American Fast Food In Thailand

[PeaceBlondie]

We're talking about American fast food in Thailand, but hardly anybody's talking about Thai fast food back in the West. I lived in Texas where there must have been 100 Chinese restaurants and food stalls within two kilometers, and a couple of Japanese and Korean restaurants, but the nearest Thai places were much further away, very few in number, too expensive, and the food was a poor imitation of Thai, or just too spicy.

I'm not aware of any pent-up demand for Thai food in the West. I detest Thai food, and I enjoy hamburgers, pizza, mashed potatoes, roast beef, pecan pie, chocolate cake, ice cream, roast turkey with cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy - is anybody hungry yet?

There's a big chain of Louisiana style Cajun fried chicken in the south - probably the one that bought up Church's, called Popeye's - and their spicy chicken had lots of tabasco sauce. Buffalo wings are spicy, and they're from upstate New York. You never know; Thai fast food might catch on.

[gummy]

We're talking about American fast food in Thailand, but hardly anybody's talking about Thai fast food back in the West. I lived in Texas where there must have been 100 Chinese restaurants and food stalls within two kilometers, and a couple of Japanese and Korean restaurants, but the nearest Thai places were much further away, very few in number, too expensive, and the food was a poor imitation of Thai, or just too spicy.

I'm not aware of any pent-up demand for Thai food in the West. I detest Thai food, and I enjoy hamburgers, pizza, mashed potatoes, roast beef, pecan pie, chocolate cake, ice cream, roast turkey with cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy - is anybody hungry yet?

There's a big chain of Louisiana style Cajun fried chicken in the south - probably the one that bought up Church's, called Popeye's - and their spicy chicken had lots of tobasco sauce. Buffalo wings are spicy, and they're from upstate New York. You never know; Thai fast food might catch on.

There has been a proliferation of Thai restaurents opening the UK in the last ten years. Almost every smallish town has at least one although not yet on the scale of Chinese. But like the Chinese, they bear little or no resemblence to real Thai food ( with the odd exception ) as they obviously are catering for the UK taste buds and hence are "Westernised".

[ronw]

American fast food outlets appear to offer a well balanced meal,cooked in clean surroundings,politely served.....and at a reasonably low cost...................until tasted!

BLEUGH!!!!!

[ashacat]

I just had an extremely enjoyable Burger King chicken club meal and it was lovely. Burger King rules!!

[WaiWai]

Song kran is now celebrated in major Australian cities, with activities that include food stalls, street performances & beauty pageants, as well as the water pouring & Buddhist practices.

As a previous poster has said (of the UK), quite a few Australian towns would now have a small family-run Thai restaurant, with flavours adjusted to local demands. However, as those local demands come from increasingly more diverse ethnic groups, there's less need to diminish the spiciness/Thai-ness.

Edited April 12, 2007 by WaiWai

[Khun ?]

Fish sauce and chilli and most things fried in gobbs of oil. The chicken is like it had been on somalian

diet. Not a big lice eater also so I would settle for a nice meat and potato with gravy meal or a mac attack any day. I weigh the same as I did 30 years ago which most would say a bit under weight.

The thing is if you are not real active at work and play then 3 meals a day and 10 litres of water

will probably have you gaining a few kgs abit to often.

The less oxcidants you stuff your body with the longer you will live, that said it could be a boring not worth living life also. Thais do not have a longer life span and pretty much everything taste the same.

JMHO

[WaiWai]

Well, my curiosity led me to this :

A BEAUTIFUL THAI FOOD RESTAURANT YOU’LL FALL IN LOVE WITH Mix the tastiest authentic Thai Food in Australia with great profits and fantastic branding and what do you get? A love affair with a franchise opportunity that will take the nation by storm. Get involved with a food franchise that you can seriously fall in love with!

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Franchise opportunities available (AU $'s, I think)

Capital Requirements: $250,000 - $350,000 +GST inclusive of all furniture, equipment and recipes and dependent on size and construction.

Agreement Terms: 5 years plus 5 year option

More details at <a href="http://www.franchisedirectory.com.au/franchises/orathai.aspx" target="_blank">

http://www.franchisedirectory.com.au/franchises/orathai.aspx</a>

Ora-Thai is a love affair with food. It all started when

Oratai Jaivong came to Australia from Thailand with

a dream - to open her own restaurant. Within two short

years of coming to Australia Oratai, together with her

husband Cliff, opened her fifi rst restaurant. She has been

serving up her own unique style of Thai cuisine ever since.

In 2004 she met Laurel and Leo who loved the food so

much, they wanted to take it to the world!

Shhhh....The secret is in the sauce! Over the years

Ora-Thai has developed it’s very own selection of special

sauces. Based on Thai classics, they have been tenderly

enriched by our caring chefs. These sauces, unique to

Ora-Thai, form the base of our addictive menu.

At Ora-Thai we want you to have the best. We use only

the best ingredients! Market fresh vegetables and meats,

quality spices and healthy vegetable oils. We go to great

lengths to make sure that our food retains all it’s natural

flfl avours and nutrients. We don’t pre-cook or pre-boil

anything before stir frying. We want to give you a taste

sensation that will have you coming back again and

again and again.

More at their own website : http://www.ora-thai.com/

Watch out, world -- here comes "Ora Thai"

Has anyone tried them ?

Seems there are plenty more. Just google "Thai food franchise". Or start your own !

KF SomTam, anyone ?

Edited April 12, 2007 by WaiWai

[Ulysses G.]

I'm not aware of any pent-up demand for Thai food in the West. I detest Thai food, and I enjoy hamburgers, pizza, mashed potatoes, roast beef, pecan pie, chocolate cake, ice cream, roast turkey with cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy - is anybody hungry yet?

I'm not crazy about Thai food either, but I enjoy other Asian cuisines like Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese a lot.

I don't like the taste of the spices and I don't like all the sugar on noodles and the like.

[jfsdoll]

LOL come to Thailand and spent even 1 minute in one of those crapy places is a blasphemy unless it 's more like a feel at home feeling thing .

Only becomes an option IMO for those having issues with evacuation timing

[KhunMarco]

I'm not aware of any pent-up demand for Thai food in the West. I detest Thai food, and I enjoy hamburgers, pizza, mashed potatoes, roast beef, pecan pie, chocolate cake, ice cream, roast turkey with cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy - is anybody hungry yet?

I'm not crazy about Thai food either, but I enjoy other Asian cuisines like Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese a lot.

I don't like the taste of the spices and I don't like all the sugar on noodles and the like.

I don't like it either (well most of it) the sugar poured on every thing just drives me crazy. I cook at home (tonight Rigatoni all'ammatriciana and tunafish steak , yummy)

[technocracy]

I find this thread all rather amusing! Thankfully I live in Laos and there isn't a single western fast food place here - no MacDonalds, no KFC, no Pizzahut etc.

I don't miss any of them regardless of what local 'specials' - also on the note of Thai food I have to say the general standard of Thai food in Bangkok is shocking! Most of it is prepared and thrown together crap - the police have cleared off several very good street sellers. One of the wife of mines favourites when we visited was on Soi 1 Sukhumvit - who did a fantastic pad krap pow muu gop. Last time we went there as a great stall opposite NEP doing great muu nam dtok (a personal fav of mine).

But if you go in any restaurant in Bangkok and ask them don't put in any sugar etc - forget it it'll have it in they just knock up the same thing for everyone. The difference between dam mak daeng with and without sugar is huge - sugar just makes everything sickly.

Really though I think the problem for most people in SE Asia is the refusal to try new or 'different' food. Take the jael (sauce) make from the remains in the intestines of the buffalo or goat - sounds revolting but tastes great. But most folk would only eat pad kao gai. Oh yeah also if you've never try Kai luu koi your missing out on a treat!

Personally I can't remember the last time I eat a western meal or what it was. Fortunately my wife is a great cook and can cook just about any Lao or Thai dish you could mention!

[PaulUSA302]

I LOVE American style food. Love it! Love it! Love it! I also enjoy Asian, Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican and French foods.

When I am in Thailand, I enjoy trying their spin on western food. I tried the American Fried rice... I was surprised that they named it that... My Thai friend was sure I knew what it was... I could only laugh and tell them that it is not served in America... Well, not in my part of America.

I love to go to KFC and get REAL spicy food. When I was eating my spicy chicken and rice in KFC in Bangkok, I was not sure I could finish it due to it being so spicy hot... In the USA I know that they would not make it the same way.

The world is a wonderful place to live and I enjoy sampling all that life has to offer because when I am dead in the ground, my chance to sample and enjoy will be over.... And I don't want to be in line at heaven being asked if I tried the bread at Subway only to say no because it was not baked in a stone oven or something like that.....

[dantilley]

I love to go to KFC and get REAL spicy food. When I was eating my spicy chicken and rice in KFC in Bangkok, I was not sure I could finish it due to it being so spicy hot... In the USA I know that they would not make it the same way.

You call that spicy? Oh, you're in for a treat when you try some real spicy Thai food... Or maybe "treat" is the! wrong word, depending on how spicy you're willing to go...!

[noungning]

Junk food, such as Subway, is served covered in high fat sauces.

Only if you select those sauces. On the whole, Subway is a healthy option.

Anyway, re Thai fast foods - isn't Pad Thai a good example ? "Fast food" doesn't necessarily have to be mass produced does it ? All the little street stalls offering sausages and pancakes and noodles and fried chicken are selling fast food, so far as I can see.

lol yes i was thinking the same with many street vendors selling various fast food type of stuff. unless of course you go to eat plah neung - steamed fish with veggies

[mmushr00m]

There's nothing wrong with it, is just funny to see the total lack of food culture of some people (really don't take it as an offense, I have zero culture about working hard for example )

Not necessarily. I've been through culinary school, managed numerous restaurants, have cooked and eaten many more kinds of animal than most people ever will, but I still like a big mac once in a while.

I'm also quite well versed in classical music but it doesn't mean I don't crank up Molly Hatchet when I'm driving and it comes on the radio.

Don't judge books by their covers.

Canadian balance, it's good to hear it once and a while. Wish there were a Tim Horton's here abouts. I'm glad you said Molly Hatchet and not Rita McNeil.

Would love a Timmy's right now with some Timbits heh or a sandwich without that sweet mayo they always use here. No Rita? How about Anne Murray?

Agree with the OP, I love to sample the localized offerings at the fast food joints. The Rice Burger is absolutely disgusting though. KFC spicy rice, too spicy...did you know, they still serve bread at KFC in M'sia???!!!! But I do miss Popeyes, way better then KFC. Need a change from having rice and noodles everyday....although I could probably eat pad mee moo den everyday, love it.

[leisurely]

If we have fast food, it is normally KFC. I don't like the chicken, but the girls like the nugets (I know they are just nipples and eylids minced and battered ), I usually have some rice and veg that they serve in little tubs. Need two though as they are tiny.

[Jet Gorgon]

Subway was voted best sandwich maker by readers of a leftie weekly in the self-proclaimed gourmet city of Vancouver recently. Dunno why; to me, the bread is too thick and I don't like the selections. If I have a sandwich, the mayo must be on the cheese side with my name written in mustard via the squeeze bottle on the ham side. Lettuce in between, sliced in half diagonally.

There are Thai fast food outlets in Van malls, but really pathetic; I can smell them from the other side of a food court. Never eat there.

When in Thailand, I noticed differences between fast food outlet offerings: ie, on Samui, the McDs in Lamai was horrid, but the Chaweng shop was OK.

If I want to do high fat, I choose an A&W Teenburger, crispy deep-fried onion rings and a frosty mug of root beer. Yum, but guaranteed to make me ill the next day.

[Begbie]

Fast food is not good for Thai girls as they dont have the genes to cope with it.

Here is my girlfriend before discovering fast food and after.

###### it

Edited April 13, 2007 by Begbie

[cdnvic]

Those trans fats have really improved her flexibility.

[raro]

No point going to a McD in Thiland indeed. In Germany they serve at least beer...

[65Craig]

We're talking about American fast food in Thailand, but hardly anybody's talking about Thai fast food back in the West. I lived in Texas where there must have been 100 Chinese restaurants and food stalls within two kilometers, and a couple of Japanese and Korean restaurants, but the nearest Thai places were much further away, very few in number, too expensive, and the food was a poor imitation of Thai, or just too spicy.

I'm not aware of any pent-up demand for Thai food in the West. I detest Thai food, and I enjoy hamburgers, pizza, mashed potatoes, roast beef, pecan pie, chocolate cake, ice cream, roast turkey with cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy - is anybody hungry yet?

There's a big chain of Louisiana style Cajun fried chicken in the south - probably the one that bought up Church's, called Popeye's - and their spicy chicken had lots of tabasco sauce. Buffalo wings are spicy, and they're from upstate New York. You never know; Thai fast food might catch on.

Can't speak for Texas, but in California (SF BAY AREA) you'll find a Thai Restaurant every 4 or 5 blocks in most cities in the area (also have tons of Thai/South East Asian Produce/Food Markets). Then again, the San Francisco Bay Area has a huge Thai/Asian population. Anyway, the quality of the restaurants tend to be hit or miss though... Some great, some not so... But what I found to be the case, Thai food in the US is fairly expensive.

As for fast food, I love it!!! Of course I wouldn't live on the stuff, but love getting a BIG MAC and FRIES fix every few weeks does me right. Anyway, I just wish TACO BELL would take hold outside the US... IMHO it's by far the best and cheapest of all the fast food joints.