Eating Food Of Thai People.

[puggadkaw1209]

I believe that eating fast food is bad for three reasons. First, fast food cause people to sick. Eating fast food cause you fat because fast food is mad from a lot of flour, meat, oil, sugar which give you calories more than the body needs. Most fast food lacks vegetable, vitamin. When you eat fast food often, it makes you hypertension. Second, eating fast food makes you an extravagant person, such as you will agree to pay money for convenience. Fast food makes you a lazy person, you will be lazy for cooking, washing containers, because fast food restaurants have home delivery. Finally, fast food destroys the environment. The containers from fast food, you can use only one time which causes garbage. Furthermore, delivery causes air pollution from motorcycles, and wasteful energy.

In conclusion, because eating fast food causes people to be sick such as fat, hypertension. If you fast food often, you will be extravagant person, lazy person. Especially containers from fast food destroy the environment, so I think that everybody shouldn’t eat fast food.

What do you think about fast food?

[sharecropper]

I think it is responsible for encouraging mental laziness - and stupidity.

I'm sure I can find an example for you somewhere to illustrate my point......

[Penkoprod]

Is there a point to you posting this multiple times?

Did a Big Mac make you ill, or something?

Penkoprod

[richard_smith237]

It serves it's purpose when I am in a rush - I eat which ever is most convenient or nearest.

i.e. in a shopping mall then its KFC or McD. or Burger king. If its out and about, on the street somewhere then some street BBQ satay sticks etc does the trick.

We could all live without fast food, but its also a convenience many of us sometimes use when time dictates.

With regards to health and environmental issues - much of that is down to government and market forces...

i.e. in the UK we can get a relatively decent Salad from McDonnalds, I've yet to find that here.

Regarding litter, many of the containers are cardboard and more environmentally friendly than the old polystyrene boxes, biodegradable bags are available in the plastics market but the government does not push this. More can always be done to educate these companies and the consumers but generally it has to come from higher up.

[GuestHouse]

Somewhat amusing that when we start a holier than thou discussion on fast food we focus on KFC, McD and the other 'imported' fast foods while completely ignoring the tons of home (Thai) produced fast foods that are full of crap.

Thai food laced with sugar, sausages containing god knows what, same same chinese fish/meat balls, deep fried/stir fried anything that will go in a wok and all manner of crap so long as it comes in a plastic bag/styrene box.

[dumball]

['GuestHouse' date=2010-01-03 21:21:12' post='3242114]

Somewhat amusing that when we start a holier than thou discussion on fast food we focus on KFC, McD and the other 'imported' fast foods while completely ignoring the tons of home (Thai) produced fast foods that are full of crap.

Thai food laced with sugar, sausages containing god knows what, same same chinese fish/meat balls, deep fried/stir fried anything that will go in a wok and all manner of crap so long as it comes in a plastic bag/styrene box.

I wrote a similar response to this only in more detail , street vendor food has amongst the most hazardous of contents you can imagine .

Somehow it got lost , it was added to the original post , but POOF .

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

white "starter diabetes" rice which has all its nutrients stripped away

food fried in oil that is toxic with inflammation pulsing free radicals

Red Bull sugar energy drink industry exported to the rest of the world

diarhea inducing somtom with hepatitis river crabs

charred meat which pollutes the air with smoke and seasoned with tuk tuk exhaust

cheap whisky and beer for formaldyhide hangovers

please let me eat some more Thai foods so I can be healthy. it's a dream come true.

[h90]

Somewhat amusing that when we start a holier than thou discussion on fast food we focus on KFC, McD and the other 'imported' fast foods while completely ignoring the tons of home (Thai) produced fast foods that are full of crap.

Thai food laced with sugar, sausages containing god knows what, same same chinese fish/meat balls, deep fried/stir fried anything that will go in a wok and all manner of crap so long as it comes in a plastic bag/styrene box.

That's the usual USA bashing. You must be against McDonalds, KFC etc etc because it comes from USA.

Complete ignoring that a lot of Thai or European food is nothing better......

[Thanyaburi Mac]

The Poster forgets about Thai "fast food" there on the sidewalk cooking stalls, sides of the roads, gas stations all over the country. Push carts around the offices. Push carts IN the offices, up and down the aisles between the desks. Hey, they're all overt the place.

Back in 1977 when I first got back to USAID/W, I was tasked to write a couple paras to an audit report stating that there was, horror of horrors, a commercial cafeteria in the USAID/BBangkok funded office digs. Yep, there was. My response was that the concessionaire also paid an appropriate rent, but mainly that it kept the employees, mostly Thai, right around during the work day. Especially with the food push carts, they could snack 4-5 times a day at their desks, a necessary evil in a Thai office context.

Mac

[Travel2003]

Somewhat amusing that when we start a holier than thou discussion on fast food we focus on KFC, McD and the other 'imported' fast foods while completely ignoring the tons of home (Thai) produced fast foods that are full of crap.

Thai food laced with sugar, sausages containing god knows what, same same chinese fish/meat balls, deep fried/stir fried anything that will go in a wok and all manner of crap so long as it comes in a plastic bag/styrene box.

That's the usual USA bashing. You must be against McDonalds, KFC etc etc because it comes from USA.

Complete ignoring that a lot of Thai or European food is nothing better......

Is it USA bashing?

The majority of the fast food chains just happen to come from USA.

Simple as that.

No conspiracy against USA.

Stop being such a paranoid American.

To OP.

Thank you for making me smile.

Reading the post is quite amusing really.

Oh, by the way, most of the plastic containers are being used for other stuff later on.

Thnx to the fast food delivery, we dont ned to go out and buy containers.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Travel2003

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Credit where credit is due. USA is the leader in a lot of things including unhealthy fast food, efficient food logistics and organic healthy foods. Rodale was the American guy who started the organic food revolution. Rudolph Steiner who started biodynamic farming. Permaculture farming ,Food combining, Raw/living food movement, detoxifying diets and all sorts of things. The engine and nerve center of the health movement in the world is the USA.

It's easy to be a follower and complain about things.

Chains like Whole Foods, Wild Oats and many other shopping outlets with their organic fare and supplements in the USA are decades ahead of what is available or even thought of in Thailand.

I love living in Thailand but the healthy food choices in the USA are light years ahead of Thailands.

Edited January 3, 2010 by CobraSnakeNecktie

[bankruatsteve]

Are you doing this for a school project? In any case, your conclusions should be based on research versus what appears to be things you have heard.

Here's some things to consider:

"fast food" is still food and contains mostly same ingredients and cooking style as you get at home or restaurants for the same meal. ie: "fast food" doesn't "cause" the things you state - it's the choice you make for what you eat that can contribute to those conditions.

The basic meal in fast food is usually nutritious and can be part of a good diet. ie: the hamburger, pizza, chicken, taco, whatever. The "bad" stuff is the crap that usually goes with it: fries, chips, soda, etc. and, of course, if you eat too much and gulp it down you probably get sick no matter what it is.

Oh and, if you did do your research, you would find that most fast food chains now use recycled material for the package.

Finally, getting an opionion poll is just interesting - it's not research.

Cheers

[dumball]

'h90' date='2010-01-03 21:43:01' post='3242146']GuestHouse' post='3242114' date='2010-01-03 21:21:12']Somewhat amusing that when we start a holier than thou discussion on fast food we focus on KFC, McD and the other 'imported' fast foods while completely ignoring the tons of home (Thai) produced fast foods that are full of crap.

Thai food laced with sugar, sausages containing god knows what, same same chinese fish/meat balls, deep fried/stir fried anything that will go in a wok and all manner of crap so long as it comes in a plastic bag/styrene box.

That's the usual USA bashing. You must be against McDonalds, KFC etc etc because it comes from USA.

Complete ignoring that a lot of Thai or European food is nothing better......

Please re-read what Guesthouse ACTUALY wrote , you have implied it assbakerds !!

He was not USA bashing at all , in his second part he refered to Thai food being an home-grown junk food supplier with environmentaly hazardous packaging , and I agree with him .

At least the imported food is prepared in a far more hygenic manner , obviating all of the ingrediants vendor foods 'Imported ' from the polluted air and road traffic , plus bacteria from the uncovered mouths of the omnipotent coughers/sneezers passing by .No msg or cooking in unhealthy palm oil .

[StreetCowboy]

Credit where credit is due. USA is the leader in a lot of things including unhealthy fast food, efficient food logistics and organic healthy foods. Rodale was the American guy who started the organic food revolution. Rudolph Steiner who started biodynamic farming. Permaculture farming ,Food combining, Raw/living food movement, detoxifying diets and all sorts of things. The engine and nerve center of the health movement in the world is the USA.

It's easy to be a follower and complain about things.

Chains like Whole Foods, Wild Oats and many other shopping outlets with their organic fare and supplements in the USA are decades ahead of what is available or even thought of in Thailand.

I love living in Thailand but the healthy food choices in the USA are light years ahead of Thailands.

I am full of admiration for Macdonalds.

Their quality management is second to none. Their ability to deliver a consistent product across national and cultural boundaries is unsurpassed, and is something that my own employer should be studying hard in order to do the same, albeit in a field as different as could be imagined...

I suppose Subway comes close, and maybe faces the additional challenge of having to deliver fresh ingredients as well.

In addition, Macdonalds seem to appeal to a juvenile palate across cultural backgrounds regardless of the food in the home, thus making children the world over fast-food addicts in a way that the tobacco companies can only dream of.

When I order food, most of the time I really want to avoid surprises, so I prefer either my own regular favourites, or a chain that delivers consistent quality and a consistent menu, which Macdonalds excels at. The food is so terrible I would virtually never eat there, but I can see why other people might...

SC

[givenall]

Thanks to McDonald, Berger King and KFC, I have noticed during past 10 years, the Thai people have become overweight, especially the gals. They are no longer slim as they used to be

[StreetCowboy]

Thanks to McDonald, Berger King and KFC, I have noticed during past 10 years, the Thai people have become overweight, especially the gals. They are no longer slim as they used to be

I don't understand how McDonalds, Burger King and KFC have helped you notice that. Improved eyesight is not a commonly-claimed benefit for fast food.

SC

[yabaaaa]

I think it is responsible for encouraging mental laziness - and stupidity.

I'm sure I can find an example for you somewhere to illustrate my point......

"but I cant right now im chomping on my burger"?

[mxr]

At least fast food at KFC, McD, Subway etc is clean.... so is the shop.

How many RATS have you seen in the gutter next to noodle stands? Rats all

over bangkok and chiang mai, especially in the gutters next to many food stalls

and street vendors.

What about the street vendors not using gloves, and touching the friend chicken

or pork with their hands as they cut it on the wooden board, then using their hands

to put it on top of the rice and "squeeze it into place"?

Do they use good quality olive oil in the woks for frying? I think not, probably the

cheapest oil they can get in bulk. And many times it tastes many days old.

Had a rotee the other day, the butter/margarine looked nothing like butter, it was

bright orange! the honey was "imitation honey". I vomited at night later, I am sure it

was the orange "butter".

Saw a kaew teow (noodle) street vendor in CM stomp dead 2 cockroaches while we

were eating.

Saw another girl (maybe 25), very dirty clothes, hands, and period red stain on her shorts

cooking and serving, close to tapae gate in CM, using her hands to put those "doritoes"

style chips in the noodle bowl. (we didnt eat but left, disgusting).

My gf had a small cockroach in her fried rice at another food court. I had hairs in food on several

occasions, one in passeyu (fried noodles), one in fried chicken rice. Both were very long!

Not many vendors wear hair nets.

In all my years of McD, BK, etc, I cannot say I have seen any rats in the shops, or cockroaches

around the table or food, and the people have clean uniforms. Only had one hair 1 time!

Happy eating....

[whichschool]

I never eat thai food on the street as i cant see too much nutrition in most of it, little leaves and fatty bits of meat cooked in some extremely unhealthy saturated fat with a bit of msg thrown in for good measure, with crockery and cutlery washed in the dirtiest of water imagineable.

The reason Thais are getting fatter is becasue there is as Guesthouse says an abundance of deep fried vile looking food sold by Thai vendors dont blame Americans or Mcdonalds for this surely they have to take blame/praise for what they do in life without the need to blame others, and dare i say the aversion to exercise that most seem to have.

Plus the fact many have more money then 10yrs ago, and food is the easiest/favourite thing for people to buy with excess cash.

Edited January 3, 2010 by whichschool

[orosee]

The concept of "fast food" is already outdated. It was once a valid distinction from restaurant prepared food and has played a role in many discussions in the 70s and 80s, but doesn't hold up as the only alternative to restaurant or home cooked meals anymore. hence before this discussion was started, the OP should have made a clear definition of what kind of food he/she wants to set against what other kinds of food.

For example, a daily bar of chocolate, a double scoop of Baskin-Robbins and a pint of sugar laced milk will prove more dangerous to children's health than a weekly visit do McD, KFC and the other franchises, especially those who offer more balanced meals.

As it has been said before, "fast" food is available on the street and in shops every couple of meters in Thailand, I can get a nice soup or rice dish from a vendor within minutes and less. So speed is not really an issue here, and there is no reason why a "slow" Chinese restaurant should not use MSG and other food irritants in their dishes.

Bashing the global franchises can make sense for some but the underlying reasons are too often unconnected with nutritional purposes. A valid argument would in any case have to include the food sources and manner of "growing" (if you've seen "Food, Inc." you'll know what I mean) and their impact on the environmental and social structures in addition to health issues.

Basically, the question could only properly we worded as:

"Is eating (mostly) healthy food better than eating (mostly) unhealthy food" or "Is a balanced diet better than a life-shortening one"

which is of course a trivial question with a predetermined answer, or in other words: "duh".

And the reason why Thai kids (and Korean, Chinese etc. kids) are getting fatter is not because of McD et al, but because their parents don't know or don't care. Cigarettes also don't cause cancer, but smoking lots of them does you no good. But I have the feeling that the OP would prefer an argumentation along the lines that Western cigarettes are bad for you and that's why Thais should stick to their traditional ones (or maybe it is the teacher who wants this result?).

[Dakhar]

At least fast food at KFC, McD, Subway etc is clean.... so is the shop.

How many RATS have you seen in the gutter next to noodle stands? Rats all

over bangkok and chiang mai, especially in the gutters next to many food stalls

and street vendors.

What about the street vendors not using gloves, and touching the friend chicken

or pork with their hands as they cut it on the wooden board, then using their hands

to put it on top of the rice and "squeeze it into place"?

Do they use good quality olive oil in the woks for frying? I think not, probably the

cheapest oil they can get in bulk. And many times it tastes many days old.

Had a rotee the other day, the butter/margarine looked nothing like butter, it was

bright orange! the honey was "imitation honey". I vomited at night later, I am sure it

was the orange "butter".

Saw a kaew teow (noodle) street vendor in CM stomp dead 2 cockroaches while we

were eating.

Saw another girl (maybe 25), very dirty clothes, hands, and period red stain on her shorts

cooking and serving, close to tapae gate in CM, using her hands to put those "doritoes"

style chips in the noodle bowl. (we didnt eat but left, disgusting).

My gf had a small cockroach in her fried rice at another food court. I had hairs in food on several

occasions, one in passeyu (fried noodles), one in fried chicken rice. Both were very long!

Not many vendors wear hair nets.

In all my years of McD, BK, etc, I cannot say I have seen any rats in the shops, or cockroaches

around the table or food, and the people have clean uniforms. Only had one hair 1 time!

Happy eating....

We have one portable soup stall near the house. The lady rents a covered area near some shops. Any how, you can commonly see her laying day on some flattened out card board sleeping with her dog. Pretty nasty sight really.... my wife and I refuse to eat at her facility.

[IanForbes]

Fast food? Naw, I just kill something, drag it out of the bush and cook it on a stick over a campfire. Soi dogs are a big skinny and stringy, but they'll do the job in a pinch. Then I'll just steal a few vegetables out of my neighbour's garden to supplement my diet. None of those chemical covered veggies from the supermarket for me.

[Birdman]

They are fat because of the easy and appreciated availability of all kind of Western food almost everywhere in the country nowadays. People are overwhelmed and heavily influenced by the enormous omnipresence of the advertisements of the big food chains. Rice soup for breakfast will soon be a thing of the past.

Poster here defending fast food and looking down on street food seem to do that just only because they prefer to eat fast food over street food.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Simple people want to vilify certain foods but it's not the foods fault. It's the users problem to figure out how to eat properly. For much of human history there was not enough food for humans. Humans often stole from each other to survive and hunted, foraged and killed anything they could to go forward. In the last 100 or so years modern industry with the help of petro chemicals and other farming techniques have created a food bounty like nothing the species has ever seen. All of a sudden people have too much food in some countries. In the short term this is a bit of a problem because humans don't know how to stop eating or select from so many choices. Their survival systems cause them to eat and eat and favor sweet, salty and fatty foods. As countries and cultures come to grips with this new food over abundance then they learn to select healthier foods and eat less while exercising more. It's a learning process.

This is big now in countries like the US/EU etc where obesity and diseases of wealth are perceived to be harmful and unecessary mistakes. In a relatively newly developing country like Thailand where starvation was common not too long ago then it's hard to turn down that fried chicken or chunk of pork leg.

There is no reason to punish a food for being delicious, interesting or being a creative invention. It's just unwise to use these foods to the point where they are harming our health.

Eating fried chicken whether its KFC or roadside street food is fine for a special treat but eat it everyday and it's lethal.

It's kind of like guns. Guns can protect you and save your family, culture or country or they can kill you to steal your happiness. It all depends on how they are used.

[mxr]

At least fast food at KFC, McD, Subway etc is clean.... so is the shop.

How many RATS have you seen in the gutter next to noodle stands? Rats all

over bangkok and chiang mai, especially in the gutters next to many food stalls

and street vendors.

What about the street vendors not using gloves, and touching the friend chicken

or pork with their hands as they cut it on the wooden board, then using their hands

to put it on top of the rice and "squeeze it into place"?

Do they use good quality olive oil in the woks for frying? I think not, probably the

cheapest oil they can get in bulk. And many times it tastes many days old.

Had a rotee the other day, the butter/margarine looked nothing like butter, it was

bright orange! the honey was "imitation honey". I vomited at night later, I am sure it

was the orange "butter".

Saw a kaew teow (noodle) street vendor in CM stomp dead 2 cockroaches while we

were eating.

Saw another girl (maybe 25), very dirty clothes, hands, and period red stain on her shorts

cooking and serving, close to tapae gate in CM, using her hands to put those "doritoes"

style chips in the noodle bowl. (we didnt eat but left, disgusting).

My gf had a small cockroach in her fried rice at another food court. I had hairs in food on several

occasions, one in passeyu (fried noodles), one in fried chicken rice. Both were very long!

Not many vendors wear hair nets.

In all my years of McD, BK, etc, I cannot say I have seen any rats in the shops, or cockroaches

around the table or food, and the people have clean uniforms. Only had one hair 1 time!

Happy eating....

We have one portable soup stall near the house. The lady rents a covered area near some shops. Any how, you can commonly see her laying day on some flattened out card board sleeping with her dog. Pretty nasty sight really.... my wife and I refuse to eat at her facility.

absolutely! the dogs near the food stalls are disgusting, I have also seen the vendors touching the dogs and then touching plates, cutlery, without washing hands.

another one of my favourite is the black plastic bowls they use to was the dishes, they keep them on the ground, then when they dont look, a dog or chicken wanders by to eat scraps. very hygienic!

Edited January 4, 2010 by mxr

[dumball]

'Birdman' date='2010-01-04 13:54:24' post='3243333']

They are fat because of the easy and appreciated availability of all kind of Western food almost everywhere in the country nowadays. People are overwhelmed and heavily influenced by the enormous omnipresence of the advertisements of the big food chains. Rice soup for breakfast will soon be a thing of the past.

Poster here defending fast food and looking down on street food seem to do that just only because they prefer to eat fast food over street food.

You can defend as much as you like , I never eat vendor food , and very seldom eat Thai or fast foods , I have too much respect for my internal workings thank you very much . Works fine for me .

[MAJIC]

PUGGADKOW1209

Unfortunately most of what you say is correct,most races go for it even Thais in vast quantities.

[Dakhar]

At least fast food at KFC, McD, Subway etc is clean.... so is the shop.

How many RATS have you seen in the gutter next to noodle stands? Rats all

over bangkok and chiang mai, especially in the gutters next to many food stalls

and street vendors.

What about the street vendors not using gloves, and touching the friend chicken

or pork with their hands as they cut it on the wooden board, then using their hands

to put it on top of the rice and "squeeze it into place"?

Do they use good quality olive oil in the woks for frying? I think not, probably the

cheapest oil they can get in bulk. And many times it tastes many days old.

Had a rotee the other day, the butter/margarine looked nothing like butter, it was

bright orange! the honey was "imitation honey". I vomited at night later, I am sure it

was the orange "butter".

Saw a kaew teow (noodle) street vendor in CM stomp dead 2 cockroaches while we

were eating.

Saw another girl (maybe 25), very dirty clothes, hands, and period red stain on her shorts

cooking and serving, close to tapae gate in CM, using her hands to put those "doritoes"

style chips in the noodle bowl. (we didnt eat but left, disgusting).

My gf had a small cockroach in her fried rice at another food court. I had hairs in food on several

occasions, one in passeyu (fried noodles), one in fried chicken rice. Both were very long!

Not many vendors wear hair nets.

In all my years of McD, BK, etc, I cannot say I have seen any rats in the shops, or cockroaches

around the table or food, and the people have clean uniforms. Only had one hair 1 time!

Happy eating....

We have one portable soup stall near the house. The lady rents a covered area near some shops. Any how, you can commonly see her laying day on some flattened out card board sleeping with her dog. Pretty nasty sight really.... my wife and I refuse to eat at her facility.

absolutely! the dogs near the food stalls are disgusting, I have also seen the vendors touching the dogs and then touching plates, cutlery, without washing hands.

another one of my favourite is the black plastic bowls they use to was the dishes, they keep them on the ground, then when they dont look, a dog or chicken wanders by to eat scraps. very hygienic!

I have seen them washing dishes with canal water.... just plain nasty

honestly, I don't like the cleanliness level of even American standards.... so Thailand doesn't have a prayer....

I keep a box of Tinidazol handy.

[Wossnext]

At least fast food at KFC, McD, Subway etc is clean.... so is the shop.

How many RATS have you seen in the gutter next to noodle stands? Rats all

over bangkok and chiang mai, especially in the gutters next to many food stalls

and street vendors.

What about the street vendors not using gloves, and touching the friend chicken

or pork with their hands as they cut it on the wooden board, then using their hands

to put it on top of the rice and "squeeze it into place"?

Do they use good quality olive oil in the woks for frying? I think not, probably the

cheapest oil they can get in bulk. And many times it tastes many days old.

Had a rotee the other day, the butter/margarine looked nothing like butter, it was

bright orange! the honey was "imitation honey". I vomited at night later, I am sure it

was the orange "butter".

Saw a kaew teow (noodle) street vendor in CM stomp dead 2 cockroaches while we

were eating.

Saw another girl (maybe 25), very dirty clothes, hands, and period red stain on her shorts

cooking and serving, close to tapae gate in CM, using her hands to put those "doritoes"

style chips in the noodle bowl. (we didnt eat but left, disgusting).

My gf had a small cockroach in her fried rice at another food court. I had hairs in food on several

occasions, one in passeyu (fried noodles), one in fried chicken rice. Both were very long!

Not many vendors wear hair nets.

In all my years of McD, BK, etc, I cannot say I have seen any rats in the shops, or cockroaches

around the table or food, and the people have clean uniforms. Only had one hair 1 time!

Happy eating....

I am not a mad burger eater tho' I do love a good subway sarnie. I have only been here in BKK a month or so and already I have seen way too many roadside ramsay's coughing, sneezing, smoking and just generally doing things with their hands prior to preparing food that could be considered as downright disgusting!! having said that of course I still eat at some of them, but after reading this thread maybe I will cut down and start consuming more big macs and those delicious embryo tenders from KFC ughhh! guess it's those 25 baht feeds that keeps us going back huh?

[sharecropper]

I like your phraseology!

I am not a mad burger eater