Racism against foreigners in Thailand

[Barko]

can't really understand the point of your post...

you should always use extra virgin.

oils are extracted under extremely high temperature and pressure using toxic solvents and bleaching aids in the extraction process.

this process creates highly toxic oils full of free radicals that are then sold as cheap cooking oils or used in processed foods.

most vegetable oils you see on the supermarket shelves are processed in this highly toxic manner unless you see the words “unrefined”, “virgin”, or “extra virgin” on the label.

these already toxic refined oils are made even worse when they are hydrogenated: in hydrogenation, the already toxic oils have a metal catalyst added to them and are again treated under high pressure and high temperature, and then steam cleaned and bleached. now does that sound like something you should put in your body in even small quantities?

smoke point of extra virgin is about 100c, not great for cooking much of anything. virgin goes off at about 150c, but you can't make much e asian food with that. so, for asian food, stir fry vegetables, fried rice, etc; canola & sunflower are probably the best of the bad choices. (as much as i hate to admit it because i agree with you about olive oil completely, have been using it for 40 years.) please, never use soybean oil for anything.

and, btw, nic, you asked me in another thread about how a farang can make more money in thailand if they speak thai. perfect example here: the chinese are growing olives for olive oil, huge estates, thousands of hectares of trees. the only importer of record in thailand, the only one that foresaw the future now completing the final hardware and storage set up to deal with the massive tanker truck imports to be shipped through the new border enclave at mai sai/tachilek, is, a thai coffee company in chiang rai. they have previously been accepted by all three countries, china, myanmar, and thailand. well, the english speakers at that coffee company are virtually non existent.

super business opportunity for someone savvy enough to have jumped on it first? certainly. but just a dream for 99.999% of everyone else. but, as with everything, and the norm here in thailand, once this gets going the small company will be bought out by nestle or some other major conglomerate and the original manipulators/mover shakers involved in the setup make bazillions. the deck has already been shuffled and dealt on that one, just waiting on the chinese. nothing left under the hat on that one.

every day stuff.

while we are on this, (and i can bury it here for you in this thread.) do some homework on the ikea startup in thailand, 11 billion baht, and lots of room to score here. the delays worked through and setup holding funds allocated = time to play. now, who are the thai investors that have put up 2% of the original investment, where are they, and what do they do? do they speak or think in english?

ok, quickly: they are a major manufacturing company in se asia, there are two thai guys that make an embarrassingly sad attempt at business english, but in reality, they are not in bangkok, they are purely manufacturing concentric, and don't really need to use english that much. their excel files and powerpoint presentations are all in thai, and to be on the safe side, they use consultant farangs that can speak and read thai to do their international transpositions and large end trading for them. their website is a joke, it's in english, but it's a joke. lots of ways to make money in the true scope of things here in thailand surrounding that ikea deal. but, you had better know how to speak thai simply to get the inside [CodeWord116] on the reality of where you need to be to make it.

there are hundreds of other opportunities for thai speaking farang entrepreneurs and consultants. all you have to do is learn how to look.

corporate salarymen (and most others) simply can't make any real money internationally, much less in the good ol' bad boy corrupt country that we know so well and dearly love, thailand. 'ignorance precludes reality', and, in business, (or anywhere in southern california, heh, ) this is le plus grand of unforgivably mortal sins. that, and being shy.

[NicFrenchy]

Sorry for a short report; but I only use; 'Olive Oil'. for cooking and 'Extra Virgin" for my snacks.

I can not prove anything but given my age I do not plan on being around a whole lot longer!

Can't really understand the point of your post...

You should ALWAYS use extra virgin.

Oils are extracted under extremely high temperature and pressure using toxic solvents and bleaching aids in the extraction process.
This process creates highly toxic oils full of free radicals that are then sold as cheap cooking oils or used in processed foods.

Most vegetable oils you see on the supermarket shelves are processed in this highly toxic manner unless you see the words “unrefined”, “virgin”, or “extra virgin” on the label.

These already toxic refined oils are made even worse when they are hydrogenated: In hydrogenation, the already toxic oils have a metal catalyst added to them and are again treated under high pressure and high temperature, and then steam cleaned and bleached. Now does that sound like something you should put in your body in even small quantities?

[Davidboy]

Sorry for a short report; but I only use; 'Olive Oil'. for cooking and 'Extra Virgin" for my snacks.

I can not prove anything but given my age I do not plan on being around a whole lot longer!

[LittleBigMan]

OTH,

Do you think when it comes to cooking oil in the home it's more to do with money than they not knowing that that there are better cooking oils to use. My wife in particular who doesn't have much education seems to know what type of oil to buy when we shop.

But regardless of the type good or bad, in regards to some Thai dishes like the Thai fry egg where they seem to use a half a bottle of oil just to fry one egg. They heat up the oil until it smokes and then throw the egg in and the fry egg soaks up all the oil. It taste good but man the oil inside!

Now when it comes to those Thai market that I shop and eat at... where and what kind of oil it is I have no idea but those fry chicken skins is going to kill me! For 20 baht you can't just eat one!

LBM

[Member #4698]

Maybe we should start a new thread on food.

A food thread makes perfect sense for this forum. In the immortal words of Jerry Garcia "we can share the women, we can share the wine."

The main reasons I keep returning to Thailand are Girls, Food, Friendly People (Culture), and Beautiful Beaches; in that order. I have eaten at a lot of great restaurants in BKK, CNX, Northern Hills, and the South. I know a lot of members have had similar experiences. We should share our knowledge.

[NicFrenchy]

Maybe we should start a new thread on food.

I believe there already is such a Thread in Giottos Forum

http://www.internationalsexguide.inf...ead.php?t=2975

So I will continue the discussion on food there.

[Davidboy]

Maybe we should start a new thread on food.

Anyway, to dismiss Italian food out of hand is a clear indication that you've never eaten real Italian food. I've had some wonderful food there. But, it is best when cooked by and eaten with locals. There is a marvelous variety of food from Tuscany to la Marche to Napoli. It's not just pasta, which by the way is mainly an appetizer or side dish.

I agree with the overall consensus that French is the best food and certainly the most sophisticated in terms of taste and delicacy.

But, for health, Italian (or Greek, for that matter) has it beat. A Mediterranean diet is noted as the healthiest by far.

As for Thai...the great myth that Thai food is healthy belies the fact that most Thai food, even in the home is fried in substandard cooking oil, that is carcengenic. While there are a few dishes that are pleasant enough, most of it is just spicey, without the proper balance of other tastes. I rarely eat it, anymore unless I absolutely have no choice.

I have to agree with this and would like to add that when traveling in Europe by bicycle I was never moving so fast as to not be able to take in and savor all the delightful things Europe has to offer from the great museums to the small villages and cafe's along the way I found the food to be very good with just a few exceptions; when I asked for chicken soup in Spain I had no Idea they were going to kill a chicken and then carry it past my table holding it upside down by the feet with blood still dripping out on the floor.

OTH makes a good point about the myth that Thai food is healthy because in addition to his comments; it is usually loaded with too much sugar and salt, plus the white rice is unhealthy because it metabolizes into glucose sugar in the body. I live next door to a university and it is interesting to note that while I do not see too many over weight uni students I do see more and more overweight younger students who attend the elementary and high school that is also near the campus. I attribute that to the fact that Mr. Donut, KFC and MacDonalds are always a favorite for these folks. And have you ever wondered why there is a MacDonalds in Bumrungrad Hospital? For years before they built the new building it was the first thing to be seen from the escalator going up to the clinics.

I think in addition to Thailand increasing the alcohol and tobacco tax they should also put a hefty tax on fast food.

But when it comes to obesity; I know it is just hard to beat the USA.

[Old Thai Hand]

Italian doesn't even rate a mention although non boring Italian restaurants do exist (if look hard).

Maybe we should start a new thread on food.

Anyway, to dismiss Italian food out of hand is a clear indication that you've never eaten real Italian food. I've had some wonderful food there. But, it is best when cooked by and eaten with locals. There is a marvelous variety of food from Tuscany to la Marche to Napoli. It's not just pasta, which by the way is mainly an appetizer or side dish.

I agree with the overall consensus that French is the best food and certainly the most sophisticated in terms of taste and delicacy.

But, for health, Italian (or Greek, for that matter) has it beat. A Mediterranean diet is noted as the healthiest by far.

As for Thai...the great myth that Thai food is healthy belies the fact that most Thai food, even in the home is fried in substandard cooking oil, that is carcengenic. While there are a few dishes that are pleasant enough, most of it is just spicey, without the proper balance of other tastes. I rarely eat it, anymore unless I absolutely have no choice.

[NicFrenchy]

As an aside, I found New Yorkers to be the most genuinely friendly people I have met in the States. Blunt but friendly. Londoners and Parisians could learn things from them.

Interesting how people differ, I have been to NYC (Manhattan mostly) and what I have found is people to be as "Fake" as can be.
A lot of talk but no substance.

In Paris I can'r judge as I am French but in London, I found people to be honest about their feelings: If they don't want to be bothered, they won't respond. I like that in people.

[Terry Terrier]

SO TRUE! The Thais certainly don't have a monopoly on it.

I do think that speaking even some of the language, wherever you are does go a long way to reducing local antipathy, somewhat. For example, despite their reputation for being among the rudest people on earth (sorry Nic), I've never encountered much rudeness in France, because I always try to speak French. Only in Paris are the people somewhat unmoved by my efforts. But, hey Parisians treat other French, not from Paris like crap, too. So goes London, New York, Bangkok and any number of other big cities.

I've always referred to it as 'capital city mentality'. Parisians are famously adept at this particular brand of arrogance, but they are generally outshone by my compatriots in London. Bangkokian behaviour is timid by comparison, but in relation to provincial Thai behaviour it's still prone to being extremely ugly.

As an aside, I found New Yorkers to be the most genuinely friendly people I have met in the States. Blunt but friendly. Londoners and Parisians could learn things from them.

[M P Lurker]

1. The best food is Thai, the best wine is German.

While I eat more Thai food than anything else, I would choose French when wanting to eat something special and classy.

Perhaps Thai is great for everyday eating (cheaper than French), but the best food? There are so many basic Thai dishes that bore me but good French food is rarely boring.

My favourites:

French, Japanese, Thai.

Italian doesn't even rate a mention although non boring Italian restaurants do exist (if look hard).

[Macheath]

Apart from good food the French in general know how to use cutlery, rather than just the fork like most Americans. Also in general they seem not to suffer from the psychological problems that result in gross over eating.

One of the joys of the Football World Cup is the minor role of the USA which seems not to be able to dominate in sports where drugs don't help. France can usually be relied on for great characters and good entertainment even when losing.

On wars etc I have no personal experience unlike most here, but as an Australian have the massive advantage, like Americans, Canadians etc, that we live so far away from any threat that most unlikely ever to be invaded. Unlike France which has been threatened by bad neighbours throughout history.

Also good to see the French adopting Australian expressions like "no worries" and "fair enough". We don't export much to the world but a more relaxed attitude can benefit everyone.

[Redfield10]

Have you ever take a basic economic course. Free health care? What a hot!

The Doctors, Nurse, and Hospitals are all free. What a deal! I'm moving immediately!

No one from the Bad Place, such as myself, has any excuse for attempting to comment on France. The quality of life there is so much better than my sad land, and we've no one to blame but ourselves. Delicious high quality food, free universal health care, etc. The list goes on.

However, I will single out my personal compliment for the French people - unlike, speaking generally, my own country men, they are not fools. They at least understand politics and economics, and do take to the streets when they're being particularly oppressed. Americans always accept their serfdom uncomplainingly.

[Redfield10]

There wouldn't be any French to point to if it wasn't for the United States in WWII and I know folks get tired of this subject. Nevertheless, it's true.

Given the less than stellar accomplishments of the US military during the last 40 years (although, you'll always have the victory in Granada), I wouldn't be pointing any fingers at the French, or anyone else.

[Rayzor]

Maybe it's time that Americans, Brits, Australians et al. actually took the time to master another language?

GE

Agreed. I am an American and am very glad most Americans don't travel abroad. Narrow minded describes most of us. Learning just a little bit of a foreign language opens up new opportunities when traveling. You can travel off the beaten path.