Thailand can be praised for many things and one always mentioned is Thai food. Based on fresh ingredients, gaining flavor from a variety of herbs and spices, Thai food is loved by foreigners and locals alike. There is a reason why Thai food has gained such popularity world wide.
Food in Thailand is a national pride. In a good way, it's a national obsession. Mediocrity is not tolerated, the flavors have to be just right. Surely there are different preferences in tastes but Thai food is never bad, rarely even "just ok". On a regular basis the food is delicious - at it's best the mixtures of fresh veggies, herbs and spices are a match made in heaven.
Although chilies and garlic form a basis for many Thai dishes, there are always heavenly options for those too who are less fanatic of spicy food. Lemongrass, ginger, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, mint, lime and a long list of other less well known (at least to me) spices guarantee a smile on the diner's face. Even I enjoy less spicy-hot dishes although I'm quite addicted to chilies...and love to pour some on top of almost any dish I eat.
To a vegetarian like me there is one major problem in the Thai food scene. The fish sauce. Almost every dish is either based on or dipped in fish sauce. My solution to the problem was to ignore it, adapt the typical Thai "May pen rai, it doesn't matter" attitude. Luckily, thanks to a friend who is allergic to fish and to whom the problem therefore is unavoidable, I have found other options for a change. This weekend I attended a Thai cooking course in a vegetarian restaurant, learning to make 10 delicious Thai vegan dishes! Fish and oyster sauce can apparently well be replaced by mushroom and soy sauce.
There are other curiosities in the lack of vegetarian / vegan food in Thailand. Like the use of tofu. It's widely available and used in many dishes - along with pork. To this day I haven't understood why so many restaurants offer a variety of pork dishes including tofu but have no proper list for vegetarians. Don't get me wrong, there are always dishes they can make without meat but it's the wasting of this high potential of creative use of tofu for vegetarians that frustrates me. But even then, I'm mostly more than satisfied with the vegetarian fried rice (topped with chilis) or with the fried vegetables alone. And morning glory... I don't ever stop wondering how they can make simple vegetables so simple and so tasty!
Food is on offer everywhere. If you have to walk 10 meters without walking past a restaurant or a street food vendor, that's a miracle. Thais are obsessed with food and it shows. Finding a good place to dine is not difficult, finding a bad one would be (if looking for one, try one specialized in Western dishes). The quality of Thai food remains high everywhere for the sole reason that the Thai customers would never be satisfied with anything less than fresh, great and delicious. There is much talk about food and the Thais know what they are talking about.
