Delicious Thailand

© www.garymorga.com 2005

You can buy whole sea bass perfectly roasted on a small stove on the street in Bangkok for $1.00 US. Oysters the size of your palm five off for about $2.00. They are so big you have to cut them in half or risk choking. They serve them up with a few side dishes including shredded crispy red onions, fresh red chilies chopped, garlic and lime mmmmm they are delicious.

Mobile food vendors with stalls attached to push bikes or motorbikes congregate in bundles at certain times of the day. Often they are fairly specialized in what they offer and cook it expertly. Roast chicken wings, pork meatballs, seafood balls, dried sweet squid, flavored rice pancakes, spicy salad, tom yam, fried noodles the list goes on. In some parts of the city and I am thinking of Sukhumvit from around 10.30pm the pavements come to life with food vendors. They appear out of nowhere and lay out tables and chairs. All kinds of people sit eating, drinking and talking in to the small hours while they watch the world go by. Some grab a barbequed skewered snack to nibble while they go their way. Some prefer fruit perhaps pineapple with its customary sugar and chili dip.

On every table you will find condiments or more precisely meal modifiers. They are sliced red chilies in vinegar “nam som” which are sour in flavor; dried flaked or powered red chilies “pirik pon” hot flavor; sugar “nam taan” sweet of course and fish sauce “nam blaa” which is salty. These additives are spooned on to noodles and in to soups in vast quantities until the mix is just right. More often than not cutlery comprises of a spoon and fork. The fork is used to select and move items of food and modifiers on to the spoon to create the required mixture before being put in to the mouth and savored.

Thai food is fresh, prepared quickly and full of flavors. Sometimes I’ve thought it is beyond flavor and more to do with an experience of ingredients. If you visit Thailand make a point of trying out the local street food. It’s delicious and you’ll find it on your doorstep.

© Gary Morga 2005

Paradise Phi Phi: [Thailand]

© www.garymorga.com 2005

This is a picture of Loh Dalam Bay, Koh Phi Phi Don. It has got to be as close as it can get to paradise on earth. Its natural beauty is breathtaking. It’s in the middle of the Andaman Sea. Phuket on mainland Thailand is about 4 hours boat ride east. Head west and it’s over 1200 miles to the Bay of Bengal and the east coast of the Indian sub-continent. North about 500 miles is Myanmar and south about the same distance is Indonesia. There is very little land around and an awful lot of ocean. To a westerner like me, it’s an exotic, aquatic middle of nowhere.

I walked out at least a quarter of a mile into the middle of the bay and was only knee deep in the sun scorched crystal water. I hunkered down and sat on the soft white sand to rest and to savour the moment. The water level was only up to the middle of my chest. I rested there for a few minutes. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was blazing down, hitting the water and bouncing back at me from every angle. The seawater on my head and shoulders had dried and I could feel salt crystals around my eyes and over my face. There was no shade at all. I realized that this was perhaps not a good situation as I looked back at the shore in the distance. I could see the beautiful white sand beach stretch its crescent limbs around me. The green tropical jungle with outcrops of defiant palm trees just behind it rolled up and over the hills.

I couldn’t see a single soul. The beach was pretty deserted at the best of times and I guess everyone who might have been on it were in the shade having a sensible cold drink. I stood up and started walking back towards the shore. It takes a bit of effort walking thigh deep in warm water over that distance. I walked up the beach and in to the bar at the Charlie Beach Resort and out of the sun. The bar girl approached me and I blurted out “nùng bia kràp” [one beer please]. That was enough rays for the day.

© Gary Morga 2005