Outside of a few in big cities, restaurants in Thailand generally don't cater to vegetarian tastes. The number specializing in Thai vegetarian food is especially small, although a few are springing up in big cities, as this earlier Suite 101 article notes.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of fresh vegetables and vegetable dishes in Thailand. And cooks are willing to do their best. The following words and phrases will help grease the way.
ahaan mang sa wi raht—vegetarian food.
raan ahaan mang sa wi raht—vegetarian restaurant.
raan ahaan mang sa wi raht tee nai?—where is a/the vegetarian restaurant?
mai sai nua tuk chanit—don't put in meat of any kind.
mai sai nua/gai/muu/plaa/nam plaa—don't put in beef/chicken/pork/fish/fish sauce
mai kin sat—I don't eat flesh.
may kin nam plaa—I don’t eat fish sauce.
kin plaa—I eat fish.
kin jay--I eat vegetarian foods. Especially refers to Chinese vegetarian cuisine, which omits strong flavors.
aroy—delicious
Food Courts and Indian Restaurants
There's more vegetarian cuisine in Thailand than is advertised. Particularly in restaurants frequented by foreigners, it's always worth asking for a vegetarian menu, although it’s possible the vegetables have been cooked in oil already used to cook meat or fish. Not many Thai cooks will know to substitute soy sauce for fish sauce. Vegans and other picky eaters should bear in mind that when it’s served in outdoor stalls and food courts, phat thai, a vegetarian standby, is usually cooked in the same big flat iron pan as a mussel dish. Oil made from animal fat is less of a worry because palm oil is the usual cooking oil in cheap eateries.
Hospital cafeterias and food courts commonly have a stall or two with tofu dishes and vegetarian noodles, though brown rice is scarce. The food court on the sixth floor of Siam Square’s bustling MBK shopping mall In Bangkok has a prime selection.So does the food court on the ground floor of the more upscale Paragon shopping mall, also in Siam Square. In big cities and tourist haunts, Indian restaurants are always a safe option. In Chinatown, in the vicinity of Charoen Krung Road, there are also several modest Chinese vegetarian restaurants.
Thailand's Chinese Vegetarian Festival
Kin jay becomes a popular phrase every year during the annual Chinese vegetarian festival. For vegetarians, especially vegans, this is the best time to visit Thailand. The Kin Jay festival takes place during the first nine days of the lunar month, which usually starts in late September or early October.
The vegetarian festival has a strange permutation in Phuket. Some devotees there pierce their tongues, cheeks or bare backs with skewers. Is seems likely that Chinese in Phuket borrowed these practices from a Hindus, since some Tamils in Malaysia and Singapore prepare themselves with a vegetarian diet before mortifying themselves in this way during the Thaipusam festival.
Fake Meats from Soy Products
At any rate, these rituals are unknown to Buddhists elsewhere in Thailand. But many, many Thais, whether they have Chinese ancestors or not, do eagerly participate in the Kin Jeh festival each year by abstaining from meat and dairy products and eating the prescribed vegetarian diet for nine days. It excludes onions, garlic and spicy condiments. It does include “fake meats” made from mushrooms, soy products and gluten.
In any sizable town, restaurants and outdoor food stalls will be promoting their kin jeh foods. Look for stalls and restaurants sporting yellow flags. The big upscale hotels also go all out with vegetarian menus and vegetarian buffets during this period. In smaller towns with Chinese Buddhist temples, vegetarian meals will be served on the temple grounds everyday.
On the always informative Paknam websites, here’s description of the festival’s spiritual underpinnings and purification ceremony at a Chinese temple in Samut Prakan, a suburb of Bangkok. Note the advice on proper clothing for visitors to the temple during this time.
Susan Cunningham - I'm a well-traveled writer and editor living in Thailand. My travel articles have appeared in in-flights, newspapers and guidebooks.
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