F K Thornbury

This is Thailand, not Italy.

Even more on point. It's about the Thai garlic vs. the garlic used in Italian cooking. If making Thai food in Italy with THAI garlic that also should not be peeled but should be smashed. If making a garlic Italian pasta in Thailand with western style garlic (here we get that from China) than those cloves should be (and would be) peeled and likely minced.

They are both called garlic but they are very different foods with different properties.

the relevant property from the diner's perspective is that garlic skin in the mouth is not pleasant or delicious.

go to a thai restaurant in Thonglor, which is in Thailand, with a Thai chef, cooking Thai food.... s/he'll have removed the skins.

1) Was that curry roasting hot when it was scooped into this thin plastic bag, and (if so) do you actually want me to get moobs?

2) Give me mucho, mucho rice. Yai. Very, very yai. Don't make me buy a curry here and walk around the corner for khao sip baht. Just give me the f'kin rice. Imagine the amount of rice a hungry farm worker, who had a particular fondness for rice, would have after a long day in the fields. Now double it. It's 20 baht a kg, the rice cooker is highly efficient, I need 250g dry weight cooked, look at the size of me, I'm dying, give me enough rice.

along those lines: when moo ping guy, or som tam gal, or fried chicken dude has no sticky rice!

You smash the Thai garlic and shallots.

You do not peel them.

That's the trick of it.

I would complain if they were not SMASHED.

Yep, chuck them in the pestle and mortar and give them a good pounding I say. Skins and all.

I get the impression not many here know their way around the kitchen.

Most cooks lay them on their board and smash them by laying a knife across them and applying a downward slap. Then, normally, you remove the skin and cut out the eye of the clove as well. Again, the way street food cooks do it here is fine, doesn't stop me from eating their food daily. Just a peeve.

The next time you're in an Italian restaurant and order aglio e olio, or any dish for that matter, and it is laden with garlic skins....let me know.

You smash the Thai garlic and shallots.

You do not peel them.

That's the trick of it.

I would complain if they were not SMASHED.

Yes, you can smash them. The next step in most cooking is to separate the goodness from the unpalatable skin.

I have a feeling you'd complain about many things. What year were you born?

OP.

Take a Thai cooking class.

Yes. I did.

You don't peel Thai garlic.

You leave the herbs in soup.

Maybe you just don't like Thai food.

Next ...

lol

how old are you?

Irrelevant.

what-difference-does-it-makes.jpg

Don't ask again.

Twice is more than enough.

Market research. Wondering if you're very young and thus can't understand the point of the thread, or of the overtly smug, disagreeable, cynical demographic so prevalent in these forums. I'm going with the latter.

Chicken skin, gristle, oil. Over reliance on rice to bulk up the meal where vegetables would be preferred (I'd pay much more if they would do that rather than just smile when asked).

The worst one though is when I find a new street vendor that makes an exceptional version of one of the standard meals, they don't seem to stay in business too long. I'd have thought they'd thrive compared to the also rans.

+1 about the rice... sometimes "piset" means extra good stuff, sometimes it apparently means extra rice/noodles only. I wonder if I need to clarify.

OP.

Take a Thai cooking class.

Yes. I did.

You don't peel Thai garlic.

You leave the herbs in soup.

Maybe you just don't like Thai food.

Next ...

lol

how old are you?

From a culinary POV, I think you are completely wrong on your comments about not peeling the Thai garlic or the Tom Yum herbs being left in the soup.

Thai garlic is not the same as western garlic ... it works very well unpeeled.

Leaving the herbs in Tom Yum lets the flavor continue to soak and also adds soul to the eating experience.

The other stuff about packaging ... different area.

This is false. The unchewable skin doesn't "work well" in any situation. It's like eating wood shavings.

As for the other poster's assertion that leaving the skins on makes the garlic and shallots sweet, that is also rubbish, particularly in the case of quick cooking like stir fried dishes. In cases where one does benefit from leaving the skins on, such as in roasting, the skins should still ultimately be removed before serving.

With regards to the herbs in tom yum, leaving them in for the 10 minutes you are going to eat the dish adds nothing in terms of flavor that hasn't already been added in the hours that soup had cooked and set.

I'll be sure to start a separate "packaging" thread next time. How old are you?

****Thread is not intended to include hygiene concerns****

My opinion: Thai food rules, the BKK dining scene is exciting, and the food culture here is delightful.

My peeves:

• Skins not removed from garlic/shallots before cooking
• Tom Yum’s inedible herbs/aromatics not removed before serving
• Small bags of munchies sealed with tiny staples
• Bag sealed by a rubber band that has made 87 revolutions

What else?

~FKT

If that had happened in the real world, somebody would have rushed and tighten the leg from the top to stop the bleeding.

Probably in this world of Thailand, people were watching him dying waiting for the Emergency services to arrive and may be taking photographs.

I hope I'm wrong with what I'm saying but I don't think I'm far away from the truth.

May he Rests in Peace.

lol, you're brilliant

Thanks for the info! The site I mentioned appears to be official, and even warns of other fraudulent ones; and it appears that the fee is US$30 as of October 1st, 2014.

Thanks,

FKT

Anyone done the Cambodia eVisa on https://www.evisa.gov.kh/? Is it worth the extra US$7 processing fee, or is it just easy enough to do the Visa on Arrival?

I'm a US passport holder, flying to PP on 12/26-12/30.

Thanks!

FKT

Hello. I'm planning a visa run between Xmas and New Year's (or thereabouts) and was thinking about combining some Satun beach action with Malaysia.

Has anyone experienced crossing into Malaysia from Satun by ferry? I couldn't find too much concrete up-to-date info on the Google machine.

Also, would I need to get a visa for Malaysia in advance? (US Passport)...

Thx,

FKT

What is the deal with providing employment info for the Myanmar tourist visa? I am in Thailand on Non-O (marriage) and currently unemployed.

Can I still get a Myanmar visa?

Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I live in a condo so burial wasn't an option, but I did find a Wat to do a cremation.

Through a company called PetMaster I found out about Wat Gai Tia in Taling Chan. They have a quiet little area that does the cremation and provides an urn, etc. It cost me 2,200 Bht and was just what I needed for a bit of closure.

She will always be in my thoughts, and I hope this information can help someone when they are mourning the loss of their furry little loved one.

Hi Everyone, hate to be the bearer of sad news, but my beloved cat passed away in a clinic late last night.

Has anyone had this experience here, and what did you do with the body? Burial, cremation, did you do a whole temple funeral?

I'm open to anything, just a bit clueless at the moment.

Thx,

FF (sniffle)

This may have an effect on the total number of tourist arrivals for TAT (although they can simply the fudge the numbers as they wish), but I think the opinion put forth continuously the last few days that confusion will reign for the rest of the world and everyone will stop coming to Thailand for 2-3 weeks holiday is off base.

This clampdown is pretty clear: don't abuse the system. If my aunt and uncle were to visit for a week each in BKK, Phuket, & Chiang Mai - as they did in 2013 - I'm sure they'd understand that the new world order with respect to visa runs has no bearing on them whatsoever, even if they were adding a jaunt to KL as part of the trip.

Henry and Florence visiting SE Asia for 3 weeks from Toronto vs. Johnny the 400-stamp passport holder = apples and oranges.

This distinction will be pretty clear even to Thai border agents on a good day or bad day.

if one has obtained a non-O multiple-entry visa due to marriage/family, they are in no way "abusing" anything by leaving and re-entering the country multiple times.

They are following the rules in order to be able to stay with loved ones.

Look at this from the point of view of the immigration officer:

• John received a single-entry NON-O visa and then applied for 1-year extension of stay based on marriage, showing 400k baht in the bank.
• Bob received a multi-entry NON-O from Savannakhet with no funds requirements and does a border run every 90 days

Which one of these is the correct way of permanently staying with the Thai family?

I know 90-day border runs on multi NON-O visas have been tolerated for decades but surely the necessity of border runs is in itself a symptom of not quite complying with the intent of the law.

1. Both are in complaince with Thai law. If you are asking me to speak for Thai Immigration/MFA/the Junta, I obviously cannot.

2. What part of "multi" is being lost on people here?

I'm taking no particular joy from this clampdown, but can it just be said one more time (I'm assuming it has been stated somewhere in this thread already)...

Whether one is under 50 or over 50, rich or poor, law-abiding or corrupt, speak Thai or don't, eat in local establishments or only eat American fastfood: one just can't live wherever they want according to their idea of fairness. Even if it's true that they're just an independently-wealthy, fun-loving tourist.

Period, end of story.

'cept for Thailand, prior to this clampdown, and Thailand in a few months when it blows over.

Yes, you're right on the first point and possibly on the second. I'm talking about in theory, which is why when things revert to the norm and people are caught with their pants down their incredulity is laughable.

And, if you are indeed right on the second point, some people seem to be wasting a lot of energy uneccesarily bashing Thailand in this thread. Although that's fairly normal here, admittedly.

That is because (despite your fantasies otherwise) the incredulity is based on the fact that the people involved were just tourists... they were not thaivisa.com junkies ... they were just being tourists... went for another 30 days and WHAM - door is closed.... Should they have anticipated the denial ? - NO! They were just doing what was allowed ... and convenient and seemingly - normal... But you think that all long stay tourists are slight of hand illegal workers, criminals, etc. who deserve what they get... and yes shallow minded people think like that...

I think no such thing, and you have no proof that every one of these people were legit tourists and not the kind that are exploiting loopholes.

But let's say they were: so they got caught up in some TiT-style bureaucracy. They are still being allowed back into the country - albeit, at some extra expense and inconvenience - but they are being allowed back in.

So, no door was closed. They were simply led from the front door to one on the side of the house. So simmer down big fella. Everyone will be much more vigilant after this episode, and if one is caught-up in this sort of snafu going forward it is another TIT-style cluster<deleted> or they were naive.

So far in the past few months there was a crackdown of varying degrees on the following:

• 30-day visa exempt stamps
• tourist visas
• NON-ED visas
• multi NON-B visas with no work permit
• medical extensions

For the love of God I can't understand why people with multi entry NON-Os happily cheer the crackdown. Those visas are clearly not intended for permanent stay (that's what 1-year extensions for) and this is why you have to do a border run every 90 days. You are abusing the system in the same way people on back to back tourist visas did, especially if you use the multi NON-O visa to circumvent the requirement of having funds in the Thai bank.

I don't understand the shadenfreud either, but you may want to rethink your second point. Aside from it being factually flawed, if one has obtained a non-O multiple-entry visa due to marriage/family, they are in no way "abusing" anything by leaving and re-entering the country multiple times.

They are following the rules in order to be able to stay with loved ones.

You're whining.

Today's rules. If tomorrow the authorities decide you need 5 million in the bank I don't want to see you post here with your idea of fairness, right?

If they decided to be so exclusionary as to allow only wealthy farangs to raise a family in their spouse's homeland, then you are right, it would be unfair.

So far in the past few months there was a crackdown of varying degrees on the following:

• 30-day visa exempt stamps
• tourist visas
• NON-ED visas
• multi NON-B visas with no work permit
• medical extensions

For the love of God I can't understand why people with multi entry NON-Os happily cheer the crackdown. Those visas are clearly not intended for permanent stay (that's what 1-year extensions for) and this is why you have to do a border run every 90 days. You are abusing the system in the same way people on back to back tourist visas did, especially if you use the multi NON-O visa to circumvent the requirement of having funds in the Thai bank.

I suspect many chickens will come home to roost on the subject of NON-O visas in the coming months.

Do you mean for retirees or for spouses, etc.? And how so? I have a very hard time believing their is an over-arching xenophobia that is going to result in larger-scale farang purges.

I'm taking no particular joy from this clampdown, but can it just be said one more time (I'm assuming it has been stated somewhere in this thread already)...

Whether one is under 50 or over 50, rich or poor, law-abiding or corrupt, speak Thai or don't, eat in local establishments or only eat American fastfood: one just can't live wherever they want according to their idea of fairness. Even if it's true that they're just an independently-wealthy, fun-loving tourist.

Period, end of story.

'cept for Thailand, prior to this clampdown, and Thailand in a few months when it blows over.

Yes, you're right on the first point and possibly on the second. I'm talking about in theory, which is why when things revert to the norm and people are caught with their pants down their incredulity is laughable.

And, if you are indeed right on the second point, some people seem to be wasting a lot of energy uneccesarily bashing Thailand in this thread. Although that's fairly normal here, admittedly.

So far in the past few months there was a crackdown of varying degrees on the following:

• 30-day visa exempt stamps
• tourist visas
• NON-ED visas
• multi NON-B visas with no work permit
• medical extensions

For the love of God I can't understand why people with multi entry NON-Os happily cheer the crackdown. Those visas are clearly not intended for permanent stay (that's what 1-year extensions for) and this is why you have to do a border run every 90 days. You are abusing the system in the same way people on back to back tourist visas did, especially if you use the multi NON-O visa to circumvent the requirement of having funds in the Thai bank.

I don't understand the shadenfreud either, but you may want to rethink your second point. Aside from it being factually flawed, if one has obtained a non-O multiple-entry visa due to marriage/family, they are in no way "abusing" anything by leaving and re-entering the country multiple times.

They are following the rules in order to be able to stay with loved ones.

You're whining.

I'm taking no particular joy from this clampdown, but can it just be said one more time (I'm assuming it has been stated somewhere in this thread already)...

Whether one is under 50 or over 50, rich or poor, law-abiding or corrupt, speak Thai or don't, eat in local establishments or only eat American fastfood: one just can't live wherever they want according to their idea of fairness. Even if it's true that they're just an independently-wealthy, fun-loving tourist.

Period, end of story.

Not Thailand, not the UK, not Canada, not Zimbabwe, not Ireland...we just have to follow the rules. Only a self-entitled egomaniac would whine about it being "unfair."