Why Apartment Doesn'T Usualy Have A Kitchen ?

[Semper]

THe simple reason is that Thai Food is not suited to cooking indoors. Grilling chillies and prawn paste do not leave the room suitable for romantic interludes.

hood fans were made for this exact reason

Have you ever cleaned one of those? This is the reason many houses have an outdoor kitchen (Thai kitchen) as they tend to fry everything in oil. Makes a real mess.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Semper

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

THe simple reason is that Thai Food is not suited to cooking indoors. Grilling chillies and prawn paste do not leave the room suitable for romantic interludes.

hood fans were made for this exact reason

We've got a double unit electric hood fan over the stove in our home.... But every time my wife breaks out the Thai chili powder or starts crushing them fresh in the kitchen, we all start crying. The hood fan will deal some with the food on the stove, but not the preparation process.

[farang000999]

I have never even seen an oven in any apartment ever in Thailand. I think i saw one in a display in a furniture store once. the guy who said u find them in rooms over 10k baht must be crazy.

in farangland my wife cooks all kinds of thai food and smells can sometimes be strong but it is not like it lingers in the house. it is not a big deal for us.

coming back to thailand, this has been a disappoint for my wife as we will go a few months without a proper kitcheen

[IanForbes]

Then what are you complaining about?

Who said I was complaining? I never complain about anything. But, what I do, do is voice my observations. I see no need for a kitchen for myself in Thailand. I would seldom use it. But, I sure use my kitchen a lot in Canada where it's much colder for 10 months of the year. Just today I roasted 3 chickens and prepared a large stir fry that I will use for Thai omellets and various other dishes. Tomorrow I will barbeque some tuna steaks I've taken out of the freezer and thawed.

[thanchart]

That is PRECISELY why I don't call them apartments. What they are is a room for rent that may or may not have a balcony. If you want to eat you are expected to have a meal served at one of the Thai street cafes. If you want to cook something you need to have a balcony and your own little table top stove. Of course, because the apartment also doesn't have any closets you have to store your excess stuff on the balcony. And, in most of these hotel rooms the toilet and shower are in the same small room, meaning that if you want to use the toilet in the evening your feet and butt get wet, so you almost have to strip naked before using what can very loosely be called a "bathroom".

Have you ever seen the bathrooms in many Japanese Hotels? Then you would think those here are a luzxury!

[nocturn]

THe simple reason is that Thai Food is not suited to cooking indoors. Grilling chillies and prawn paste do not leave the room suitable for romantic interludes.

hood fans were made for this exact reason

Have you ever cleaned one of those? This is the reason many houses have an outdoor kitchen (Thai kitchen) as they tend to fry everything in oil. Makes a real mess.

have i? No. My maid certainly has.

every place i have ever lived in has had one, and wiping them down as you go is no hardship. the filter can be cleaned quite easily every once in a while as well

Edited April 4, 2012 by nocturn

[DowntownAl]

Hunt for a place that has the necessary connections on the balcony to set up a kitchen. As some here have said, a kitchen will draw a premium price. I found one here in Chiang Mai that has a water connection a proper drain and an electrical outlet. I spent around 1,600 baht for an aluminum sink/counter set up, a two level microwave cart and a large cutting board. Add to that a microwave, coffee machine and toaster, an electric grill for all of 3,500 baht and you have a kitchen. I can make a falang dinner (boneless pork chop, potato and a veggie) in my place for around 60-70 baht.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

For the kind of money you guys are talking about B10K+, just rent a house! Factor in the reduced utility bill that you're actually paying the government rate ("wholesale" for you apartment/condo dwellers), if you use a lot of A/C that'll probably save at least another B1K a month.

If you're going to be in it for a while, go down to Home Pro and pick up those modular kitchen counters, set up the cooker - even an oven if you like, in front of big sliding windows. My second floor is all kitchen/dining, other than one room where the kids play in the daytime and the maid and her kids sleep at night. I live upstairs from there so don't get bothered by the Thai-style housekeeping downstairs. Separate private office space, full roof area for laundry and a little BBQ/patio area with a hammock - would put in a hot tub if I had the spare change. . .

Also total freedom to choose your own Internet, phone, cable/satellite whatever you like.

You just won't find cheap rents on a main road with lots of shops, just explore the back sois. I actually rented a nice single-story little place with two bedrooms two bathrooms and a decent kitchen for B4,500 once - it was just down a soi that didn't accommodate cars, so had to pay guys to huff the fridge etc down on trolleys.

[Semper]

THe simple reason is that Thai Food is not suited to cooking indoors. Grilling chillies and prawn paste do not leave the room suitable for romantic interludes.

hood fans were made for this exact reason

Have you ever cleaned one of those? This is the reason many houses have an outdoor kitchen (Thai kitchen) as they tend to fry everything in oil. Makes a real mess.

have i? No. My maid certainly has.

every place i have ever lived in has had one, and wiping them down as you go is no hardship. the filter can be cleaned quite easily every once in a while as well

Right. But the hood fan will only pick up half (I'm estimating here) of the oil, the rest will be on the walls, floor etc. And I have no maid.

[thaibeachlovers]

Thais generally just pick up food at the street stalls and eat at home.

Those that do a bit of cooking their kitchen will consist of a gas bottle and a double ring hob out on the balcony.

Exactly. That's what we had in our Pattaya room. Helps if the balcony is large enough.

There are stores with loads of portable table top single, double and even triple burner cookers all over the place.

[PattayaParent]

Then what are you complaining about?

Who said I was complaining? I never complain about anything. But, what I do, do is voice my observations. I see no need for a kitchen for myself in Thailand. I would seldom use it. But, I sure use my kitchen a lot in Canada where it's much colder for 10 months of the year. Just today I roasted 3 chickens and prepared a large stir fry that I will use for Thai omellets and various other dishes. Tomorrow I will barbeque some tuna steaks I've taken out of the freezer and thawed.

Sure sounds like a complaint

And, in most of these hotel rooms the toilet and shower are in the same small room, meaning that if you want to use the toilet in the evening your feet and butt get wet, so you almost have to strip naked before using what can very loosely be called a "bathroom".

[thaibeachlovers]

You might as well ask why apartments don't have darkrooms. Like photography, cooking can be an expensive and time consuming hobby. Most Thais I've talked to see it as a chore more than something fun to do, so it makes sense that the wouldn't need nor want the accoutrements taking up space in an already small apartment.

Well, my wife likes cooking her food, but she does spend a long time preparing it. Compared to Thai food, my western style food that she cooks for me takes a minimum amount of time.

In the village, an added chore for cooking was getting the charcoal brazier going. My MIL got up at dawn to start the fire, and prefered that to the gas cooker that I brought.

[Semper]

my wife likes cooking her food, but she does spend a long time preparing it

I know. A couple of hours a day.

[thaibeachlovers]

my wife likes cooking her food, but she does spend a long time preparing it

I know. A couple of hours a day.

And that doesn't include the time spent getting the ingredients from the market. My wife can be gone for an hour or more, and comes back loaded up with what looks like a veritable forest in mulitudes of plastic bags.