Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Learn Thai from a White Guy

How to Eat Vegan in Thailand

People often wonder how I could possibly ever survive here in Thailand as a vegan. Considering I’ve been here well over 10 years and I still haven’t died, I think I’m doing fairly well. There is veggie food all around you, and I’m not just talking the salad shops that have sprung up in the last 2 years or. There are tons of veggie spots in town. On Suthep road alone, there are 3 lined up in a row each doing their own thing and there are 3 more down back roads within 5 minute walking distance from the first 3.

There are 2 main types of vegetarian/vegan eats in Thailand and while they both avoid meat entirely, there are a some important differences.

เจ (jeh) Vegan versus มังสวิรัติ (Mangsawira) Vegetarian

มังสวิรัติ [mang sa wi rut] comes from the Sanskrit mamsa, which means “meat” and virat which means “without.” So this is essentially an acceptable translation of “vegetarian.” As with in English, some people may or may not eat eggs and/or dairy.
เจ [jeh] comes from the Chinese word 齋 (jai1/jaai1) which is also the source for the equivalent words in Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese.

If you happen to be reading this in October, then you are in luck, my friend. This is when the Vegetarian Festival (เทศกาลกินเจ) happens. During that time almost everybody gets on the jeh train for a bit. Some people eat jeh for the entire month, the entire 10 day festival, and most franchise restaurants (Black Canyon, MK, etc) offer at least one jeh option, but some actually have a full jeh menu during the festival. The only downside is that a lot of regular jeh restaurants don’t really do anything special during this time except get a lot more crowded than usual and in some cases raise their prices. Yay for jeh.
As far as the food goes, the main difference between Jeh and Mung is that real Jeh forbids eating food with really strong flavours and/or smells as it is believed that each one does harm to different parts of the body. This includes stuff like chives, garlic, parsley, and onions.

So what does all this mean for you? Real Jeh food will always be vegan. But, you need to be careful as some jeh places will have 1 or 2 Mung options which may contain egg. And even though jeh avoids really strong flavours, it can still taste pretty awesome. They often make all kinds of fake vegan meats to help ease the suffering of all those poor meat eaters who torture themselves by abstaining from me for a meal, a day or the entire vegetarian festival.

What are my choices?

  • Jeh – Technically vegan, but watch out for those handful of places that will have one or 2 dishes with egg. Jeh spots will almost always have one or more yellow flags posted both inside and out. The flag will either say เจ, the Chinese character the word is based on or both. They often use a Chinese-y font so sometimes the word เจ looks a bit like the number “17”.
  • Mung(sawirat) – Vegetarian w/eggs. As far as things eaten with rice, dairy is pretty rare, but pastries and other sweets sold at Mung places may contain butter, cream and/or milk.

What do I do if I can’t find a jeh place?

Some regular restaurants may attempt to accommodate you or at least make you think they are doing so.

How to Avoid Eating Animal Products in Thailand:

More than anything else, you’ll want to watch out for oyster sauce.  Vegetable dishes at regular restaurants will almost always be cooked with oyster sauce. Oyster sauce is dark, oily and gummy. And it comes from oysters! If you don’t want it in there, you gotta say so. You’ll know if it’s not in there, because they will probably only have used soy sauce and vegetable oil. So it may be bland, but vegan.
Solution: ไม่ ใส่ น้ำ-มัน-หอย (mai sai nam-man-hoi) – Don’t put in oyster sauce.

Fish sauce is another standard ingredient in a lot of (almost all!) Thai dishes.
Solution: ไม่ ใส่ น้ำ-ปลา (mai sai nam-plaa)
Soup broth – At non-jeh places, even if they say there isn’t any meat in it, it will still have meat stock so skip the soup.

Thai Dishes that usually Contain Egg:

  • ข้าวผัด – fried rice (khaao pad)
  • ผัดไทย – pad thai
  • ผัดซีอิ๊ว – pad see-yu

Notice the word ผัด (pad) appears in all 3 of the words above. ผัด = stir-fried/sauteed

How to say “Don’t put egg in”
ไม่ ใส่ ไข่ (mai sai kai) = don’t put in egg

Even if you ask for something jeh, they don’t always really know what that means so you are better off making it as clear as possible.

Full Sentence: เอา ข้าวผัด เจ ไม่ใส่ไข่ (ow kaaw pad jeh mai sai kai) – I’d like fried rice (jeh) without egg.

First thing you want to do is find out if they are willing to try to make you something jeh/mung. And just because they tell you they can, doesn’t mean they aren’t going to forget and give you something wish oyster sauce or fish sauce. Aside from being a tonal language, Thai also contains a whole lot more vowel sounds than English and when you say the vowels wrong, people probably won’t understand you. Be patient with them as you are the one who needs something from them and may not be able to
speak their language.

I remember this one time, a buddy of mine ordered a bottle of water and got a coconut, so watch out friends, watch out.

Look for the yellow flag!

Getting Around Chiang Mai

Getting Around Chiang Mai

    There are currently 3 main forms of public transportation in Chiang Mai:

  • สองแถว -song taew (red trucks)
  • ตุ๊กตุ๊ก – tuk-tuks (motorized 3 wheeled-monsters)
  • Uber – you may have heard of it

There are 2 other forms that deserve an honorable mention:

  • metered taxis – motto: “We no use meter!” They will never turn on the meter. You can find them at the airport, and parked outside some of the malls and supermarkets. They will always give you an inflated set rate. A song taew is always a better option.
  • motorbike taxis – only found in/around Arcade bus station.

Song Taews:

Riding in a song taew can be rather intimidating when you first get to Chiang Mai. Especially if you don’t speak any Thai. The way they operate here is also quite different from other provinces in Thailand. In the province of Chiang Mai, there are actually a few different color-coded song taews. Each color serves to bring people to/from another part of the province. This article focuses on the red song taews which tend to operate within the city limits, but they are also for hire to take you just about anywhere.

The first thing to be aware of is that many song taew drivers will overcharge you if they can. The key to avoiding this is to know how much it’s supposed to cost. The current fare is 20 baht. In town, there are sometimes set routes that operate for a set price, but the routes change all the time so if you do find yourself going to a major destination on a regular basis (CMU, for example), it may be worth asking around to find out if there is a better option for you.

Song taews aren’t usually as aggressive as tuk-tuk drivers in terms of yelling “taxi” at you although they may honk at you and will likely stop if you are standing on the side of the road looking lost or are with a big group of people who appear out of place.

    • Rule #1 – If it isn’t far away, don’t ask the driver “how much?” Asking means you don’t know that the price is 20 baht.

*Exceptions: Airport, bus station, train station or anywhere across the super highway.

The fact that the transportation hubs are not very far away doesn’t do anything to help us as a passenger here. The more visible power they have over a particular situation, the more they are going to be able to charge you. If it’s raining and/or you are carrying loads of luggage, you are more likely to get gouged. From anywhere in/around the moat, you should be able to get to the airport for 50-100 baht.

    • Rule #2 – Learn some Thai!

It’s worth it to learn the numbers and a few phrases even if you are going to be here for just a short time. It makes getting around and things like shopping a lot easier, and a lot more fun.

The 3 newest shopping malls are all along the super highway which has long been an invisible forcefield that song taew drivers are generally unwilling to cross without serious incentive. Getting out to those places will always be more expensive, and getting back will be worse. Any time you find yourself in a place with a queue of song taews in front of a mall or big store, you are probably going to have pay a bit to get out of there.

    • Rule #3 – Expect to get ripped off now and then.

It’s going to happen. Don’t let it stress you out too much. Try to learn from it and figure out what you could do better next time.

Useful Thai for Getting Around :

*It’s referring to the 2 benches in the back of the truck

*This name is a bit more old school, but you still hear it now and then.

Stuff to watch out for:
ไปกี่คน – how many people are going?
*This always means you are about to get ripped off.
Drivers who have their wives sitting next to them.

Useful Words:

Thai Movie Posters: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Good times indeed! This latest poster is from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, released in 1982.

Thai poster from the 1982 film, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" Phoebe Cates. That's all that needs to be said.

Thai poster from the 1982 film, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” Phoebe Cates. That’s all that needs to be said.

Top Right:
ลองแล้วจะรู้
ว่าหัวใจซู่….. อารมณ์ซ่า

Title:
ลองรัก
Fast Times at Ridgemont Hot

Bottom Left:
ฟีบี แคทส์
ฌอน เพนน์
เจนิเฟอร์ เจสัน ลีห์

Thai Movie Posters: Duel

Today’s latest Thai movie poster is from the 1971 film Duel, which was directed by Stephen Spielberg and pitted an electronics salesman being terrorized by an unseen driver of a tractor-trailer.

Thai Poster for Duel, a 1971 Spielberg film.


Top Center:
การตามล่าอย่างหฤโหด
ระหว่างรถยักษ์ 10 ล้อ กับมนุษย์ 2 เท้า


Title:
กะให้ตายก่อนเที่ยง
Duel of Death


Bottom Center:
เดนนิส วิวเวอร์
แจ็คเกลีน สก็อตต์
นำแสดง


Bottom Right:
สตีเว่น สปิลเบิร์ก
กำกับการแสดง

10 Signs that this Guy Really Loves You

I saw this sappy piece going around on Facebook and a few of my students got a kick out of it so I figured I’d share it with you here along with audio and vocab.

10 สัญญาณดี ที่บอกว่า “ผู้ชายคนนี้รักคุณจริง”

Download Full Text Audio: 10Signs_FULL
Reader Friendly Google Doc Version: GDOC_10Signs

1. เขาไม่อายที่จะทำอะไรแผลง เพื่อให้คุณได้หัวเราะ

2. เขาแนะนำคุณให้รู้จักกับครอบครัวของเขา

3. เขาแชร์ทุกๆเรื่องในชีวิตให้คุณได้รู้

4. เขาเป็นห่วงคุณทุกๆเรื่อง

5. เขาไม่ลืมวันสำคัญของคุณ

6. เขายืนเคียงข้างคุณในวันที่คุณไม่มีผู้ใดเข้าใจ

7. เขายอมทานสิ่งที่คุณชอบแต่เขาไม่ชอบ

8. ทุกครั้งที่เขาพูดถึงอนาคต มักมีคุณรวมอยู่ด้วย

9. เขาจะทำทุกทางเพื่อให้ครอบครัวของคุณปลื้มในตัวเขา

10. ถึงคุณจะหน้าตาธรรมดา แต่เขาจะพูดว่า “นางฟ้าของผม”

หากผู้ชายข้างๆคุณมีมากกว่า 5 ข้อ ถือว่าคุณโชคดี ^^