Does Your Thai Gf/wife Over Order At Restaurants?

[GuestHouse]

What I'd like to know is, who are these guys who get the camcorda out and video the meal, not just who are they, but where do they come from? Don't they have food back home?

[enyaw]

Not such much as over-order - more a case of always eating.

Last visit: Dinner at 8pm. Hungry by 10pm. Next thing we are asleep in bed at 1am. I am woken up. Yes - bf is hungry again! How can somebody who eats 10 times a day still be hungry and only weigh 38kg?

I've noticed it aswell.. eat... saleep, eat... saleep!

[meadish_sweetball]

What I'd like to know is, who are these guys who get the camcorda out and video the meal, not just who are they, but where do they come from? Don't they have food back home?

I asked one of them. He said he was a 'Tourist'. He did claim they have food back in his home country (Tourististan? ), too. Amazing, all these strange people who can't speak proper Swedish.

On a serious note, my wife never over-orders. Her relatives do though. But it does not seem to be an effort to scrounge - whenever we turn up in her village they bring on the 15 dish dinner ('You know meadish, uncle Wat went up at 2.30 this morning to pick this vegetable that only grows during the full moon, and has spent the entire day making a salad of it' 'By the way meadish, mum just said auntie Lah has been making gang hang leh paste since yesterday when she heard you were coming' etc... etc... humbles me...). Once we go back, they always send some food with us to take back home...

[GuestHouse]

Someone at our table always orders too much Heineken

[Thaddeus]

just to clarify....its not about spending money or showing off. theres a few aspects of the culture at play here.....

eating thai style usually means there are a variety of dishes .....since the old days when there were no restaurants thai style meal has always constituted of 'courses' if i can use that word

Ms Mig, you are a gem.

I first realised the Thai style of ordering and expected arrival time at a fairly large restaurant in a small sleepy Thai fishing village. The western concept of starters, main course and puddin' is not exactly well known here ... I used to go to great lengths and try to explain "I'll have that first, then wait twenty minutes and then bring the next course"... it never worked ... I then tried another tactic, just order a starter, finish it and then order a main course..... being a creature of habit it only worked temporarily and before too long we were back in the same, you get it all now, cycle.

There has only ever been one time when I have managed to break this code, and that is the time On and I spent in the UK, first time out in a Thai restaurant in fact..... wifey orders the usual tasty treats, consisting of at least three items from the menu, I order one.

Meal finished..... I show her the bill and convert it into Baht .... I then call an ambulance.

Needless to say, she became very frugal almost instantly.

Then we move back to Thailand...... enough said

//edit/noun missing/makes some sense now .... or not

Edited March 8, 2007 by Thaddeus

[Alf Witt]

I must say that having lived in Thailand for many years and being used to sharing dishes I find western eating habits uncivilised. Likewise wearing shoes indoors.

I think it was Ghandi (or Nehru) when asked what he thought about "western civilisation" replied "I think it would be a good idea".

He had a point.

About over-ordering, I think it is motivated by the "variety" thing as it is most noticeable when there are only 2 or 3 persons dining.

Some of the more "native" Thai dishes do not appeal to me, so I order dishes that do. My missus knows that I am not going to eat the other dishes she orders but it does not stop her digging in to "mine" also.

[rainman]

My wife used to do the same thing. Until one day I stayed in the restaurant until she had eaten it all. Now she orders 1 dish, 2 at the most (usually appetizer + main course)

[MiG16]

meadish also indirectly pointed out another aspect of the thai ways. in thai culture we make it a point to make sure people do not leave our house hungry. again in the old days....a typical thai greeting would be: Pai nai maa, kin khao rue yang: where are you coming from, have you eaten.

you visit someone's house at any time of day and you will be offered food. it is not about showing off, more about them being generous. I know this cannot apply in the case raised by OP, esp when they are not paying. but if you observe when thais are the host they will do exactly that...make sure more than enough food is ordered. (not always an ideal situation....but well intentions I can assure you...atleast with the people Ive been with....its not about showing off and wasting money)

anyhow one other thing is.....when I talk to european friends many say that the fact that their parents/grandparents lived through war time is a big factor. people value things more cos things are scarce. thailand has not had that.....no war since forever, no shortage of food, no winter period where less food is available either. I guess all of this adds to the taking it for granted attitude. besides its all relative isnt it? to some of us that feel we are already very good at not wasting...and do so only when absolutely unavoidable....if someone from africa were to see what we waste...they would be pointing some fingers too.

[dgoz]

my wife has already become accustomed to asking for my dish on a seperate bill, so that we dont end up paying twice for all the other peoples food still sat on the table every time.

Oh no. A "we want our own separate bill" at the restaurant type couple.

I used to hate dining with people like that. Glad I don't hang around with them any more.

Have you noticed your circle of friends is getting smaller?

[mutleyg]

9am You want breakfast? - not hungry but can eat

11am You want brunch? - not hungry but can eat

1pm You want lunch? - not hungry but can eat

3pm You fancy an afternoon snack? - not hungry but can eat

7pm You want dinner? - not hungry but can eat

Every one of these meals is never finished but its one hel_l of a social event

My wife and her family are never hungry but boy can they eat, and yes she still never gets above 45 kilos.

Me, if I stick to two of these meals a day I am sure a few kilos will be gained this year.

[BambinA]

Every time I go out I order what I want (which is heaps) and then my light-eating 39kg Thai gf orders another 3 or 4 dishes.

It's not only her but gf's I've had in the past.

I think it's about something that the girl did not have it in past ,not stereotype for TH girls though.

For instance, a girl who comes from a poor family ;

-She has never have a gold necklace, now she has a chance for grabbing some Aurum.. she want 10Kg of golden chain not a necklace no more..and talk out loud

-She has never had even soi dog ,now she has 10 sick buffaloes and a walking ATM.

-She has never had many (nice) dishes for a meal ,but now she has a chance for it.

These kind of girls just want to do everything for covering their inferiority complex .

[Livinginexile]

I get a little anoyed when we visit the wife's folks.

They just keep piling the food on and I have got to tell them to stop. So much waste in my eyes.

I have asked my wife what it's all about but I cannot get a clear answer from her.

Honestly, after a huge dinner not 2 hours later it starts all over again. My wife is a slip of a thing and she can eat double me.

[BambinA]

Every time I go out I order what I want (which is heaps) and then my light-eating 39kg Thai gf orders another 3 or 4 dishes.

It's not only her but gf's I've had in the past.

Ok i guess ,your heaps are 3-5 dishes plus TGF 3-4 dishes ,so it is 6-9 dishes

just to clarify....its not about spending money or showing off. theres a few aspects of the culture at play here.....

eating thai style usually means there are a variety of dishes

I agree with you Mig , we Thais eat variety of dishes per meal ..but 6-9 dishes for 2 persons???

[cdnvic]

Someone at our table always orders too much Heineken

One?