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Is the Nomad List right? Chiang Mai Q
10-07-2014, 01:32 PM
I'm going to Thailand in three weeks and I see Thai street food praised to high heavens (well, from the clean places - probably plenty that are better passed by) on all the travel sites and blogs I've read. And not just from backpackers on a very strict budget.
Are they all lying, or just different tastes in food?
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10-07-2014, 04:24 PM
Why would they lie? I wouldn't read much on those Lonely Planet sites anyway they're shit.
There's lots of good food everywhere as long as you order stuff you're comfortable with (they do eat some weird stuff). If you're nervous about cleanliness you can eat in some air conditioned places for a bit more money. But don't forget, you will not escape the Asia traveler shits so be prepared.
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Is the Nomad List right? Chiang Mai Q
10-07-2014, 04:57 PM
Quote: (10-07-2014 04:49 PM)MikeS Wrote:
Quote: (10-07-2014 04:24 PM)Kdog Wrote:
Why would they lie? I wouldn't read much on those Lonely Planet sites anyway they're shit.
There's lots of good food everywhere as long as you order stuff you're comfortable with (they do eat some weird stuff). If you're nervous about cleanliness you can eat in some air conditioned places for a bit more money. But don't forget, you will not escape the Asia traveler shits so be prepared.
I was referring to RioNomad saying that street food is "garbage".
Without having tried Thai food yet (outside of Thai restaurants in the west) I'll certainly agree that depending on your type of diet it's obviously worth paying attention to the type of dishes you order. I think quite a lot of them might be a bit generous on the noodles or rice for instance?
But paying attention to eg. the carbs can obviously be necessary in any restaurant or supermarket.
Garbage probably refers to the quality of ingredients, not taste, which is usually good to great. It's the cheap cuts of meat, lack of vegetables and old palm oil, sugar and such that makes it unhealthy. Too much rice, not enough meat too.
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10-07-2014, 08:31 PM
^^Yeah exactly... I always try and eat only half of the rice/noodles, and ask for extra meat. But I agree they do use a shitload of oil their for cooking, which is hard to avoid.
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10-07-2014, 08:36 PM
I disagree that Thai soup is garbage. Soup, like Tom Yam, is healthy because it fills you up and doesn't have too many calories. Many countries with obesity problem would benefit from more soup in their diets.
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10-07-2014, 11:15 PM
I never said that Thai soup is garbage. Who wrote that?
But Thai street food is garbage, even if it Is soup. Low calories doesn't mean it's healthy. It can taste really good, but it is made with low quality ingredients. Shit oils, MSG, lots of added sugars, low protein and high amounts of simple carbohydrates. Getting sick isn't much of an issue.
I still eat it sometimes, but it you care about your health and how you feel, you dont want to live off of it.
But we are getting off subject. I'm not saying dont eat it, I'm saying eating 30 baht street food for all of your meals is no way to live, at least long term. So yes, you can do it and you wont die, but it isnt much of a lifestyle. People get all bent out of shape because they love street food, but that's mostly people who have never lived here. Street food tastes great often times and I like eating it occasionally, but it's unhealthy and made with low quality ingredients so I don't want to live off of the stuff.
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10-08-2014, 12:35 AM
The shit oils really annoys me in SEA.
Street food can be good as a sprint, but if you are doing a marathon you better find other solutions.
However, I do like every now and then to grab some BBQ sticks on the street, but they are plastered with so much spices,sauce amd sugars so it's impossible to know the quality.
I don't wanna be paranoid but I think downing streetfood in SEA might have been the reason for my stomach being in turmoil for five weeks.
Slightly off topic, but I like the Japanese mindset about eating raw meat and fish.
It's a good way of filtering out bad meat and fish.
The taste is very earthly and sensitive, you can taste if the fish has been living in polluted water hole or not. And while eating raw mest and seafood you can filter out the low quality food in a second. The real taste is not hidden with marinades, sauces or spices.
Almost impossible to eat a bad piece of raw meat and fish.
Put a raw piece of meat of low quality in your mouth and you will spit it out in a second.
If it's covered in sauces,sugars and marinades you might not notice anything...
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10-08-2014, 04:12 AM
^^ Afarang, that food looks amazing! How did you go about arranging that? Do you buy the groceries yourself or is that outsourced too? Seems like you are living the dream!
PM me for accommodation options in Bangkok.
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10-08-2014, 05:08 AM
I don't know how Thai business models work in relation to food, but just remember this:
At least in the U.S., the industry standard target food cost is 25%
What that means, is if you order something for $16, it cost the restaurant $4 to make. $4 worth of ingredients. Not very much is it? Probably not using the highest quality ingredients for $4 right?
I don't care what the restaurant tells you about "only the highest quality ingredients". Horseshit. They'll tell you anything. The only way to control what goes into your body is doing it yourself.
"...so I gave her an STD, and she STILL wanted to bang me."
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10-08-2014, 06:38 AM
As been said before, Thai food while undoubtedly delicious is usually full of crap like excessive amounts of salt, sugar and MSG, not to mention it's probably been cooked in the worst kind of oils also.
Best way I've found around this is to establish a relationship with a decent local restaurant, let them get to know your face and get them to cook their food just the way you like it. With me it's cooked in coconut oil, no MSG and very little salt and no sugar.
Failing that cook your meals yourself, but I find the above solution works well from both a cost and time standpoint.
The Thais either don't know or don't care about nutrition, and it's up to you to educate them on how you your food should be cooked.
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10-08-2014, 06:58 AM
ya it seems you really have to scope out some trustworthy suppliers or do it yourself
buying random stuff seems kinda sketchy
bought a mango shake today and it was like half a mango, tons of ice and approximately a kilo of sugar... really unbearable stuff
I successfully escaped the travellers shits though by staying away from most street stalls (sometimes whenk drunk its hard to control yourself)
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10-08-2014, 11:47 AM
Great list.
I concur with Basil that it doesn't make sense that LA is listed as more expensive that Santa Monica. If anything, should be flipped.
Good compilation though.
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12-10-2014, 01:29 PM
I tracked all my expense in chiang mai last month and spent 34k baht
that included everything... rent, gym, phone, food, buying some clothes, spending some money on biz crap and blowing way too much on booze and dates
for 30-40k you can live pretty well here. bike is gonna be about 3k and you need about 1k a month for visa bullshit.
you could probably live on 20k but youd be bored to tears
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12-10-2014, 02:21 PM
I stay right off nimman which is probably one of the most expensive areas
nice condo with couch, flatscreen tv, a soft(!!!) matress and outdoor sink on balcony with view to doi suthep
with cleaning service 4x a month its 7200 baht per month
you can get a lot cheaper too. there are nice places for 4500 baht with pool.
if you want it real cheap I met a girl from mae rim nursing school who pays 6k for her dorm room... per year!