Backpacking Abroad - Travel info for backpacking in Thailand, Laos, China & Vietnam

What do I need to know about eating in Thailand?

ReindeerF offered the following advice on Jan 20, 2008:

When you want anything at most restaurants in Thailand you’ll need to flag someone down. Unless it’s a Western chain or an expensive enough place pretending to Western standards of service, it’s common for Thais to just slightly yell across the restaurant “nhong krab (or bpa or pii or whatever’s appropriate)” or simply to slightly yell what they want. If you sit around waiting to be waited on you’ll often end up waiting a long time and it’s not considered rude here to flag someone down like it is in America (where it’s only done when the waiter fails to do his job).

When you want the bill at a restaurant, you’re going to need to flag someone down and yell “check bin.” There are other words, but check bin will work everywhere.

“Phet” (pronounced close to “pet”) is spicy and “Mai Pet” (sounds like “my pet”) is not spicy. Very spicy, if you’re like me, is “Phet phet” or “phet mahk” (sounds close to “pet mock”). My Jewish buddy can’t eat pork, so learning to say “mai giin moo” will help you if you’re similar. It sounds like “my ginn moo.” If this doesn’t work, just tell them you’re a Muslim - most Thais have no idea what a Jew is. In fact, the Thai people I know that haven’t been out of the country largely also think Catholics are Catholic and all other Christians are “Christians.” When I ask if Catholics are Christian, they say no. That’s neither here nor there though.

When you eat soup, you’re supposed to take the chopsticks and place the noodles and stuff into the spoon and then eat it. You can eat right out of the bowl with the chopsticks and the spoon, but they don’t seem to.

Pompous Rhombus offered the following advice on Sep 22, 2007

If you’re in a tourist-ish place, they’ll likely have a menu in English/English, or at least one with pictures. On the street, you can usually point and make yourself understood. “mai ow pet” is a useful phrase (”don’t want spicy”), if you aren’t into spicy food the way Thai people are. Also, if you’re allergic to peanuts like one goon I met here, be prepared to almost die on a daily basis.

If you see it on a menu, definitely try laap (sometimes spelled “larp”, to my constant amusement). It’s a dish from Isaan, the lesser-visited, north-eastern region of Thailand. It’s basically chicken or pork diced up really small, with all kinds of secret herbs and spices, eaten with (generally sticky) rice. It’s probably my favourite Thai food. Pretty spicy.