Milk In Thailand

[Enjibenji]

Hi there,

I've been to Thailand 4 times and I have not been able to find milk that is like milk here in the UK. I do bodybuilding and I'll easily consume 3.5 litres of milk in a 24 hour period, be it full fat/semi skinned or skinned. The problem is, I travel to Thailand and stay for 1 month+, and whilst sourcing food with enough protein in it is difficult, and protein in Thailand costs an arm compared to back home, I struggle a lot drinking milk since every different type and colour of bottle seems to taste like horse piss. The flavoured stuff tastes ok, but i've got no doubt it is loaded with sugar so I stay away from it.

Is there any milk at all that I've somehow missed that tastes like fresh milk in the UK? I literally gag when I smell Thai milk, let alone when I consume milk in Thailand.

Thanks for any help

[bkkjames]

Hmm - thai food forum is wrong imo, suggest the western one.

Protein expensive here? Check out the price of boneless skinless chicken breasts here and revise your statement.

Milk tastes bad? Meiji brand seems fine to me.

[Thaddeus]

Milk tastes bad? Meiji brand seems fine to me.

Yep, Meiji is fine.

[bkkjames]

I come from a northern hemisphere cold country. When I arrived here many moons ago I didn't understand why the bananas were so sweet and not the same as the one we imported from central america etc.

[ignis]

Worried about Protein, go into a proper Thai side street pharmacy. most expensive way to buy is a blister pack of 10 Protein tablets = 12 baht, buy loose they count out of a big jar = less the half that price.

Buy in a Shopping Mall pharmacy expect to pay at least 3x that.

[IMA_FARANG]

Probably not....for a variety of reasons.

First of all. Milk is NOT a big food item in Thailand.

One reason for this is that Asians, and Thais are included in that group, have a higher percentage of individuals that are genetically Lactose Intolerent...meaning that the Lactose in Milk and Milk products makes them feel unwell...often they feel bloated and "gassy". So Milk isn't a big food item in Thailand for most Thais.

Secondly, most Milk you can find in Thailand is bottled, packaged, or whatever you want to call it by large food companies and therefore marketed for the mass market (and Thais are not great buyers of Milk as I explained above).

So for those two reasons, unless your willing to do the legwork yourself to find a seller of "fresh milk" in Thailand you are unlikely to find anything except pasturized and processed milk for the western farang market. In Thailand that is a niche speciality market mainly selling to foriegners.

Edited July 28, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[Thaddeus]

Probably not....for a variety of reasons.

First of all. Milk is NOT a big food item in Thailand.

One reason for this is that Asians, and Thais are included in that group, have a higher percentage of individuals that are genetically Lactose Intolerant.

Absolutely right.

http://www.foodreactions.org/intolerance/lactose/prevalence.html

We Europeans have a lot to thank the scandi's for.

Makes you wonder why Asian women have those two wobbly things on their chests though.

[Dag]

There are dozens of dairies around us......you can buy a bucket full fresh from the cows gently massaged teats

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I was amazed by all the milk choices here. Back where I came from we only had 2 or 3 to choose from. If milk and Protein is a bring problem, may I suggest stay where you are ?

[Dag]

Chok Chai milk is good....my kids love it.

[lomatopo]

http://365days2play.com/2011/05/10/meiji-milk/

You can find Meiji everywhere, incl. convenience stores like 7-11 and Family Mart. I buy the dark blue (not sure what the fat content is, but I'm pretty sure that's the highest), the light blue is maybe 2% or skim? There are other major, national brands.

While ~ 98% of Thai adults are lactose intolerant, children aren't (yet) so lot's of milk available here.

[Enjibenji]

Thanks for the replies.

If Meiji is the best shops/supermarkets have to offer then looks like I'll be holding my nose again. I've tried green, light blue, dark blue and red(?). Guessing they follow the same colours as milk here at home

One thing I havn't quite got the hang of yet though is reading the contents/label on milk. If anyone has any milk at home, if you could write up the fat/protein/sugar %'s that would be highly appreciated

thanks again

ps. ignis - thanks for the suggestion! Will look into it.

[ScubaBuddha]

Magnolia is also good. You can also get California Sunshine Milk at times at Villa Market. Most others; Chock Chai, Dutch Mill, etc. taste sour/spoiled to me. Not milk like back home for sure.

[Enjibenji]

Magnolia is also good. You can also get California Sunshine Milk at times at Villa Market. Most others; Chock Chai, Dutch Mill, etc. taste sour/spoiled to me. Not milk like back home for sure.

never heard of magnolia or california sunshine milk. We seem to be on the same page when you say the milk tastes sour (I say horse piss) so i'll look out for magnolia/california sunshine milk at villa market!

cheers!

[Cuban]

You need the dark blue cap version.