Notes from Thailand Dec 2021

shain · January 17, 2022

18 minutes ago, heidih said:

Green! The bag of sauce? next to the fried rice - is it fish sauce based like Viet nuoc mam? And at top the mango? - crunchy puffy buts are?

Lots of green! It's nam pla prik of sorts - fish sauce and chili. Those are some crisp candy thingies, not sure really, but seem to be very common on sweet sticky rice dishes.

KennethT · January 17, 2022

46 minutes ago, heidih said:

Green! The bag of sauce? next to the fried rice - is it fish sauce based like Viet nuoc mam? And at top the mango? - crunchy puffy buts are?

In Thailand, it's prik nam pla (nam pla = fish sauce, prik = chilli)

KennethT · January 17, 2022

It's amazing how somethings are exactly the same, and yet others are very different from 15 years ago...

shain · January 18, 2022

13 hours ago, KennethT said:

It's amazing how somethings are exactly the same, and yet others are very different from 15 years ago...

Anything specific?

KennethT · January 18, 2022

5 hours ago, shain said:

Anything specific?

The daytime street/market scenes look very similar (although I also remember quite a few unpaved or barely paved roads), but night time looks totally different. There certainly were not any of those search lights!!!

shain · January 19, 2022

Resuming the travel day from the previous set of photos. Went up the mountain from Wat Pha Lat to the beautiful Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

shain · January 19, 2022

Night markets snacking.

Fried and pan grilled pastries. Filled with lotus, mung beans, salted egg yolk.

Steamed sticky rice - banana and beans. Not photographed dried shrimps with coconut.

Edited January 19, 2022 by shain (log)

Eatmywords · January 20, 2022

Incredible photos, Shain, thank you! Takes me right back. Now, can we talk about the Louis Vuitton cat jacket? 😸😸

shain · January 21, 2022

Thai salad with century egg, tomatoes, peanuts, Chinese celery, pickled ginger, chili. Mild sauce of fish sauce, lime, sugar.

A very nice snail soup with dill, lemongrass, plenty of makrut lime leaves, other herbs/greens, chili. Though the snail themselves were nothing special.

Puffball mushrooms sauce with herbs, a bit too earthy tasting, and I didn't love the texture.

Pork curry.

shain · January 22, 2022

Kad Ban Ho Weekend market. It's a market of Muslim, Chinese and Burmese population. A very impressive and authentic one.

We had burmease pea porridge with rice noodles, and toppings, a steamed bun and the steamed cake I cannot recall the name of, which tastes strongly of yeast in a nice funky way, with mild, spices, brown sugar and/or honey. There were a few other flavors, including a nice looking purple taro flavored one, the last 3 pieces of which just taken as I came to take the picture. I remember we had seen such cakes in Taiwan back then.

Edited January 22, 2022 by shain (log)

gfweb · January 22, 2022

It took a while to decide that those were goats.

Edited January 22, 2022 by gfweb (log)

KennethT · January 22, 2022

I don't know if you were in Chiang Mai on a Sunday - but I have very strong memories (I don't know if I took any photos back then) of the Sunday walking market in the middle of town - it was really big. I got a great wood carving depicting village life for practically nothing - at that time, in that market, it was known that foreigners could bargain and get about 30% off (locals would go down to about 50%) but it was already so cheap I felt bad asking for less as the guy obviously had put quite a bit of time into it.

Some time in the afternoon, they started playing the national anthem on loudspeakers that were mounted up on telephone poles and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing for the duration.

shain · January 23, 2022

Sadly we weren't there to see the Sunday market. But we've been to so many markets that I feel fine with that for now.

I guess we'll have to visit Chiang Mai again one day.

**Smithy** · January 23, 2022

This is fascinating, stuff! Thank you very much for the photos - bewildering, intriguing, delightful.

shain · January 23, 2022

Some night market photos. We just went by, didn't really visited it that day. But we bought some fresh papaya (I love papaya) and we bought some sweets for breakfast.

I love the vibe of those more local markets. Some people are hanging out with friend or family, taking their time. Others pass by on a scooter to buy a couple of things without even removing their helmet.

Those 3 sweets are (back to front) pandan flavored starch jelly with coconut on top. Chewy coconut sweet, and firm sticky rice flavored with dark sugar. All were delicious.

shain · January 25, 2022

Wat Phrathat Doi Kham

Edited January 25, 2022 by shain (log)

shain · January 25, 2022

Chiang Mai Chinese market.

The market is huge, taking over a few large streets. In addition, there's a very large old fashioned building, where vendors sell mostly cheap imported items, dried goods such as snacks, dried fruits and dried seafood; bamboo crafts, toys, etc. It's a beautiful mess. Underground is a small food court. On the internal balcony/2nd story, there are bags and clothes.

The markets streets have many jewelry and gold stores, fruits, pickles, meat, seafood, etc.

We love this city.

All kind of pickles. We bought pickled tamarind with a bag of chili-sugar, but we found it not to our liking.

heidih · January 25, 2022

Great shots of the organized chaos Never boring The dog guarding the gold! Ouch on the little turtles - are they eaten at that small size? (had lots of turtles in my life - never eaten one)

liuzhou · January 26, 2022

5 hours ago, shain said:

We bought pickled tamarind

Is that the pickled variety at the front right of the last image - sort of bright yellow?

I've never had it pickled, but when I see it fresh round here, I always buy it. It is sweet and sticky - wonderful stuff.

Edited January 26, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

KennethT · January 26, 2022

15 hours ago, shain said:

Chiang Mai Chinese market.

The market is huge, taking over a few large streets. In addition, there's a very large old fashioned building, where vendors sell mostly cheap imported items, dried goods such as snacks, dried fruits and dried seafood; bamboo crafts, toys, etc. It's a beautiful mess. Underground is a small food court. On the internal balcony/2nd story, there are bags and clothes.

The markets streets have many jewelry and gold stores, fruits, pickles, meat, seafood, etc.

We love this city.

All kind of pickles. We bought pickled tamarind with a bag of chili-sugar, but we found it not to our liking.

Fantastic... wow - those fried bug snacks have really increased in price in 15 years!

When walking around Chiang Mai, do you find that there are a lot of touts? One of the things that irked me about Bangkok (not that long ago) was the seemingly ever present tout who would politely chat you up and try to take you to a gem shop or tailor or whatever...

shain · January 26, 2022

23 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Fantastic... wow - those fried bug snacks have really increased in price in 15 years!

When walking around Chiang Mai, do you find that there are a lot of touts? One of the things that irked me about Bangkok (not that long ago) was the seemingly ever present tout who would politely chat you up and try to take you to a gem shop or tailor or whatever...

Still like that in Bangkok. Chiang Mai much less so. And the ones who does seem to just suggest their fair service/goods. In the touristic areas of Bangkok it can get annoying with how often this happen.

shain · January 28, 2022

We visited a local temple, where people were gathering for a prayer as the sun was setting. We enjoyed the atmosphere, strolling in the garden and listening to the chants.

Later we visited the famous Wat Chedi Luang, which was near our homestay.

And visited the Northern gate night market for dinner.

Pad thai and tom yum with noodles.

Nam kang sai. Shaved ice with coconut milk and syrup + toppings.

Edited January 28, 2022 by shain (log)

heidih · January 28, 2022

Thanks for the shot of the large wooden mortar and pestle. Is he pounding with one hand and using tongs? with the other to move the ingredients. Makes sense.

shain · January 28, 2022

48 minutes ago, heidih said:

Is he pounding with one hand and using tongs?

I think it might have been a knife or a thin spatula.

kayb · January 29, 2022

Just stunning photos, @shain. Thank you.

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