Thai Olympic sailing team

[Khundon1975]

My wife and some friends took the kids to the seaside yesterday and ran into the Thai Olympic sailing team.
They got chatting and the Thai team told them they are desperate for some "real Thai food like sticky rice and curries".
They have to eat in the competitors canteen which does not serve Thai food and are not even allowed to cook in their accommodation, I don't even think they have a microwave!

So now the girls have decided to form a rota and take it in turns to cook for the Thai crew and deliver the food each night to them, a long round trip for some, including my wife, made worse by the fact that a pass is required to enter the venue, so they have to arrange to meet them outside the venue to deliver the food!

You would have thought that the Olympic organisers could have arranged food suited the the Thai diet but seem more interested in promoting hamburgers!!!

Good luck to the Thai team.

[margaretcarnes]

Yes a good point KD - the franchise for chips has gone only to McD at the Olympic village and the rooms do look very basic indeed from what I've seen on TV. And yet the village caff is huge and supposedly able to cater for everyone.
Dare i say there won't be a problem with halal? Yes OK i've said it.
Unfortunately Thailand is in the minority as always in terms of numbers of competitors - but they do tend to do well in sailing so the very best of luck to them.
Just as unfortunately the UK is not the best place on earth to find decent sticky rice....

[Arcadian]

Coming from an important sailing centre in South Devon I appreciate the skill needed to be an Olympic sailor, but to me it has very limited appeal as a spectator sport. Even the winner isn`t declared the winner until all the objections have been judged on.

[dtaai-maai]

Dare i say there won't be a problem with halal? Yes OK i've said it.

I don't suppose there will be too much of a problem with kosher food or vegetarian either.
I know eating is treated as a religious experience here in Thailand, but I'm afraid som tam and sticky rice don't really fall into the same category internationally just yet...

I imagine most teams will have made advance arrangements for dietary requirements, as football and cricket teams do when they go on tour. Won't they?

[dtaai-maai]

Further to the above, I believe the Kazakhstan team is having trouble bring in its staple diet of horsemeat sausages, due to UK laws covering the importation of horsemeat...

Bet they had no problems in France!

[Khundon1975]

Well Mags the wife set off this morning on an 80 mile round trip to get in a large supply of sticky rice and other bits so that the girls can provide authentic Thai food to the team.
They are in London today for the opening ceremony but will need feeding from Saturday onwards so she, her friends and our son, are on a mission every evening from then on.

As far as I know, no provisions were made by the organisers for the team to eat Thai food in the venue canteen but the girls will do them proud and keep them full. On the menu for Saturday are Northern curries and salads with sticky rice and sweets.

The venue is a new school and houses that has just been built near to the sailing centre and which will be handed over to the local community, once the games are finished. The London venue may cater for more nationalities food choices but the sailing venue doesn't cater for Thais.

[Pleng]

So are the Olympic Committee really expected to supply food to suit every nationality that's competing?

[Khundon1975]

So are the Olympic Committee really expected to supply food to suit every nationality that's competing?

Pleng
Considering that the Olympic committee have taken over the 5 star Hilton in London and will have their every need catered for,(and they ain't even in any of the events ) then YES, I think they could supply food that at least resembles Thai cuisine.

The committee are treated like Kings everywhere they go and we, the taxpayers, spent over 9 Billion on these games, the least we could do is treat competitors as well as the f@@%ing freeloading committee.

Halal foods and many, many other types of food have been laid on but no concessions have been made for Thai tastes.

If my wife and her friends can get hold of the ingredients here in the UK, needed to make food suited to Thai tastes, then surely the caterers can.

We can't use that old excuse TIT this time, can we!

[dtaai-maai]

To be fair, I think the onus is on the numerous well-compensated organisers of each country's olympic team to ensure well in advance that any special requirements are going to be met.

That this wasn't done by Thai organisers probably doesn't come as a huge surprise.

[Khundon1975]

I think that it is the venue organisers that are responsible (look at the London venue restaurant where the food halls are stuffed with foods from all around the World) not the Teams.

The least the organisers could have done was to give them the facilities to cook their own food but they did not, despite the fact that their accommodation is in brand new houses, with new kitchens that they are not allowed to use.

[caller]

Hope none of the Thai team were caught with the Koreean coach after the welcoming party!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml

Loads of Thai food places in Weymouth.

[Arcadian]

A bit unfair to compare lack of Thai food with halal food. Halal is a religous requirement, Thai is just good.

[Pleng]

So are the Olympic Committee really expected to supply food to suit every nationality that's competing?

Pleng
Considering that the Olympic committee have taken over the 5 star Hilton in London and will have their every need catered for,(and they ain't even in any of the events ) then YES, I think they could supply food that at least resembles Thai cuisine.

Halal foods and many, many other types of food have been laid on but no concessions have been made for Thai tastes.

If my wife and her friends can get hold of the ingredients here in the UK, needed to make food suited to Thai tastes, then surely the caterers can.

We can't use that old excuse TIT this time, can we!

Halal is different as it has basis in religion. Though Som Tam is really tasty, I don't believe it features predominantly in Buddhist texts.

You're complaining that they haven't catered for the Thais. But do you really expect them to have catering facilities to suit the whims of every one of the 204 nationalities that compete??? Or is it just Thailand that absolutely must have their sticky rice and Laab?

[Khundon1975]

Pleng I know what Halal food is!

Not only do they not cater for Thai tastes, the team is not allowed to cook their own food in their accommodation.
Had they been able to do so, I would not have started this thread.

Did you not know? to a Thai, food is a religion. Just ask any Thai woman.

[bsdk1960]

Did you not know? to a Thai, food is a religion. Just ask any Thai woman.

And you can compared it whit another religion, they do it 5 times a day.