Kin mangsavirat

Living in the 21st century and being burnt on the stake like a medieval witch by your fellow peers? You must be a vegetarian in the western world. The developed world they call it. Is it that developed if your surroundings threat you like this?

Thailand is a mainly Buddhist country and Buddhism preaches vegetarianism, although the followers don't adopt the idea. The first thing you see when going for a bite on the street, is that anything goes. Every animal you can immediately think of will be available on a plate somewhere. But why is it then, that vegetarians are treated as human beings here. People respect your choices. There is a growing number of vegetarians in Bangkok and with this an increasing number in vegetarian restaurants. Even when out on the streets, you can always ask for a customized dish and the streetside chef will be happy to oblige. Even asking if it needs adjusting while you are eating, trying to give you the best culinary experience of the day.

Every vegetarian restaurant I visited here was always full of people, Thai and farang alike. Enjoying an animal-free local or western dinner. That's right, there are different kinds of vegetarian restaurants available, to everyone's taste. My favourite is an all Thai restaurant located in the Ekkamai area of town. It can be hard to find because it is not to be seen from the roadside, but there are enough signs pointing to this refreshing oasis. It looks quite posh and fancy on the inside and makes you grab for your wallet to check if you have enough cash or have to run off to an ATM first. Rest assured, the interior and the prices are very opposite from each other. You can have a great meal here for less than 200 baht. And it gets even better when you have their ten percent discount card. This is a great place to experience Thai cuisine without having to wonder if there is any fish sauce or animal grease in your food. The staff is really nice, although English is not abundant, they do their utmost to please the customers.

My second favourite is in a very touristy part of town, hidden away in a back alley. This open front restaurant only serves Thai dishes and has been doing this for over a decade. Lots of the dishes are the same ones I find in the other eatery, sometimes with a slightly different taste, but they also have their own specialities. Mouthwatering and spicy, just the way Thai food should be. The owner of this restaurant, which by now is already a chain of three, also heads cooking classes in the morning. I have never made it out to these, since it is on the other side of town and they start at 9 AM. Something always seems to come up. Not making any excuses here. Here too the prices are on the very economical side and won't make you file for bankruptcy after a nice lunch.

If, however, once in a while you want a change from Thai food, which is quite understandable, there is an all-vegetarian Italian restaurant in the lower Sukhumvit area. Delicious pastas, mouthwatering calzones and wanting-for-more pizzas all served in an animal-friendly environment. Although the food is very nice, the prices on the menu are less friendly. This is the main difference between a Thai and a farang-owned place. Thais seem to be happy to serve you great food with a great smile, while farangs want to earn money. This is quite understandable, but makes me visit their resto italiano less frequently. However the setting and atmosphere are very nice and so is the staff, always willing to help and explain.

The same area of town is also home to an abundance of Indian vegetarian restaurants. Hindu's are more known to be vegetarian followers of their religion and so there is a wider choice in dishes. The spiciness is also different. An Indian dish will put your mouth on fire while you can still taste the herbs and cheeses used. A Thai dish can sometimes be so hot you don't even remember what you ordered and forgot all about how it should taste. Due to the fact that Indians and Thais don't get along that well, you won't find many Thai people in Indian restaurants. Nonetheless, the food still tasted great and the prices are very humane. Service can sometimes be a bit cold and stiff, but the main reason you came to this place was for the food, right.

Of course there is the possibility your eating companions are not keen on healthy vegetarian food and want to have their daily portion of animal. Then there are like in the west many restaurants that offer a couple of vegetarian dishes. This should keep everyone satisfied. The more famous of these are a couple of Irish pubs scattered all over the city, which try to cater to the needs of westerners, Thais and vegetarians. The oddest place I found was an Australian sports bar which had a whole page of meatless plates on the menu. This looked very unfamiliar to me, especially because all the other Australian eateries I saw were very proud to put an the emphasis on real Australian beef, sirloin steak and kangaroo meat. But this particular place really met my needs. Enjoying a nice lunch while watching rugby on one of the numerous TV screens around the room. Although sometimes the cricket was on and I still haven't got a clue how that game is played. The owner is a very hospitable and friendly Australian, always in for a talk about food or sports. I even got a free vegetarian Cornish pastry and an iced chocolate because my food arrived a little bit late. Farang owned with a Thai spirit, I like it.

I know, these are all restaurants and we are not here to eat out every day. Although that is what everybody does, be it not in restaurants. As I said in the beginning, daily streetfood is part of the Thai culture. I once wanted to cook my own meal and in the end it cost me four times more than what I pay for the same dish on the street. No wonder the sidewalks are full of people every day. I hope you enjoy your next meal, wherever it is and maybe this time you try a dish that hasn't suffered.

Give it a try.

We don't know

This is the new year and the chosen animal is the rabbit. That is the way it must have sounded in China thousands of years ago. But what does this mean for the common folk? What will happen this year? I don't have a crystal ball, so I have no clue whatsoever about the future. Will I actually write more blog articles? Will other Thailand related blogs sprout out of the depths of the worldwide web? Will the world flood because of global warming? Nobody knows.

Another thing we don't know is how the political turmoil in Thailand will turn out. New elections were promised, but have still to be organized. Certain groups disagree, others have no problems with it and even more others couldn't care less. Something that struck me in election time was the lack of interest of people in politics. Elections are not an obligation in Thailand, you register if you feel up to the task and when that day is finally there, you enter the booth and cast your vote. Talking to a lot of people about this, the majority just can't be bothered with registering. So it will always be the same people who elect their candidates who will, most obviously, come from the same "political" background. So the result will always be the same, not really changing anything for the better of the country.

To me this sounded strange, mostly because going to vote is an obligation in my homestead. Once you are 18 you have the duty to elect. Our forefathers fought to obtain this right and now we still honor it. But in Thailand and other democratic countries on this planet, there is no obligation. What I did realise is that it is actually the people who don't vote who are the least happy with the results. There is a solution for this and you tell them about it and they actually know what to do. This is where we get into a very Thai situation again. When you want to go and cast a vote, you actually have to go there. Welcome to Thailand.

Going nowhere.

Happy trails

It's been a while. The same thought that must run through a Bangkok taxi driver's head when he can hit the accelerator again for a couple of meters before coming to a complete standstill again for a couple of minutes. The curse of every big city, enormous traffic jams. One reason for not buying a car in Bangkok in my opinion. It is like parking your vehicle in the middle of the street and never getting a ticket for doing so. And still I wonder why so many people take their car to the heart of Bangkok. There is a multitude of taxis available too. Now, you could wonder, why take a taxi when you are always stuck anyway. In the afternoon heat it is wiser to hail a taxi than to walk a couple of kilometers. I have been there and walking doesn't seem such a healthy option anymore. Taxis are cheap and fitted with air conditioning. So it doesn't matter if you get stuck, you are surrounded by a cool breeze. But after some pondering I found the time had come to provide myself with some personal wheels. I wasn't going to be stuck in traffic anymore. I bought a motorbike. Now I was able to weave through traffic without using my brakes too much. Some people called me completely crazy, others nominated me as the next Bangkok hero. In the beginning I was careful, but that was actually not that good of an idea. When there are no traffic jams, cars just soar around you and traffic rules seem non-existent. My rule of thumb is to stick to the most left side of the road and only swerve when necessary. Turn signals seem to come as an option and were replaced by car horns. You never know what will happen in the next ten meters and the next ten after that.

Having the freedom to roam around on two wheels, it was time to venture outside the big city. Many people warned me about the dangers that lay outside the concrete jungle, but I was ready for a small adventure. The first thing you notice outside this metropolis is that people actually do know how to drive a car. Apparently it is just the hustle and bustle of Bangkok that makes them go mad in their Faraday's cages. People drive gentle and even let you pass, there are turn signals visible and no car horns to be heard. Riding a motorbike is a relaxing activity. From town to town, stopping along the way for a picture or a drink, that's what I was hoping for and that's what I got. But after a week I had enough. It was getting too quiet. I was missing something and I knew what it was. So without a doubt I hopped on my faithful steed and went towards the congested mogul. Once I entered the belly of the beast I found the noises and the smells again I was looking for. Again weaving through traffic jams I made way for my apartment. I survived a week on the countryside, notwithstanding all the warnings I received. I still don't know what all the fuss was about. I had a nice time and enjoyed it. And that is what I recommend to anyone reading this, have a nice time and enjoy.

Enjoy.

Relocation

Here it is, the new entry you have all been waiting for so eagerly. Or maybe not, just wondering what I am up to or if I am even still alive. Well, I am. The reason it took me a while to pick this up has to do with some changes in my life. I relocated. Yes, at the moment of writing this I am not in my beloved Thailand, but in the birthplace of Gaelic culture, Ireland. Since this is not my home country, I am still a foreigner, hence you can still call me a farang. Happy, yes I am, I have a job that earns me some money. So I didn't have to find a new pseudonym to continue this rant.
Living in Thailand is really nice, but living costs money. Since the Thai law doesn't allow me to exercise whatever job I want, I needed to return to Europe to gather some finances. Don't worry if you are looking forward to stories about the Land of Smiles, I will be back there in October.
Not a lot is happening in Ireland since I am just here to work and not really exploring the lay of the land.
I can tell you the Irish are a happy bunch, always in for a cheer and a laugh.
A lot of farang I met in the Thai capital always tell me about the culture shock when returning to their respective homes. Well, I guess those people are just easily shocked. It's all a matter of compatibility. Seen that my ancestors have always been overrun by other tribes, my compatriots and I have developped the ability to adapt quickly to new situations.
The only culture shock to me was that I had to walk 45 minutes to find one ATM. In Bangkok you walk one minute to find 45 ATMs.
Another thing is the price of food. Going to the supermarket or eating out, be prepared to bring your wallet. Ok, I admit, being used to Thai prices, everything seems expensive, but I can tell you, this is even higher than European prices. Being isolated on an island drives the prices up I guess. But all the other goods on the market, from clothing to electronics, seem reasonably priced, so there is no real logic. Probably there is an explanation to this, but I won't be hanging around long enough to find out.

I have no idea when my next entry will appear, but as stated in my very first write-up, this is a very irregular blog, don't take it for granted. You won't be able to enjoy it every Sunday morning along your nice cup of coffee. It will come at you when you least expect it. Expect the unexpexted.

Expect it.

Status update

The Lord Buddha teaches us desire leads to suffering. And that is what we have seen in Bangkok the past couple of days. One group's desire has led to another group's suffering. But that is not the way it should be interpreted. It should be your own desire that leads to your own suffering. You can sit outside in a busy junction under the scorching sun and suffer for your self-proclaimed good cause all you want, as long as you don't hurt the people around you. But as soon as you monopolise parts of a concrete mogul, other people start to suffer. I suggest to all those covered in red cloth to visit some temples where Hell is depicted. The punishments in the afterlife for making other people suffer are not ones one could easily endure.

One thing that was not mentioned in the written press about the total destruction of Bangkok was the love of Thai people for their beautiful city. Journalists wrote about how they were destroying their own beautiful town. This could be far less from the truth. The majority of the protesters came down from other parts of the country to join the rallies. So they couldn't care less about burning down Thailand's capital. When everything comes to an end they return to their peaceful villages where nothing was, is or will be burning. They want to send a signal, they are misunderstood. They probably misunderstood their orders while they were torching the place down.

In the rest of the world elected governments are allowed to finish their term. Even though some people don't agree with the elected few, they give them a hard time and wait for the next elections. And if all is well, they will have their victory at that time.

Thailand has an ancient culture, but for some part it is still living according to that ancient culture. If you don't like the people in power, overthrow them by any means necessary. There are so many other ways of solving this problem.

The rioters have cooled off, everything is calm and the people of Bangkok have started a big clean up. Now the powers that be should start with a clean out. And don't forget to look in the mirror once in a while.

Let this beautiful country return to the peaceful haven it once was. Let the people live their joyous lives. Let all the violence come to an end.

The country will prosper and flourish and everybody will benefit from this.

Everybody will.

A resume

It has been a year since I set out on my great voyage and landed in this beautiful country. As they say, time flies when you're enjoying yourself and I have to admit, this year went by so fast, I don't know how I realised to do all the things I did. I thought it might be a nice moment to summarise my year here, make a small resume. Many things happened because I try to maintain a positive attitude and say yes to many proposals. Life is too short to say no to everything and it won't get you anywhere. If you want to gain some life experience, go outside and say yes. I went many miles and they left some impressions on me.

I got drinks from the richest people in Bangkok and bought drinks for the poorest. I had my own opinions and was the subject of several opinions. I taught new matter and learned a lot myself. I woke up in five-star hotel rooms which I didn't have to pay and opened my eyes in the slums of this great city. I met interesting people and people who wished they hadn't met me. I made great friendships and got verbally abused. I became a racist and embraced other cultures. I almost died and found a new life. I led a life covered in darkness and found a way to enlightenment. I could go on and on about all my new experiences, but this would get to monotonous and you would stop reading. And as all of you know, I try to keep this interesting, although a little bit. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just beware where you express them. The only lesson I want to teach you today is to go out and live a little. You only get one chance at life, make it count.

One chance.

Hot and cold

This week the hot season started. Because of the warm winter there is not a lot of difference, so it makes the transition easier. Thailand has three seasons, rain, cool and hot. I myself don't really understand why there are three, because they all feel the same. Except it rains more in the raining season. The meteorological department predicts 43° C for April, but critics don't agree. And I agree, how can they already predict the temperature for next month. Try getting it right for next week first.

To my great joy I discovered some new nutritious delights. These are "koochai" and "kai nokata". The transliteration might not be correct, but the street vendors understand it and that is what matters.

Koochai is like the Thai version of falafel. Twenty baht will buy you a bag enough to fill your stomach. The complementary soy sauce might be useful for an otherwise dry experience.

Kai nokata is more like a dessert, but seen that Thai people eat all day long, the meaning of starter or dessert gets lost. It is something you can find at fun fairs in my home country. Deep-fried dough balls with or without powder sugar. I remember being a kid we always had to wait for the fun fair to come to town to eat this little drops of heaven. Here they are available everywhere and every day. Prices vary to the quantity purchased.

Still about food, but on another note, what's the deal with timing in restaurants.

Many times I get my starter at the same time as my main course, or sometimes even halfway through the main dish. The whole meaning of a starter is to start your eating experience. So in my opinion some restaurants should have a good look at "Restaurants for Dummies". This states the common order of starter - main course - dessert. One time I actually got my starter after completely finishing my meal. Without complaining I finished it and paid the bill. It's too late anyway. Please note this does not happen everywhere. And I don't always take a starter, so I don't know how it would be in those cases in some places. Eating out is always a little adventure and that's what keeps it interesting.

Keeps it interesting.