Food in Thailand

After Tokyo, I went to Bangkok, Thailand. I spent one night with the Busking Polyglot, a friend from the Yale Gospel Choir. As well, I spent two days walking around with the Indefatigable Peacemaker, who had just finished two years as a Peace Corps. Volunteer, and the Calm Abecedarian, who was in the middle of her first year of a Fulbright Fellowship.

Source: CDC

Thai food

You can’t discuss Thailand without talking about food. In Bangkok, I was able to visit many markets, eat street food, and consume pad thai and other specialties in restaurants.

Market

Right next to the school (stay tuned for more on that experience) was a market where the Intrepid Busker took me for breakfast and fruit drinks (I recommend both the sugar cane and watermelon drinks). There is nothing like a cold drink to give relief on a hot day.

In addition to great drinks, the market the whole food pyramid for purchase including lots of good fruits:

But you can't bring durians on the subway due to their smell

Protein like fish and eggs:

And a lot more like veggies, sweets, and a whole bunch of foods that I have no idea what they are:

Fried dough for breakfast

Street food

Thailand was the cheapest country I visited and the food was no exception. Despite its price, the street food was delicious. My fears that I would get sick never materialized and I enjoyed my food adventures.

One of my street food expeditions reminded me of the Christian concept of doing your tasks “as unto the lord” that comes from Colossians: 

²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” - Colossians 3:23-24

The dessert maker

Essentially this means that you do an excellent job at whatever your responsibility is, regardless if you receive recognition, compensation, or any other accolades because you are serving God. I bought food from a street vendor who was not Christian, but approached his work with the drive and pride that I hope to have to live out that passage. He kept his stand immaculately clean and did methodical, excellent work, even though he was working at night on a side street where most of his customers weren’t overly discerning. So often people try to do the minimum to get by or not get into trouble. I don't want to settle for just enough, but I want to have a drive for excellence in all areas of my life and hopefully honor God with my effort and results.

The fruits of his labor: banana pancake
(better tasting than this pic suggests)

Coconut-somethings. Our favorite breakfast food

Restaurants

The Indefatigable Peacemaker had just completed her Peace Corps. service in Africa. She came to Thailand as a first step in her transition back to America and to slowly get over culture shock. While we were walking around, I thought I should buy McDonald’s so she could get a smell of the good U.S. of A.

Much to my surprise, my meal came with mouthwash.
I hope they weren't trying to tell me something...

Since we were in Thailand, we had to get pad thai. It met all my taste expectations at just a fraction of the normal price.

At a roadside mall

At the floating market

Authentic food

The Intrepid Busker took me to eat real Thai food. I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious and we ate a lot of it with our hands.

The Thai use spoons a lot and don't use chopsticks.
However, most white Americans don't understand differences
between Asian cultures and many people trying to be multi-cultural
ask for chopsticks for their rice at Thai restaurants in the US. Yikes!

My favorite

If you ever come to Thailand to relax, you know where to eat