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Vegetarian's Survival Guide to Thailand 

VegetarianDining...Bangkok

Vegetarian ShoppersGuide...Bangkok

The origins of "Jey"food

Loves Thailand Home

 

 

 

Contrary to what many may have youbelieve it is possible to travel and live inThailand quite happy as a vegetarian butit does take a bit of effort.

Living as a vegetariananywhere can be achallenge and inThailand you have theadded difficulties oflanguage andcommunication tograpple with, but youwill find that with afew key words and phrases your diningexperience will be greatly improved. 

The majority of Thais are respectfultowards vegetarians and will be quitewilling to accomodate you at most placesif you are friendly and polite and knowhow to order correctly.

Thailand has some of the best veggiefood the world has to offer, you just needto know where to go and how to order ! 

 

 

Understanding Thai Vegetarian food

In Thailand there are two terms used todescribe vegetarian food. "A-harn Jey"and "A-harn mung-sow-ee-rat".

A-harn means foodJey is vegetarian food ofChinese origin which roughlytranslates as vegan in that itexcludes all meat and animalproducts. Jey is distinctive for it'suse of mock meat subsitutes madefrom mushroom, tofu and wheatgluten. Mang-sow-ee-rat is a Thai wordthat means food with no meatbut can include eggs and dairy.

 

Vocabularary

The Basics‐Eating.......

To eat 

kin

To drink   

derm

I'm hungry 

hew

I'm thirsty    

hew nam

I'm full  

im lao

Spicy     

 pet

Not spicy          

mai pet

Cold/cool            

yen

Hot                      

ron

Everyday Vocab......

 Hello

Sawadee kha (female)*

Sawadee krup (male)*

*kha and khrup areadded to the end of a

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Most places in the south andcentral regions of Thailandwill recognise jey or kin jey (I eat jey ) as a generic termfor a strict vegetarian orvegan diet as we understandit.  As it is a Chinese termand orignates from Chinese

immigrants in the south of Thailand if youtravel to some remote areas in the northor northeast of Thailand it may not berecognised. In this case you can use theterm mang sa wee rat.

 

 

 

How to survive.....

JIf you want to get off the beaten trackbut don't want to starve, learning somebasic Thai phrases can really help youout. To the right of this page  is a list ofvocabulary and useful phrases.

Don't be daunted ! You won't learn itall in one day. It takes a while to getyour head around Thai especially as

it it is a tonal language which is very aliento a western ear and tongue.  Don't loseheart if at first you can't be understood.It's helpful if you can make     friends witha local and ask them to help you withpronunciation.

   

 

Getting started....

There are many great vegetarianrestaurants in Thailand but if you want toget away to some  remote  places or youare somewhere where they don't caterspecifically for vegetarians it's useful tobe able to know how to order some basicdishes.

As an example of how to order food inordinary, non vege restaurants I will use fried rice or "Khaow pad " as a sampledish. You

added to the end of astatement or requestto make it soundpolite and to showrespect

Thankyou

Kop Khun Kha (female)

Kop Khun Krup (male)

Nevermind / it's ok /you're welcome

mai ben rai

How are you?

Sabaadi mai?

I'm fine

Sabaadi Kha / krup

Fun

sannok

Delicious

a roi

Beautiful

sue ay

Forienger of Europeandecent

farang

Ordering and makingrequests......

I ( female )  

dechun

I ( male )          

pom

 You                  

khun

Can I have    

kor ....

Do you want    

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dish. Youcan applythe

same phrasing to any other dishes youorder and it is a good staple survival dishyou can get any where.

 As mentioned,  most places in Thailandwill recognise the term jey  as a genericterm for vegetarianism so when you areordering food you can just add "jey" on tothe end of the name of the dish.

For example:

"kor khaow pad jey kha / krup"

( Can I have vegetarian fried rice please )

Note:

* Kha is used at the end of a request orstatement for females

* Krup is used at the end of a statementfor males

 

If you are somewhere remote whereperhaps the locals don't understand jey,you can use the same phrase butsubstitute "jey" with "mang sa we rat."

For example:

"kor khaow pad  mang sa we rat "

 

 

 Keeping it pure......

The majority of Thai dishescontain fish sauce or "nam plah"for a salty flavour. For vegetariansthis can be substituted with  "seeiu"  (  soya sauce ).

Most people will not use  fish

Do you want    

ao mai?

I don't want    

 mai ao

What do you want?

Ao a lai dee ?

Do you have?     

mee mai ?

I don't have

mai mee

Can you / Can I ?

dai mai ?

No you can't  /  no Ican't  

 mai dai

*with 

sai

*without       

mai sai

(eg.mai saikai...without egg or saikai...with egg)

I like   

 chop

I don't like  

mai chop

A little    

nid noy

A lot           

 maak

big   

yai

small    lek

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Most people will not use  fishsauce if you ask for jey but sometimesthey will slip it in thinking that you won'tknow the difference. If you want to ensurethey do not use it you can say......

"Kor khaow pad jey, mai sai nam plah kha/ krup"

or....

"Kor khaow pad mang-sow-ee-rot, maisai nam plah kha / krup"

( Can I have vegetarian fried rice, but nofish sauce )

( Most places will have soya sauce onhand to use in place of fish sauce )

The same goes for egg....

"Kor khaow pad jey, mai sai kai kha /krup"

or...

"Kor khaow pad mang-sow-ee-rat, maisai kai kha / krup"

( Can I have vegetarian fried rice, butno egg )

 

 

 Explaining that you are arevegetarian....

To let people know you are a vegetarianfor example if someone offers you a meatdish you can say :

"De chun kin jey kha"( female )

"Pom kin jey krup" ( male )

( I eat vegetarian / I am vegetarian )

This will be understood by most and themajority of Thai's will accept and respectthis. Alternatively you can say :

"De chun kin mang -sa- we-rat." ( female)

"Pom kin mang-sow-ee-rat." ( male )

*Note that pure jey actually means you

lek

Meat & AnimalProducts....

( It's good to getfamilar with theseitems so you can avoidthem ! )

Shrimp       

Goong

Chicken            

Gai

Egg                  

 Kai

Duck  

 Ped

Beef                

nua saat

Pork  

moo

Fish  

plah

Fish sauce    

nam plah

Milk 

 nom

Food General

Food            

a harn

Water         

nam plough

*Nam is a generic termused to describethings that are liquid.

eg; nam som ( orange

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*Note that pure jey actually means youdon't drink alcohol so some people mightbe surprised when you order beer withyour jey food !

 

 

 Making yourself clear

If you want to be specific about thingsyou don't want to eat you can use thisphrase :

Mai kin plah ( I don't eat fish )

Mai kin nam plah ( I don't eat fish sauce )

Mai kin moo ( I don't eat pork or pig )

Mai kin nua saat  ( I don't eat red meat /beef )

Mai kin gai ( I don't eat chicken )

Mai kin ped ( Idon't eat duck )

Mai kin Goong ( Idon't eat shrimp)

Mai kin pu ( Idon't eat crab )

Mai kin kai ( Idon't eat egg )

Anyway, you getthe idea. Use this phrase with any kind offood you want to exclude.

 

 

Inquiring..... 

If you want to eat in a restaurant and wantto know if they have a vegetarian menuyou can ask:

"A-harn jey mee mai kha / krup ?"

or....

"A-harn mang-sow-ee-rat  mee mai kha/ krup ? "( Do you have vegetarian food ? )

eg; nam som ( orangejuice ), nam tao hu (soya milk ), nam man (oil  etc..)

Vegetables   

paak

Fruit               

pom a ly

Rice               

khaow

Sticky rice

khaow neo

Tofu   

 tao hu

Chilli              

 prik

Garlic          

gar tee um

Onion

hom

Mushroom 

 het

Lime         

man ow

Lemon grass 

ta kai

Coconut milk  

ka ti

Peanut

tua li song

Potato        

man farang

Ginger        khing      

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/ krup ? "( Do you have vegetarian food ? )

You will get one of two answers.....

If they have something for you ( often itmay just be fried vege or fried rice ) theywill say

" mee"

If not they will say

"mai mee"

 

 

 Be cool !!!

Many places will be accomodatingand helpful and will go out of theirway to make you something to eat.

However it is important to note that theresponse you get will have a lot to do withyour manner. If you are courtious andpolite, make eye contact and smile yourchances of getting a decent meal will bemuch better. If you walk in with anarrogant demanding attitude you will notget anywhere. Thai's switch ofimmediately to this kind of behaviour. It'seasy to get frustrated at times but thegolden rule in Thailand is keep your cool !

 

 Requests...

If you want to ask if someone can preparea dish for you you can ask:

"Khun tum eng a-harn jey dai mai kha /krup ?

or....

"Khun tum eng a-harn mang-sow-ee-rotdai mai kha/krup

( Can you make me some vegetarian food?)

You will get one of two answers:

Dai

( yes I can )                 

Mai dai

khing      

Banana     

glu ay

Pineapple   

sap a rot

Orange       

som

Sugar          

nam tam

Cake or dessert

kanom

Sauces andcondiments

Soya sauce   

 see iu

Very hot chillisauce     

nam prik

Sweet plum sauce

nam buay wan

Sweet and sour sauce

nam preo wan

Cooking Methods andCommon Terms......

Stir fried        phad

Deep fried    tod

Boiled           

 tom

Steamed   

 Na ( neng )

Curry            Kaeng

* Yam      

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Mai dai

( no I can't )

 

 

 

 

 Eating on the street

 If you follow a strict vegetarian diet youroptions for street food are quite limited.For example all street noodle vendorsunless they are specifically vegetarian willuse pork stock or chicken stock as a basefor their soup. Street som tam vendors inthe majority of cases will only have fishsauce and no soya sauce. If you reallywant to eat som tam off the street youcan buy a small bottle of soya sauce andask them to make it with that.

 

You can ask....

"Khun Tum eng som tam jey dai mai kha/krup ?"

 Ask thiswhileholdingup thesoyasaucebottle forbestresults !All the

ingredients are out on display so you canjust point to the things you want or don'twant.

 

 Apart from that there a still lot's ofsnacky things you can have, such as....

 

Fruit

pom a ly

 

* Yam      

*A distinctive Thaisalad dressing madefrom lime juice, palmsugar, chilli, and soyasauce or fish sauce .

Noodles

Yellow wheat or eggnoodles

Bami

Fat rice noodles

Sen yai

Thin rice noodles

sen lek

Glass noodles

moon sen

Classic ThaiDishes......

Pad preo waan

Sweet and sourvegetables

Som Tam

Spicy papaya salad

Tom Yam

Hot and spicysour  soup

Tom Ka

Same as tom yam butwith coconut milkadded. Not so spicy

 Laarb

Spicysaladusuallymadewith

minced pork but can

be substituted with

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Fried bananas

glu ay tod

 

 

 

 

 

Fried tofu

tao hu tod

 

 

 

 

 

Sticky rice and black beans

stuffed with banana

khaow tom maat

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Hotcakes

Kanom krok

 

 

be substituted withtofu. Made withground chilli, parchedrice, mint, lime andsoya sauce

 Phadthai

Thin ricenoodlesfried withtofu, egg,

shrimp and servedwith lime and beansprouts. ( Vege versioncan be made withoutshrimp and egg )

Kaeng Keo Waan

Green curry

Massaman Curry

Mild curry from thesouth of Thailand,made with potato,cashew nuts andchicken or beef  whichcan be substitutedwith tofu

 YamMoon Sen

saladmade withyamdressing

and glass noodles

Yam Ma Kua

Salad made with yamdressing and grilledeggplant

Phad Preo Wan

Sweet and sour

Phad Gup Paew ( tao

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 Food to go.....

 Outside the main centres and away from"farang" friendly guesthouses it will beharder to get a decent meal but there area few staple dishes you can get mostplaces. It's really worth the effort to learnthese dishes as in some out of the wayplaces your options are limited

 

Lad na ( jey / mang-sa-we-rat )

 Fried fat rice noodles with vegetables ingravy. ( The gravy is made of soy sauceand cornflower

 

 

Pad see iu ( jey /mang-sa-we-rat )

 Fat rice noddles,vegetables andegg fried withdark soya sauce

If you don't wantegg just say...

"Kor pad see iujey, mai sai kai"

 

 

 

Khaow pad ( jey / mang-sa-we-rat )

Fried rice

 If you don't

Phad Gup Paew ( taohu )

tofu fried with chilliand basil

Maat Muang- CowNeo

Famous Thai dessert made from sweetmango and sticky ricecovered in coconutmilk

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 If you don'twant egg justsay..." Kor khaopad jey, mai saikai"

 

 

 

Pad paak ( jey /mang-sa-we-rat)

Stir fried mixedvegetables

To make surethey don't usefish sauce justsay...

" Kor pad paakjey, mai sai namplah"

 

 

 

Pad Thai ( jey /mang-sa-we-rat )

Thai friednoodles withtofu, peanuts,egg and shrimp.

Some but not allplaces will do avegetarianversion of thisdish....order by

saying " Kor Pad Thai jey, mai sai kai (without egg ), mai sai goong ( withoutshrimp ), mai sai nam plah  ( without fishsauce )

 

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 Yam moon Sen (jey / mang-sa-we-rat )

Glass noodleswith a dressingmade form lime,palm sugar, chilliand fish sauce orsoya sauce.

This dish isusually madeusing fish sauceand in many cases even if you ask for"yam moon sen jey" they will use fishsauce anyway so you have to say " Koryam moon sen jey, mai sai nam plah"

 

 

 Pad Preo Waan (jey / mang-sow-ee-rat )

 Sweet and sourvegetables

This dish isusually made notusing fish saucebut if you to besure you can say" kor pad preowaan jey, mai sai

nam plah "

 

 

 

And Finally....

 I hope this guide will help you along yourway as you travel or work in Thailand.Good luck !!

Any comments or queries please contactme by e-mail ....

lovesthailand@gmail.com 

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lovesthailand@gmail.com 

 

 

Credits : Theimages I usedfor the Thaivegetariandishes weretaken from thebook on theright....

"The Best of ThaiVegetarian Food"by  SisamonKongpan,published by Sangdad Books.

I highly recommend this book, it  is thebest vegetarian cook book I have come byin Thailand

 

 

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