Living the Thai way as an expat, hygine, Local Markets etc

[Siani]

I have created this new topic as there were so many of us with views on living in Thailand. There was a post titled Cost of living in Hua Hin and a lot of us got side tracked and went off topic.

Sorry if it is long winded!

We discussed housing, eating out, markets so maybe we can talk freely with this new topic.

I love Thailand, its culture, the people, the food, some of the housing, some of the climate.

In the cost of living in Thailand topic we spoke of restaurants etc. My opinion as an expat is that Thai restaurants are very good. We eat out quite a lot and to be honest with the low cost of Thai food in Thai restaurants it is not worth buying the ingredients going home and cooking them. We for example have at Wan restaurant Hin Lek Fai Road, where we eat frequently you can have Tom Ka Kai 60 baht Thai spicy salad 30 baht rice..plenty to eat for 2, that is just a small example of the menu. There are also other good places such as Oy etc. I am able to cook these dishes from scratch myself and have indeed done so many times in the UK. Not many Thai's cook at home, the majority get their food from mobile kitchens, the school children come out of school and eat directly from the stalls. It's not "home to mum" where she has their meal ready, it is totally different. A friend of mine who lives in the UK with his Thai wife told me she can only eat Thai food in the UK, will not attempt to sample any other food If we did this in Thailand, we would be frowned upon. How things have turned around the national dish now in the UK is Chicken Tikka Masala!! Who would have thought it...I do like it but hate the thought that it is now known as our national dish!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tikka_masala
Still we are talking about Thailand, so that is different
I have lived all over the world and sampled and cooked many dishes from various countries. I was only 18 when I made my first Indian curry, really difficult those days to get the ingredients. There were no takeaways in the UK and in 1966 we used to take our own bowls to a restaurant called the Rawalpindi in Wimbledon and collect it later. Because we are westerners and brought up with a western diet, we sometimes, want to eat our own food from Europe. It is no different from the Indians Chinese Thai's wanting to eat their own food in say the UK or any other part of Europe. I cannot see any harm in wanting to eat a decent steak, pizza, Indian or any other food in Thailand. I agree that some pizza houses are awful, but seriously Bella Mia is good It is historic food! The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. The Romans developed placenta, a sheet of flour topped with cheese and honey and flavoured with bay leaves. King Ferdinand I (1751–1825) also ate it! Amway enough on food.

Housing:
Some far flung estates are remote and isolated, a prison, with guards, barbed wire, broken glass etc. I personally would not want to live on an estate like this, but others do, it is their choice. I like the idea of having an individual house if I lived her full time. As I only intend living here part time, I would like a condo. I could not however live as some the Thai's do, I know it is to do with poverty, but I drive up some Soi's and the car outside the shack is worth more than the land and shack combined. It is what they like and are used to it. The old people do not want change, why should they.
I do not intend to drop my standard of living if I can help it, why would I want to go backwards? If I were a 20 something hippie, maybe, but not now or ever. People do not want to change Thailand, it is Thailand that is changing with the modern world. It happens everywhere, not just here.

Hygine and markets

When I came to Thailand this time, 3 months ago I had full intentions of buying everything at markets, but I find it impossible. Because my hygine standards are very high I find it difficult. Chat Chai Market is interesting, but for once agree with Johan that you could get some type of illness from contaminated food there. I too am horrified by the hygine standards, with meat, fish and poultry. We went to get some prawns there and amongst the motorbikes (inside) dogs, we found the prawn sellers, the prawns looked awful sitting in Luke warm water, stinking. The meat, is awful, sorry Mags, kidney attached or not, quite unappetizing! Someone I recall said...cook it well That is a joke! Lets by bad meat and cremate it to make it safe Poultry is the most dangerous as is shellfish crab. I did buy chillies, limes, bananas, watermelon there, but it was no cheaper than other places. It is a dank, dirty smelly market...sorry folks
Other markets...I was buying food at the market near soi 88 but stopped as when I passed one day, 2 dogs were sitting on the food tables! (They had not opened)
I buy ALL my fruit in the soi near the railway, really good. Meat I buy from Tesco Villa Market or the Ham & Bacon. Eggs I buy from a man near the Ham & Bacon down a dead end road, he supplies all the food vendors 60 baht for a huge tray...big eggs too!
I do not live my life as a rich wine swigging farang, lying in an aircon room, eating cheese & chocs! Surrounded by maids! I have not even watched TV since I have been here.
I do like variety though, we are lucky to have the choice.

[hhfarang]

wine swigging farang, lying in an aircon room, eating cheese & chocs!

Hey! Careful or you're gonna hurt my feelings!

[Johanna]

Siani, the market on soi 88 is that between Petchakasem Road and the railroad track or is it over the railroad ?

I can recognice myself in you. I said to myself that I would start cooking here, but apart from bacon and sausages in the morning ( soi 41) I haven't really made anything.

[STEVE G]

As I mentioned elsewhere, when I'm in Thailand all the food I eat at home comes from the local markets and all the food we eat at local restaurants comes from exactly the same markets I would imagine.
My partner shoots off on the Honda Wave, returns half an hour later laden with local produce and cooks up wonderful Thai food which has never made me ill and I know the fish are always fresh as they have to club them over the head to get them into the bag!
You can get live seafood of all types if you know which markets to go to and any amount of good fresh vegetables.
Actually from what I've seen, most Thais do cook at home in general but in a city like Hua Hin there are a large number of people who are working away from home who do tend to eat from street stalls as they live in small rented rooms. If you go to some of the local markets on the edge of the city, they're absolutely packed at some times of the day.
Incidentally, if you visit some Thai markets during the day, you might have missed the best food as our local market in Issan opens very early in the morning, around 2 AM, to supply vendors from smaller markets, street stalls and restaurants.

[crazy88]

Siani

You are going to the wrong places I think. I have to agree that some of the markets leave a lot to be desired and a health inspector from Europe would have a coronary in some of them. Pork I get from a lady down the road who keeps pigs. You cannot get fresher organic pork than what she produces. Prawns, crabs, scallops I used to buy straight off the boats but since moving to HH if I wanted prawns I either buy frozen or go to the farms in Pranburi where they are still moving when you buy them. Fish again either frozen or fresh from the pier in town. Freshwater fish you can catch yourself rather than buy 5 day old pellet fed ones from Tesco Lotus. Places such as HHFL will cook it for you on site at very reasonable rates. Beef I do not do often and then usually import from meat and bacon, frozen. Mutton I get from a guy who delivers for 300 bt per kg off the bone. Fruit and veg you need to get to the market early, in fact you need to get to the market early for everything anywhere in the world if you want pick of the produce. IMHO Makro is crap and the markets are much better for fresh produce. I have had good frozen stuff from there however. Tesco is alright but I can get most of the essentials at the same price or cheaper without buggering about in the car park with some idiot blowing a whistle and giving incomprehensible hand signals followed by more idiots that cannot operate a shopping trolly let alone reverse park in less than 15 attempts. My partner works at a local restaurant which a few posters on here have visited lately, she is very grateful for the custom and the feedback, so anything from the markets is covered. If we need anything from Villa they deliver either to the house or I plot up in soi 80 for a couple of beers and they bring the shopping and load it into the car. Anyway I am in danger of wandering off topic. Mini farm, Golden Place, also well worth a mention for fruit and veg. Not having a dig Siani but as you like the local Thai restaurants where do you think they buy their produce? At the markets perhaps?

Crazy 88

[JimmyGreaves]

Yep, I know a few thai chefs at top hotels and whenever I goto cha chai early they are there buying produce. Funny only yesterday the boss said to me 'you know so and so from that hotel (opp soi 102)' he was saying that they are only buying 20 chickens now instead of 50 as there aren't many falangs in town.

[Whaler]

I wish I could get the Mrs in a market let alone buy from one I would have more chance stopping her drinking wine

[moja]

[quote="crazy88"]Siani

If we need anything from Villa they deliver either to the house or I plot up in soi 80 for a couple of beers and they bring the shopping and load it into the car.

Yes met your buying and delivery service in Villa this morning!!!!

[crazy88]

Checked the fridge and the Villa fairies have indeed arrived. No cider though. Knew I should have grabbed a few at JD place yesterday Guess I will have to go down the road and have a couple of beers. As one would on a rainy friday afternoon.

Crazy 88

[Takiap]

Crazy 88......could you perhaps let me have some details regarding your mutton man. I've looked everywhere and I can't seem to find any. Also, can he supply chops as well?


Sianni..........If you're eating out, as you say you are, then I assure you you're not eating a single thing from any supermarket. All that food comes from the local markets, and as others have said, I too have found the food to be perfectly safe to eat. We do cook at home apart from maybe one or two days each month, and we've never been sick from the food we buy, and it all comes from the markets. Even the Isaan style raw beef salad hasn't ever made me sick. To be honest, I think we tend to get brainwashed in the west, and let's face it, food poisoning is no more prevalent here than it is in the UK.


Now I just need for Crazy to give me the mutton man's number and I'll be smiling from ear to ear.

[Siani]

Thanks everyone I will keep a note of all the suggestions and sample them. Please do not think that I am knocking all markets just this one. I have been to others that are fabulous all over the country. I did go shopping in the morning expecting fresh produce, fish, from the sea, which is only a stone throw away. I have been buying frozen fish, but just could not face risking the smelly prawns. Crazy, I am not worried about fruit and veg, I buy it myself in the market. Its the fish, meat from this particular market. Rice etc ok too. I think a lot of restaurants use frozen prawns, well hopefully. They will not buy piles of fresh in case they are not busy. Natta restaurant buys his steak from Bangkok, it is fabulous, better than anything I have tasted. Summing it up, I suppose what I don't see I don't know about Seriously though, it is so cheap to eat in Wan, not worth me getting a pan out!

[Siani]

Siani, the market on soi 88 is that between Petchakasem Road and the railroad track or is it over the railroad ?

I can recognice myself in you. I said to myself that I would start cooking here, but apart from bacon and sausages in the morning ( soi 41) I haven't really made anything.

Johanna, over the railway and up the soi. A lot of people cook near the 7/11 not sure what that area is, a little square. Also if you go further up the Soi and turn right by the brush shop you will see a market on the right, lot of cooking on left mobile kitchens. They set up all over the place but near the track are busier, so it looks anyway. Are you going to sell bacon & sausage? I saw a Farang in Phuket doing that Soi 88 is quite busy, but mainly after 5 pm.

[dtaai-maai]

Now I just need for Crazy to give me the mutton man's number and I'll be smiling from ear to ear.

Give me the number or you die...


unless, of course, that's against the forum's T & Cs...?

The mutton man's number - I sense a tongue-twister somewhere in there.

Edit: ... and would you mind PMing me details of your pig lady? Pretty please?

[Big Boy]

Thank for trying to move this matter to another thread. However, many of you are forgetting the concept of a forum.

Please cast your mind back to when you first found the forum. Most of you were looking for information. The way the forum has been constructed makes it easy for people to be directed to the correct area eg:
- if looking for a restaurant, you will be directed to the Feeding Time section.
- if looking for accommodation you will be directed to the Accommodation section.

If you scan through the 'How did you find HHAD' or 'Introductions' threads you will see comment after comment thanking Admin for the good job they have done making valuable information about Hua Hin easily available. This is achieved by keeping information correctly segregated.

Many of you see moderators as evil ogres sat waiting to find fault with anything. We are simply trying to keep the forum in good order so that people can find that information at a touch of a button. It is this good order that encourages sponsors to use the site, and that in turn provides you with a free forum. How would you have felt in the beginning if you were looking for information about the cost of living in Hua Hin, and found a discussion about quality of meat? I personally would have gone back to Google, and selected something else.

The Cost of Living thread is correctly located in the Ask the Expats forum. By discussing things such as food hygiene in the same forum, you create 2 problems ie:
- as already stated, visitors will assume the forum is full of spam.
- I'm sure there is some valuable food hygiene information being shared, but it will never be picked up as part of any search. Outside of the current discussion, that information is lost.

Reflecting on what I have already written, we can now disect this new thread:
Housing - should be in the property or accommodation forum.
Hygine and markets - initially, it could be argued that it is in the right area. However, the discussion has already drifted into Feeding Time.

Personally, I have decided to leave this thread alone, but give you this reminder of how a forum works. However, please be aware that one of my colleagues may decide to lock the thread, inviting people to start discussions in the correct forums. Alternatively, it may just end up in FOO.

Please consider the above when going off topic in future.

[dtaai-maai]

Blimey, BB - relax! It's a local forum for people to have a natter and exchange info, not the UN.