Not sharing food

[overherebc]

As someone who doesn't like most Thai food if we go out as a group most times I prefer to order something for myself that I like and eat only that.

I don't eat anything of any of the other dishes.

It seems that some in the company have commented about my not sharing.

Any out there agree or disagree with them?

[thai3]

Just ignore them, it's a cultural thing like sitting on the floor to eat or squat toilets, not our concern

[bubba1]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

[overherebc]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

Should have said comments were made by expats.

[bubba1]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

Should have said comments were made by expats.

I dont usually eat Thai food with expats we eat farang food. Take a burger with you next time

[overherebc]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

Should have said comments were made by expats.

I dont usually eat Thai food with expats we eat farang food. Take a burger with you next time

Often thought about it just to piss them off. ☺

[Koosdedooes]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

Should have said comments were made by expats.

Cheap Charlies ?.... you ordered steak and they order a bowl of mamma noodles or plain white rice and were wanting some of your steak for free in typical cheap charlie fashion...if they were expats just tell them to go f themselves...they are those who have gone native and believe they are Thaier than Thai...?

[Koosdedooes]

It will be strange for some Thai people but a lot of things we do are strange.

You can order a 'lat khao' which is a dish over rice on one plate and it will be less weird in their eyes.

Should have said comments were made by expats.

I dont usually eat Thai food with expats we eat farang food. Take a burger with you next time

Often thought about it just to piss them off. ☺

I am not one for communal grazing, so irrespective of the company, I normally order for myself and if anyone goes near my plate ,including my Mrs, they will risk getting a fork stuck in the back of their hands....If you want what I am eating order your own..

[anotheruser]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

[Koosdedooes]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

Take your fork or a steak knife, and stab them in the hand....it works promise

[Fookhaht]

Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore.

You have to decide if your smooth relationships with your "company" are more important than your dyed-in-the-wool eating habits. I think your refusal to integrate into your friends' culture is seen as snobbish. "Eating culture" is huge in Thailand, and meals are a group-relationship event--much more than in Western culture. When you refuse to eat their style and their food, you are saying much more than you realize about yourself and about your desire (or lack of desire) to connect with them.

I enjoy my Thai friends, and they are comfortable around me. It came at a price--among many things, learning to eat the way they do, and even learning to eat Thai dishes that I formerly didn't care for. But I value relationships over "having it my own way" in many areas of life--especially when trying to connect across cultures.

[Jingthing]

Yes, what the OP is doing is definitely deviant. I would suggest ordering TWO of the dish he wants to eat and bogart one plate and stick the other one in the middle. Meeting the culture halfway. I love Asian style share style eating. You get to taste different dishes and if people order well you get a balanced meal nutritionally. Sure noodle soup dishes and one dish with rice dishes would be exceptions.

[Fookhaht]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

For some odd reason, one is tempted to assume you are unmarried/un-partnered, from a single-child family, and/or a Cheap Charlie.

If the first two aren't true, pity the spouse/partner, and your siblings. If the last isn't true, why don't you just double-order your favorite dish so all can enjoy (as per Jingthing)?

Edited May 26, 2016 by Fookhaht

[Fookhaht]

One very common practice among Thais, when foreigners or special guests are present, is to pick the tastiest morsel from the community plate, and put it on your plate, using the spoon/fork/chopsticks they have been eating with. It is an act of honor towards a special person or guest.

I'm wondering how the OP would react to this? Hmmmm.....thought so.

[anotheruser]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

For some odd reason, one is tempted to assume you are unmarried/un-partnered, from a single-child family, and/or a Cheap Charlie.

If the first two aren't true, pity the spouse/partner, and your siblings. If the last isn't true, why don't you just double-order your favorite dish so all can enjoy (as per Jingthing)?

None of those are true. If they want what I am eating so much why don't they order some? Why is it they always seem to eat what I am having and usually there is a good amount of what they ordered left over?

It has nothing to do with money. I couldn't even have foreseen that issue being brought up. Maybe you tink too mut.

Edited May 26, 2016 by anotheruser

[Caps]

Me and my partner often get mix of food which we both like and share it/pick at it all, I haven't done it with loads of other people

[Fookhaht]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

For some odd reason, one is tempted to assume you are unmarried/un-partnered, from a single-child family, and/or a Cheap Charlie.

If the first two aren't true, pity the spouse/partner, and your siblings. If the last isn't true, why don't you just double-order your favorite dish so all can enjoy (as per Jingthing)?

None of those are true. If they want what I am eating so much why don't they order some? Why is it they always seem to eat what I am having and usually there is a good amount of what they ordered left over?

It has nothing to do with money. I couldn't even have foreseen that issue being brought up. Maybe you tink too mut.

Well there you go. I don't know, in God's name, what came over me, to think such thoughts.

[anotheruser]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

For some odd reason, one is tempted to assume you are unmarried/un-partnered, from a single-child family, and/or a Cheap Charlie.

If the first two aren't true, pity the spouse/partner, and your siblings. If the last isn't true, why don't you just double-order your favorite dish so all can enjoy (as per Jingthing)?

None of those are true. If they want what I am eating so much why don't they order some? Why is it they always seem to eat what I am having and usually there is a good amount of what they ordered left over?

It has nothing to do with money. I couldn't even have foreseen that issue being brought up. Maybe you tink too mut.

Well there you go. I don't know, in God's name, what came over me, to think such thoughts.

Being a judgmental jack ass probably...

[Fookhaht]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

For some odd reason, one is tempted to assume you are unmarried/un-partnered, from a single-child family, and/or a Cheap Charlie.

If the first two aren't true, pity the spouse/partner, and your siblings. If the last isn't true, why don't you just double-order your favorite dish so all can enjoy (as per Jingthing)?

None of those are true. If they want what I am eating so much why don't they order some? Why is it they always seem to eat what I am having and usually there is a good amount of what they ordered left over?

It has nothing to do with money. I couldn't even have foreseen that issue being brought up. Maybe you tink too mut.

Well there you go. I don't know, in God's name, what came over me, to think such thoughts.

Being a judgmental jack ass probably...

Especially with nothing to go on. Shame.

[Koosdedooes]

Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore.

You have to decide if your smooth relationships with your "company" are more important than your dyed-in-the-wool eating habits. I think your refusal to integrate into your friends' culture is seen as snobbish. "Eating culture" is huge in Thailand, and meals are a group-relationship event--much more than in Western culture. When you refuse to eat their style and their food, you are saying much more than you realize about yourself and about your desire (or lack of desire) to connect with them.

I enjoy my Thai friends, and they are comfortable around me. It came at a price--among many things, learning to eat the way they do, and even learning to eat Thai dishes that I formerly didn't care for. But I value relationships over "having it my own way" in many areas of life--especially when trying to connect across cultures.

oh dear....

[lovelomsak]

People share food the world over that is social aspect of eating internationally.

Where I come from the food is served to the table same as here on plates platters and bowls.We take it from the server dish put on our plate. What is different here?

If some one cannot sit down at a table with people and share food they have a real problem with social grace I would say.

The only difference I see between here and my home country .is at home we fill our plate then eat direct from the plate till done.. Here they take a little a little at a a time and only one thing and eat it.Going back to the server plate for a portion at a time.

To be so up tight a person cannot make that small adjustment ,they probably have some other more severe problems in their life adjusting to things around them.

Edited May 26, 2016 by lovelomsak

[Jingthing]

There are cultural differences. Sure there is family style eating in many cultures, but generally in the west, you order a main plate for yourself and perhaps share appetizers and/or desserts.

Asian food usually lend itself to sharing. You've often got your starch (usually rice) and vegetables in separate dishes. In a typical western main dish, you get the starch and vegetable on the main plate. Obviously there are always exceptions.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Jingthing

[NickJ]

Next time I have a cold sore....Bills on me..

[SoiBiker]

Maybe you should just eat alone?

Alternatively, open your mind a little and try their food. You might just end up liking it.

[richard_smith237]

The Op makes a point I haven't considered before:

When going to a Western Style restaurant where a customer would traditionally order their own dish I have to question 'how we are going to eat' before ordering...

This is because after living in Thailand for so long I enjoy sharing and guess my dining companions have also become accustomed to doing so.

Generally we will 'group order' and share unless we've decided upon our own individual meals, in which case we always end up have a little bit of the next plate !!!.... sharing has become engrained.

That said: If someone wishes not to share thats their choice and I wouldn't think too much of it.

[HenryB]

I found out mostly the non payers want everything call it sharing they just want

Also the Super Rich is America just want more.

Do not worry about them enjoy life

[ravip]

I hate having to share. They order a bunch of weird crap and I order something I like. Then they proceed to eat all of mine.

Why not eat alone?

Do they accompany you by force?

Edited May 26, 2016 by ravip

[kannot]

I just dont go out and avoid it all entirely, i wouldnt want to share my plate with anyone,whats so terrible about that.

[ravip]

Just ignore them, it's a cultural thing like sitting on the floor to eat or squat toilets, not our concern

Living in Thailand and ignoring Thais would be a wee bit difficult, I think.

Edited May 26, 2016 by ravip

[slipperylobster]

This bothers me as well. I am generous, and pay the bills....however, whenever we have a group lunch, I never know what they are ordering. Some Thai foods I like, and some I don't. My wife's sister pulls the most weight, and orders all the dishes I cannot eat...without asking me. I decide to get something I can eat, and out comes a little plate of beef, pork or chicken. Now everyone enjoys what I cannot eat and then starts fornicating my food with their eyeballs. Now here comes all their forks...and I am lucky I get one clump of decent meat in my gullet.

Bottom line...I pay the big bill, but get the smallest amount of food. I had to stop doing this altogether. Now I let them go out on their own, and I go to the french restaurant down the street and get my portions.

Bull krap.