Re: [CH] Bangkok
Porter Banister (porter9@concentric.net)
Fri, 18 Dec 1998 11:22:24 -0500
J Young Asked:
>It's a long shot, but I'll be going to Thailand next week and I wonder if
>any chili heads have restaurant recomendations
>I'm more worried that they'lllook at my big white ass
> and make it too mild.
A good friend (who can stand food as hot as I can) went to Thailand in 1997,
and was very satisfied with the quality and heat level of the food in the
big luxury Hotels geared towards foreigners. Yes, they will try to make it
milder for you without you saying anything, but if you ask for your food
either 'Thai Hot' or 'Native Hot' these are two terms that the waitstaff in
English-speaking hotels do understand. If you are staying at such a hotel,
do what my friend did - he asked the concierge to type him up a little note
in the Thai language which explained that he could stand food as hot as any
native. He then handed this note to the waiters of various humbler, non
English-speaking restaurants throughout Bangkok. He also used this note with
great success buying lunch from street vendors, although he said the note
probably wasn't even necessary in those cases, since milder batches aren't
really an option with pre-made street food. He did say that no vendor tried
to tell him the food was too hot for him, which one guy had tried to do the
day before he used the note. But the point is, there is usually only one
batch of any given dish made up by street vendors, and if it's fiery and you
can persuade the vendor to sell it to you, you will be eating like a native.
Porter