! :hug:

Well, here it is everyone! I'm leaving for Thailand on the 31st, and I'll be away for 21 days... now, don't all cry at once... people please! Please!! CALM DOWN MAJAKE!! Stay back, Avalon!! Leg go of my pant legs, Soilman, get up off from the ground!!

PLEASE PEOPLE! BEHAVE! I'LL BE BACK!!

Y'all're actin' a foo'



Here's the deal - Anyone been there? Do you know how to teach me to pronounce "No Fishsauce" correctly? Any tips on finding out how to order good vegan food, and keep the onions in it? :p

This is what the International Vegetarian Union tells me:

The Thai language has basically two words for vegetarian food:

ahaan mangsawirat - no beef/chicken/pork/fish/seafood but can contain eggs. Milk is not commonly used in Thai cooking

ahaan jay - strict vegetarian/vegan, nothing of animal origin but also no garlic, onions, strong spices etc

phom/chan thaan mangsawirat/jay thawnan - I only eat vegetarian food

phom/chan pen mangsawirat/jay I am a vegetarian

Mai sai (pronounced lke "I" with s in front) naam plaa - don't put fish sauce


But, naturally, I've no idea really on how to pronounce or correctly "sing" the phrases here.

Tips people, I need tips!

[jenni]

unfortunately, i don't speak thai. i know a hell of a lot about the country but i don't speak the language.

[Walter]

Have you been there before, Jenni?

[pyrsk]

I love thai food! It's awesome! You have to try a green papaya salad (hold the fish sauce and the shrimp) and maybe a green mango salad too. Oh and the curries, drool! Green, yellow, red, phanang, masaman and of course the satay sauce! *going all wild about the idea of thai food* Oh and they do wonders with greens too, like asparagus, sprouts and especially the yummy local greens. Watch out for the chili though if you don't like spicy food. The green papaya salad is loaded with chili (and peanuts), and it's heavenly! :)

Anyway, I've been to several thai restaurants (in Malaysia, not Thailand, but it's almost the same thing :) ), and they always understand "strict vegetarian". You might want to add "no egg, fish sauce, fish or shrimp please" and keep repeating it a couple of times :)

Enjoy your trip and get high with thai food! :p :D

[Walter]

Thanks for the information pyrsk! If I just ask for a curry, is it going to be vegan? Or do I have to specify that I want a vegan curry? Or is there an ingrediant I must always remind them to leave out? I just want to make sure that I don't have 3 weeks of rice and steamed vegetables. ;)

There's more to this story as well. I have an Aunt from Thailand that married my uncle when he was in Thailand during the Vietnam war.

I've decided (my Aunt has never been back) that I want to go to her town and take some photos for her, and bring them back with me. My cousin just sent me an email to tell me the places she knows off of the top of her head (along with the town she was born in)... and they include Chiang Mai, Udon Thani (my cousins birthplace), Bangkok, Khon Kaen, and she also said that "at any rate, she was certainly a northener."

Oooh, I'm getting excited!!

[with_open_eyes]

okay, i found the thread !!! ;)

[with_open_eyes]

hey mikie,

i'm excited for you!
i was in bangkok on my own for a week stopover on my way from europe back to australia.
i can certainly recommend some great places to eat in bangkok:

** may kaidee’s vegetarian restaurant
** yogi’s house
** suki jeh ru yi
** kwan-imm jae

i regards to the cost of food, most of my meals were as cheap as 30 baht per dish, with the most costly being about 90 baht.
note: 30bht = 0.66 euro cents/ and 90bht = 1.98 euros - SO CHEAP for such good quality food. i could easily have a meal, dessert and drink for under 2 euro.

i had no trouble eating vegan there. at the hotel i stayed at, the manager/owner is vegetarian and they say they have the biggest choice of vegetarian dishes in bangkok. :vebo: if you need to stay somewhere CHEAP, this is the place. it's called "the atlanta (http://www.theatlantahotel.bizland.com/index.html)" and it is really good value for money!

i wrote a vegan guide to bangkok for the next issue of our roots of compassion zine (http://www.rootsofcompassion.org) which i would be happy to email to you ....

let me know!
regards,
**w_o_e**

[Walter]

Hey WOE!

That's great! How much did the Atlanta cost per night? I'm meeting a European backpacker in Bangkok... I'm pretty sure she's been staying at hostels this whole time, but maybe I can convince her to stay at a hotel if I split the cost with her. :D She tries to stay under $5 a day! (sounds crazy from this side of the world. ;))

I can't imagine paying 66 cents for a meal.

I would love for you to email that guide you wrote. :)

(Did most restaurtant workers speak english? I'm worried about fish sauce...)

[with_open_eyes]

cool !!!

the so called "hotel" was about 7 euro per night (so about US$7.00 i guess). very basic, original foyer from the 1950's, it was nice and relaxing with a pool and gardens and friendly people. the room was VERY basic (nothing fancy) with a double bed (even though i asked for a single), bathroom, balcony and fan with NO hot water. i didn't want anything more cause i only wanted it to sleep in. you know what i mean! ;)

i know what you mean about the fish sauce. they do speak english so it's not a problem.
i had my vegan passport with me incase of language problems and it did come in handy twice. because bangkok is SO full of tourists, alot of people do speak english. :up:

anyway, i'll email you my guide, want to send me your email addy in a pm? ...

[pyrsk]

woe pretty much answered your questions already, but about the curries. No, they aren't necessarily vegan, so always check! Naturally, the vegetarian restaurants are an exception :D

[Walter]

I don't understand why a vegetarian website would want to sell the vegan passport instead of posting it online...

Hmmm...

Doesn't make much sense to me? Talk about vegetarians doing things for the wrong reasons. :p

(I have the International Vegetarian Union page printed... but it just says vegetarian, not vegan, in thai!)

[with_open_eyes]

yeah but luckily it is online ;)

1vegan posted this link in another thread previously and it is a scanned version of the passport.

whole booklet (http://www.lekkerplantaardig.net/vgp/v-pas.htm)
thailand page (http://www.lekkerplantaardig.net/vgp/42.htm)

i'll try and scan the page for you in the next few days (before you go!) and see if the quality is any better cause this clearly is hard to read....

[Walter]

Oh, so it is! No need to scan now, this'll work! Thanks so much. :)

If you right click and save the photo and open it up, it's full size and legible. It still looks entirely impossible to read, however. :D
That Thai language... how unique!! (I think this will come in handy in smaller towns...)

Thanks so much for your work, WOE. :)

Thanks to everybody for their advice. :)

[with_open_eyes]

no problems mikie!

i hope you have a wonderful trip! :D

[Walter]

I got my backpack via UPS today. I bought it on Ebay, brand new, for just $14 or $16 dollars.

I went shopping and picked up a few things for my trip today. I bought some boiron diarrhea medicine today... Oh, how much I wish not to get diarrhea!! :eek:

I'm also wondering about water... I looked for Iodine tablets today and I didn't see any, but I've also heard you can use grapefruit juice extract, which I did see, however the bottle made no claim about purifying water.

I am super super paranoid that I'm going to get to the airport, or worse yet, get to Bangkok's airport, and find out that I'm missing something I need and get sent home!!

What do I need? I'm not staying mroe than 30 days, so I don't need a visa. I have a passport. I have my birth certificate.

IS THAT REALLY ALL?!!

Every website pretty much says that's it... but it seems way too easy!!

*panic mode*

Only 9 more days?!

*bites nails*

[Walter]

GAH!!! What am I missing!!!

[pyrsk]

Maybe you should take some clothes and stuff? ;)

[with_open_eyes]

your swimming shorts - it will be damn hot !!!!!

i was there in january and it was over 30°C

[Walter]

I've quelched most of my fears.

I figure, I've got my passport, my mom faxed me my shot record, I've got my birth certificate, travelocity still says that my plan is booked (though I don't physically have the tickets), and Thailand is a somewhat poor country begging for tourists. Why wouldn't they let me in? :D

And my friend is giving me a ride to the airport which is not accessable by public transportation at five in the morning except by taxi which would be around $30.00 with tip! :eek:

I don't have malaria medicine, but from what I understand it can have awful side effects in any case. If I change my mind, you can get it over the counter in Thailand for very cheap. I read that most of Thailand has little to no malaria, and that areas that are "moderate" have 2-4% of the local population get it a year. I'll be spending just 3 weeks in Thailand with half of the time in low risk areas... Hepatitus A, which I don't have a vaccine for, has a 1 in 50-300 chance of getting me... I'm going to only eat at clean restaurants and drink only bottled water. I've read my stuff, and I'm armed with bug spray. I'll be safe. I don't think I'll get anything but nice photos. :D

I'm definitely, at this point, much more worried about getting traveler's diarrhea. :spew:

[spud]

Money. You need money, and try and get some local small change to tip people with.

If you get the sh1ts, sometimes it's better to let it out and expel the bad thing rather than take medicine that stops it. Eat plain boiled rice even if you don't feel like eating, it's the cure the Arabs use for the runs.

Have a lovely time.

[Walter]

Thanks for the tips, spud!! :)

[blueserendipity]

oh i wish i had all that advice about hong kong

does anyone know if the chinese on there is in mandarin or cantonese?

[Walter]

Just in case anyone on the boards is going to Thailand in the future - they can check out the pictures from my vacation at my website. (http://www.hikewithmike.net/thailand031.html)

[blueserendipity]

am going to thailand next weekend

for a few days

will let you know how i go

and appareciate any advice on dining out in phuket