I happened to be looking at an apartment on Sathorn 3, Suan Plu Soi 8 one night when I walked past a unique food stall/restaurant.  Outside from the main dining area was a food stall with 2 pans with wonderful looking, sizzling steaks.  The minute I saw the steaks I new I had to try this place so I sat down and ordered.

After a few minutes I received my steak flambe’ and was immediately impressed by the presentation as well as the aroma.  I was hooked after the first bite as the meat was tender and delicious while the sauce was extraordinary.  After I finished the best steak I’ve had in Bangkok I asked for the “Check Bin” (check bill in Thai) and I was amazed that the price was only 150 baht!  ($4.63 USD).

I knew there was something fishy about this particular place to eat in Bangkok because I noticed the chef was paying incredible attention to detail while preparing the food.  I started talking with chef Sanjorn (or John).  It turns out Sanjorn is a current/former chef at the Sukhothai which is one of the swankiest 5-star hotels in all of Thailand!  He is an incredibly nice guy who is more than willing to tell you everything about his food as well as practice his English while you practice your Thai.

Sanjorn Cooking on Suan Plu Soi 8

Sanjorn Cookshop’s Location

Although the area is out of the way for most foreigners it is a great neighborhood.  I remembered vividly how much I liked the neighborhood because it was where the old Thai immigration center was.   In addition to the many food stalls on Thanon Suan Plu, there is a wonderful outdoor food market right at the beginning of the soi.  It is easy to see the area is close to a major university as there are uniformed students everywhere.

The actual location of Sanjorn Cookshop is on Sathorn (Thai: สาทร) or Sathon 3, Suan Plu Soi 8.  It is 4 shops down on the left hand side where you will see the outside cooking area and the inside dining area.  It is relatively close to both Sala Daeng BTS, and Lumpini & Silom MRT stations but I take my bicycle there.  It takes me around 20 minutes via bicycle to get to Sanjorn Cookshop from my apartment at Sukhumvit Soi 13.

The Food & Menu

The steak is what I order almost every time I head to Sanjorn Cookhouse.  Each time the steak meal  has subtle differences based on what’s available and so far everything has been absolutely delicious.  The menu is hardly limited to steak as the other menu items which include everything from salmon, to fish, to pork to traditional Thai dishes look amazing.  The best part is everything on the menu is affordable.  I have had food at restaurants in Bangkok that cost several times more than John’s food but the taste pales in comparison.

My Favorite Steak in Bangkok for 150 baht

Some more of the Amazing Menu Items for less than 200 baht at Sanjorn Cookshop

Overall Impression

When dining out at a place for the first time I can immediately categorize the place into one of 3 categories:  1.  Will never eat at again, 2.  Will possibly eat at again and 3.  I’m coming back tomorrow and Sanjorn Cookshop easily fit in the number 3 category.  The chef John is a very nice guy who can provide a lot of information about the food he prepares.

John’s experience and abilities as a chef are likely in the top 1% of Bangkok restaurants and he offers his tasty creations for a fraction of the price that it would cost elsewhere.  Since the price is so affordable I look at Sanjorn as an affordable “personal chef.”  Even though the location is “out of the way” to most foreigners living in Bangkok, it is a breath of fresh air with mostly Thai people, some cool shops, markets and of course my favorite place to eat in Bangkok, Sanjorn Cookshop.

http://web.me.com/garycollier1/Sanjorn/Welcome.html

Since Chiang Mai is not the home of seemingly endless gargantuan shopping centers like Bangkok most of the best shopping opportunities are at various fairs.  Most people I talked to in Chiang Mai recommended shopping at the Sunday walking street fair instead of the night bazaar which was overpriced.

While all three places I stayed at were withing a 5 minute walk to the old moat gate which is where the fair starts, Montri hotel was located right on the corner surrounded by Sunday’s street fair.  I was staying at the nearby Royal Guesthouse when I decided to check out one of Chiang Mai’s biggest tourist attractions.

To say the Chiang Mai walking street fair is a tourist attraction is not doing it justice.  It seemed all of northern Thailand was there.  People from northern Thailand were there selling souvenirs, art, food and more and many people from Chiang Mai were also there.  Much of the goods for sale I have seen everywhere I’ve been in Thailand but I would guess that most of the people that make them live in northern Thailand.

One of the Many Local Tribes People Selling their Sourvenirs

Near the Moat Gate

The square near the remnants of the brick wall and the old gate which used to surround the city is where I started my Sunday night walking market experience.  The big square covered with baby blue and yellow paper lanterns is filled with booth after booth of goods.   There are many people just lounging around along with tourists and Thai people there primarily for the food and being social.

I didn’t know whether the square by the moat gate was the entire Sunday street fair so I decided to walk up Ratchadamnen Road.  Up the street I immediately noticed there was plenty more to the Chiang Mai walking street fair than just the square by the moat gate.  I immediately noticed an alcove with solely food restaurants which I had to stop at.  I ordered this omelet looking thing with noodles.  As I was eating the omelet I started talking to a Thai girl who turned out to have been living in Australia for the last 7 years.  She asked if I would join her and her 3 sisters for a walk through the fair.

Moat at the Beginning of Street Fair in front of Montri Hotel

On and On

I walked up the street with the Thai Aussie girl and her sisters and the streets seemingly got more crowded.    It was very crowded to the point where  I  would get stuck in a bottleneck for a minute at a time in some spots.  We stayed primarily on Ratchadamnen Road which included a couple temples and the fair seemed like it went on endlessly.  After a few blocks we turned around and headed back towards the moat gate.  My new Thai friend had to take her sisters home so I went to business and bought some gifts for my sisters.

View from Top of Apartment Building along Ratchadamnen Road

Overall Impression

While the Sunday walking street fair in Chiang Mai was huge it was nothing I haven’t seen before.  For me the highlight was the delicious food which was easily available almost everywhere I looked.  While it was crowded, there was absolutely no motor traffic which is unusual for Thailand.  People traffic was pretty heavy but no motorcycles, trucks, scooters, etc. made the Chiang Mai walking street fair a pleasurable experience and a must for anyone staying in Chiang Mai over the weekend.

Ever since living in my first apartment in Bangkok I’ve missed the American breakfast.  An “American breakfast” was served at the restaurant in my other apartment but it was a true “American breakfast” in name only.  When I think of American breakfast I need excessive portion sizes, tons of sugar and tons of fat.

Bangkok’s “American breakfast” meals usually include a single slice of ham or bacon, a couple pieces of wonder bread toast and a single egg.  This hardly compares to the greasy mound of hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes and waffles you get at the typical American diner.  Not that I would be eating this all the time but it definitely is on the menu once a month at the very least.

Little Hut has a rather large menu of probably around 12-15 pages which includes not only breakfast, lunch and dessert waffles with various toppings but a full Thai food menu.  I was impressed that the menu has a nice vivid color photo for each item on the menu as well.

Little Hut actually has some great freshly brewed coffee as well.  They grind the beans and brew each cup fresh which is nice.   They offer 3 different waffle thicknesses and multiple toppings.  Of course I got extra thick topped with blueberry preserves and whipped cream which I doused in maple syrup, a true diabetic special.

Tasty!

Little Hut’s Location & Service

Little Hut House of waffle is located on Sukhumvit Road in between Soi 1 and Soi 3.  It is located in a shopping center (I don’t know the name) right next to Burger King.  Burger King is always crowded with Farangs and that is actually the reason I found Little Hut.  The inevitable craving for “the original flame broiled whopper” brought me to Burger King which was so crowded I walked straight through to see Little Hut which was closed at the time but I made a mental note to come back.

Burger King is easily visible from Sukhumvit Road and is actually close to the combo Pizza Hut & KFC.  To get to Little Hut you can use the Burger King entrance and walk straight through and to the left you will see Little Hut.  I’ve already been there twice and I was the only customer in the restaurant each time where I had the typical 2 or 3 people waiting on me.  The actual restaurant is very clean and nice.  The tables, chairs and dining set-up also gives the vibe of the American diner which is a nice change of pace from the  typical  way restaurants look in Bangkok.

Right Next to the Ever-so-popular King of Burgers

Overall Impression

On most of these blog posts I have talked about whether I would go back or not.  It’s too late to write this about Little Hut because I already went back the next day and ordered the same thing.  While waffles smothered in syrup, fruit preserves and whipped cream aren’t the healthiest I know craving the remnants of an American breakfast like back home will draw me to Little Hut House of Waffle again and again.

I ordered a pineapple smoothie, 2 cups of coffee and the aforementioned blueberry waffle and the bill was only 180 baht ($5.40).  I recommend Little Hut to anyone who likes waffles and wants something on par with the waffle you can get at the typical American diner.  Anyone heading to the infamous King of Burgers should think twice and check out Little Hut house of Waffle (and full Thai food menu) next door for a better dining experience, better service and better food.

I found myself in Bangkok’s Pratunam district specifically to get some material for this blog about a fish foot massage and visiting Baiyoke Sky Hotel, Thailand’s tallest building.  Needless to say I hardly ever go in the area of Baiyoke because it’s very touristy and there is nothing really out there that I can’t find closer to where I live.  Needless to say I worked up an appetite taking pictures and fighting past crowds of European, Russian and Japanese tourists in Baiyoke and needed to eat.

Right after I got the fish foot massage I was walking down Ratchaparop Road when I saw a brightly lit restaurant that looked very clean inside with set tables, wine glasses and cloth napkins.  It was located right across from the Indra Hotel.  It was around 9pm and there was a lone Indian couple eating.  It authentic Thai and international cuisine on the door but what really drew me into the restaurant was the wall mounted plasma TV playing some UFC fights.

Service

The staff of young Thai ladies were really nice although they couldn’t speak a word of English ordering was pleasant and easy.  After I ordered I noticed the Indian man who was wearing the traditional Sikh Dastar (turban) go behind the counter and show the ladies how to make the lychee and cranberry icees which I ordered.  I assumed he was the owner although he made no attempt to talk to his lone patron which was understandable if he was entertaining his wife, but it looked like both ran the place and it would be nice if they attempted to be hospitable for the atmosphere they seemed to be trying to create.

Food & Drink

I ordered the T-Bone steak as well as an order of salmon fried rice and had the aforementioned lychee and cranberry blended ice drinks.  The blended ice drinks  (I call icees) were not like most I’ve had in Bangkok.  They reminded me of alcholoic beverages without the alcohol.  They were not slushy like icees which was good.  The lychee blended ice drink was very good but I love lychee.

I’m sad to say that for 480 baht ($14.34USD) the T-Bone steak was a huge disappointment.  I’ve had better steak in a can of Chef Boyardee as this was flat, dry and tasteless although the sauce was very tasty.  It came with your average french fries and a minute proportion of steamed vegetables.  I would say the T-bone was worth 200 baht and that is being generous.

The salmon rice which in effect served as my dessert was excellent although the portion size was small.   Considering that I’ve never had fried rice I didn’t like anywhere in the entire world the price the salmon fried rice at Rave was 110% not worth it as you can get  just as tasty if not better fried rice from any street stand in Bangkok for 35 baht ($1USD).  The overall rating of 2 Buddhas is rounded up from the 1.80 rating I give Rave restaurant considering the price and quality of the menu items which is hardly something to rave about.

Very Good Salmon Fried Rice although Overpriced

Overall Impression

Although Rave was definitely a pleasant place to have dinner it didn’t strike me as a place that should be charging so much for run the mill food.  My bill by myself  (although I essentially ordered 2 meals and 2 non-alcoholic drinks) was a whopping 897 baht ($26.80USD) which is far more than I ever spend on food and equivalent to 25 better tasting meals on Thai food street stands or indoor/outdoor mom & pop style restaurants.

The location is very close to major tourist hotels so that may explain why there was no one there when I was there and the prices were so high for Bangkok.  Right after I paid the 897 baht bill a lady from somewhere in the restaurant said, “hope to see you again” just as I was thinking about how I would never go to Rave again, if anything because the food was average and the prices were high as well as the location is inconvenient for me.

Say Hello & Wave Goodbye to Rave

Healthy Surprise

I have been trying to go from the “Try Everything” phase of just getting here to getting back into my healthy eating and daily workout program.  Across from the California WOW which I workout at I usually get something from 7-Eleven and something from a street vendor.

Up to this point I have usually bought corn-on-the-cob and I never noticed that in the giant steamer they have these little red sweet potatoes.

One of the best active diet foods are sweet potatoes and yams which are stacked with complex carbs and  B-Vitamins.  Up until this point I had not seen sweet potatoes anywhere except for grocery stores which sometimes the ones from the USA are very expensive.  The bag of sweet potatoes is only 10 baht (30 cents) and it is the perfect food to eat before and after workouts.

I plan to make these little bags of sweet potatoes a big part of my active diet as they satisfy the sweet tooth and are very hard to pig out on.  The only thing which is yet to be determined is if my stomach can handle them.

I don’t know if it is true but I have heard that some fruits and vegetables with peels can get you sick because they store enough water to irritate your stomach.  I have downed a 2 bags of these little potatoes while I walk back from the gym at Sukhumvit Soi 23 to my apartment at Sukhumvit Soi 1 and have yet to get sick and I’m crossing my fingers.

Eating in vs. Eating out

With little cheap and delicious hole in the wall and street food spots every 20 meters or so on the street there really is no need to prepare any food at home.  Compound that that with the fact that messy food preparation has the possibility to turn your apartment into a roach motel and I’d be willing to bet that most expats (and maybe even Thai people) have a majority of their meals away from home.

So far I’ve bought 7/11 prepared meals which are cheap (35-45 baht {$1.02-1.32}) and include  bland spaghetti & tomato sauce, salty fried rice and decent meats with rice to microwave at home but I decided it is the time to ‘prepare’ something.  I say ‘prepare’ because if it doesn’t include a rice cooker, microwave or coffee maker it’s not possible.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy

I have been wondering for the past few weeks how healthy the foods I’ve been eating actually are.  The old idea that, “if it tastes good, it’s unhealthy” may be true as most Thai food which you can buy for around $1.00USD are delicious.  The added fat has got to be an issue as you can often see the guy at the wok liberally dumping in oil.   I decided to try to avoid things with high fat such as any fried rice, chicken skin and fatty pork.

Green Beans

I have no idea where I can find green vegetables close to where I live so I see these green beans when I’m walking back from the gym in some noodle stands.  For a very low 10 baht (35 cents) I got this bag of green beans (in picture below).   I noticed Thai people staring at me while I was walking down the street with the bag of beans which was pretty interesting.

To make a long story short, I have a rice cooker with a steamer on top.  I just broke the beans up, threw them in while the rice was steaming and 10 or so minutes later I have a nice plate of rice & green vegetables.  I threw a little Kikkoman soy sauce on them along with a few squirts of Siracha and Bam!

I had a fat free servings of carbs and fiber along with the complimentary protein at home in 10 minutes.  The best part is the price which I estimate to be around 40 cents!  I took some Flax seed pills to add the essential fats and I sometimes take a little whey protein with it for added protein.

Truly Exotic Fruits

The Fruits of Thailand:  Part I dealt with fruits which although exotic are pretty common at least in California.  The next three fruits I got from my neighborhood mega fruit stand, which happened to be a fruit truck are not common in the USA at all.  As a matter of fact, I have never seen any of these three fruits in the United States.

Mangosteen

I used to drink the canned mangosteen drink which was saturated with sugar once in a while.  In San Francisco’s small Asian markets by the coconut water you could usually find a few cans.  It is more like sugar water than a actual fruit juice as Mangosteen has a taste which is sweet and tart at the same time.

Mangosteen juice and pup is marketed in the USA as your typical “Super Food.”  A natural fruit which is high in antioxidants, mangosteen is seasonal in Thailand available 3-4 months out of the year.  A company which markets mangosteen juice, claims that the real antioxidants are actually found in the pulp which is very bitter and not usually eaten but who knows?

Mangosteen are purple and round with these round green leaves on top.  To eat them you only have to cut a line a few centimeters long on them, I usually use my key, then you can rip half of the outer shell off to expose the delicate white brains!

The inside of mangosteen kind of looks like a white orange but I see it more as a brain sticking out of the skull.  Thais offer you a small fork in restaurants to scoop out pieces of the fruit but I just grab the while thing and pop it in my mouth.

The mangosteen fruit is VERY juicy.  It tastes bitter at first, then sweet, then bitter again.  There are 1-4 seeds amidst all the pulp some big and some small.  You can spit it out, or be like “Weird Al” Yankovich and just eat it!

Rambutan & Longan

I had never heard of either Rambutan or Longan before I aimlessly began walking the streets of Bangkok looking for some sweets.  The rambutan looks vaguely similar to a  sea anemone and the small, brown round longan looks like a little brown nut which comes on a branch.

They don’t very appetizing on the outside but both have their own sweet rewards on the inside.  They are both seasonal fruits which grow in hot environments and according to wikipedia the longan is a near threatened species.

To me they taste very similar and have almost the exact texture.  I have read that both are similar to lychee fruit which I have had but am soon to find here in Bangkok.  The taste of both is sweet.  I can’t really describe it any other way, there is no tartness, bitterness, saltiness, etc.  just sweet.

They say the longan has a more pungent taste which may be true but they pretty much taste the same to me.  The reason I like the longan better is because the seed separates from the fruit almost completely.

See in the picture, the rambutan (top) fruit has the outer part of the seed stuck to the fruit.  It doesn’t really change the taste at all or hurt your teeth but I think it makes rambutan a little less enjoyable, biting on a chunk of seed.

The seed may be healthy as it appears to be similar to an almond but until I know it’s free of any deadly poisons I will throw it away.

Getting to the Rambutan & Longan Fruit

Both fruits are easily peeled with the hands, the rambutan is the easier of the two.  To open a rambutan grab the fruit with both hands with your thumbnails touching each other.  Dig your thumbs into the outer shell and simply tear the skin away from the inner fruit which comes out easily.  The Longan has a tougher, smoother skin which takes some serious strong nails to dig in.  I usually bit a little tear in the skin and peel it off.  Like a cherry, the seed is easily separated from the fruit.

Both fruits have very little juice.  The texture is hard to explain.  I would say it’s like the ultra-preserved cherry which is in most canned fruit cocktails.  Both fruits are good for snacking on and taste especially good when chilled.

Read about Fruit more Common in America.

Stay Tuned for More about the Fruits of Thailand

Fruits Common to the USA

I just went across the street and spent I really can’t speak for the rest of the USA but being from California I can tell you that many fruits I eat here in Bangkok on a daily basis are readily available in supermarkets.  There are a couple major differences.

Fresh fruit is very convenient.  I already blogged about the yummy Thai oranges which are usually juiced. I have yet to find a street in Bangkok without at least 1 (there are usually 2 or 3) fruit stands.  From my apartment I have to walk about 5 meters to the nearest!  You go there, point to the fruit you want which is usually chilled and sliced and they put it in a little plastic bag with a skewer so you can eat it while you’re walking down the street.

These fruit stands are open from early in the morning (I can’t actually tell you if this is really true because I usually wake up around 2pm but I assume to be true) to late in the evening.  I have gotten fruit around 11pm but most of the food stands in the street are closing down by then.

The price is also very nice.  The little pre-sliced bags of fruit cost 10 baht (29 cents) each!  All 6 bags of fruit which you see above cost a total of $1.74!

Types of Fruit Readily Available

I’m not sure about the seasonal aspects of the fruits but the most common fruits I see are papaya, watermelon and pineapple.  There is also canetloupe, mangos and Thai guava to name a couple.  I will give a quick rundown of how the fruits taste as certain fruits are more likely to be sweet and ripe while others are often unripe.

Papaya

When I first moved to Bangkok I didn’t really like papaya.  It may have been because I never had good papaya in the US.  I remember papaya to having a pumpkin-esque after taste in the US.  I can tell you in Thailand I have eaten papaya every day for the past 3 months and I have only had a couple of poor tasting bites.

Watermelon

I’ve yet to see any fruit stand without watermelon.  It is fresh, sweet and delicious most of the time.  It comes sliced without the rind.  Sometimes you can find yellow watermelon which tastes the same.  Sometimes the watermelon is de-seeded and sometimes it has the seeds which you can spit out in the street if you like.

Pineapples

Pineapples are pretty much in every fruit stand as well.  The slices come ready to stab with a skewer and be eaten.  I had pretty good luck with pineapples as they are almost always ripe, sweet and tasty.

Mangos

Mangos taste different every time you get them.  Sometimes you will find them hard with a little bitter taste to them.  I think this is how some people like them.  I actually like them hard sometimes as they are not as sweet.  The soft mushy mangos are absolutely delicious in the Thai dessert mango sticky rice which is so delicious it is going to get its own blog entry.

Thai Guava

I learned in my Thai language that the Thai word for guava is ‘farang’ which also means foreigner!  I put 2 + 2 together and figured that guavas were not native to Thailand which is true, they originate from the tropical Americas but have been in Thailand since the 17th century and are available year round.

I’ll admit, up until now I had no idea what this green fruit with a white hard inside was.  I thought guavas were pink on the insdie and I figured it was some kind of apple.  I have had some Thai guava which was very bitter and some which is sweet.  The Thais sprinkle salt? which is avaiable at the fruit stands on the guava.  I like the sweet kind better as it is very crunchy.  WARNING:  Don’t eat this stuff fast unless you want to visit the dentist.  The little seeds can sometimes be very dangerous for the ole’ molars!

I’m not too sure how ‘common’ this type of guava or guava in general is in the US but I decided to put it on this page because I had heard about it before.  Part II will be devoted to some of the fruits I have recently discovered and had never heard of before I moved to Bangkok.

The Fruits of Thailand:  Part II

Eat your Greens

When I came to Thailand for the first time I saw the green these ground green fruits on street stands.  There are so many delicious fruits on the street stands ( which I will blog about later) that I never bothered to ask what the fruits were.  Even if I asked what they were, I would no doubt hear a Thai phrase which I couldn’t understand anyway.

Well it turns out, these green fruits about the size of small apples are one of the most common fruits in America, they just look different.  In Bangkok they taste a little different.  They have a wide variety of tastes, some sweet, some tart and they always seem to be ripe.

Green Juice ?

The juice is sold more often on the streets of Bangkok than the fruit.  The juice sometimes is very sweet and sometimes has a little tang to it.  It is sold in containers of around 400ml for 20 baht (58 cents) and 40 baht on the street, usually chilled.  It is quite refreshing on a hot humid day walking down the streets of Bangkok.

What exactly is this Tasty Green Fruit

I figured if I was going to blog about something as mundane as a normal household fruit for every American I would leave it a mystery for a bit.  The last hint about this fruit and juice is, the juice can kill you!

Have you figured out what this mystery green fruit is yet?

Oranges!

We’re not talking about a horrible movie remake starring Nicholas Cage.   To someone who has never left the “friendly confines” of the USA you may not know much about Bangkok.  You may not even know the difference between Taiwan and Thailand.
Whether you think  elephants trampling people and huge protests with soldiers overthrowing the government are a day to day occurrence or you think Bangkok is just another peaceful Southeast Asian city you may be interested in the top 5 most dangerous things about visiting or living in Bangkok, Thailand.

5. Sidewalks

Sidewalks in Bangkok are always crowded, often disgusting, and sometimes dangerous.  I am an avid runner who likes to run to the gym to kill 2 birds w/ one stone but in jogging down the sidewalks in Bangkok every step you take could be your last.

The uneven sidewalks in Bangkok are complete with loose bricks, broken mane covers and of course stray dog bombs.  Compound this with the presence of the #1 danger and a trip or fall could mean a whole lot worse than a trip to the hospital.

As a guy wearing sneakers the sidewalks present a certain danger but to the women who wear heels, I can’t image how difficult it is to pay attention to every step to avoid a face plant onto a present left by one of the 300,000 stray dogs in Bangkok.

4. Water

Water is tricky to avoid because there are numerous ways you can come into unwanted contact with it.  From swallowing shower water, getting splashed in the mouth while in a water taxi, or the inconspicuous melted ice your iced tea, most foreigners who consume a generous portion of the water in Bangkok get terrible stomach aches.

Where the tap water comes in most residential buildings (to my knowledge) is roof tanks which are either filled by rain water or a water company.  I have heard that each year they check the tanks and find dead birds, rats and insects.  The worst water has to be that of the Chao Phraya river and Bangkok canal.   The canal has a smell the raw sewage which is pouring out of pipes into the canal 24/7.   Here’s a story of a governor candidate who fell into the water and got a rash before her campaign manager drowned in the dirty water.

I have been running to the gym along the pedestrian free canal path, but I am debating whether the evaporated canal water and occasional spashes from the river taxis will eventually be the slow and painful death of me?  I will leave that up to the experts but you don’t have to be an expert to know that the water is one of Bangkok’s dangers.

3. Street Food

The street food which exists all around Bangkok creates a barbecue smell which is a welcomed replacement of the usual bus exhaust mixed with raw sewage aroma which emanates from the Bangkok streets.  I’m not talking about the delicious fruit here.  What I’m talking about is any of the many meat products which taste good when you don’t think about where they came from.

I’m not talking about the typical Chinese food mystery meat but the conditions in which the animals were raised.  I visited Ratchaburi province and stayed with a traditional Thai family and remember the chickens running amok in the mud mixture of river run-off, sewage, and litter.  I really didn’t think about it too much at the time and ate chicken meat but when they served the Tom Yum chicken feet soup I couldn’t help but think of what the chickens were running around in.

I have never really researched (other than hearing preaching from San Francisco yuppies about free range meat) too much about whether how much an animal’s upbringing will effect the quality of the meat but if I see fried fish on the street and can’t hep but think it was fished out of the filthy canal.  I also see people living in next to piles of their own garbage by the canal with chickens freely walking around while they await their death, soon to be featured on the nearby chicken satay street stand???

I have been pretty lucky so far with the street food.  I have had some stomach pain but no problems with dysentery, severe stomach cramping, death or any other terrible symptoms which which are associated with contaminated food.

2. Thai Women

Thai people are so laid back and reserved you wouldn’t think that Thai women could be so dangerous but if you watch the video you will know how dangerous they can be.  Thai women are polite, beautiful and traditional but if you get on their bad side you could be heading to the local hospital!

My friend Jon who has a blog bout teaching English in Thailand told me that two of his friends had been stabbed and hospitalized by their angry Thai girlfriends.  Compound the language barrier with the Eastern-Western culture class and evidentially fireworks are possible and everyone knows how bad it is when they blow up in your hand.

1. Traffic

Bangkok is a city which has had a long-term traffic problem.  I cannot imagine how bad it was 20 years ago before the BTS which provides easy transit via skytrain and the MTR which is the subway system.

The traffic not only pollutes the environment it is dangerous in many ways.  I have not yet witness any accidents but I remember reading about the the week long Songkran Festival in which there were “Songkran’s “373 deaths and 4,332 injuries in 3,977 road accidents nationwide.”

The dangers of the traffic in Bangkok are out there if you’re in a car or a pedestrian.  In taxis you have to first search for the seat belt which is only available 25% of the time then all you can do is watch as the driver navigates through the extremely confusing and seemingly lawless streets.

As a pedestrian the streets seem even more dangerous.  The never ending traffic flow of cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, and motorcycles extends beyond the streets.  Often you have to dodge motorcycles and motorcycle taxis driving on the sidewalk.  The streets have lanes but the are only as guides as drivers weave in and around them.  Driving in a lane of oncoming traffic is a regular occurrence.

Perhaps the most dangerous part of the Bangkok traffic is crossing the street.  I personally use what I call ‘human shields’ which are the Thai people I wait for to cross some busy streets.  Often times there is no sign or signal which you can use to determine when to cross the street.  Even if you do cross at a little green guy walking light you still have motorcycles weaving in between cars.  You have to be on the lookout on both sides of each car for motorcycles as you cross any street.  Compound all this with the fact that the sides are switched from the USA and traffic is the most dangerous thing about Bangkok.