Local produce and imported foods.

Day 20: Living in Thailand

After Wednesdays major shop I was not planning on another till next month, today found me wanting one particular thing cr�me fraiche and needing to go to another shop to find it. I ended up seeing something else that isn�t super cheap and ended up getting that also.

• Groceries 300 Baht - $10.10

Total for the day: 300 Baht $10.10 - Total Remaining: 1090 Baht





Maintaing a balanced diet in Thailand .
I have found that been able to eat well, or should I say, exactly like I have always done, can make or break living in a foreign country, particularly one that is on another continent, where foods are totally different to what you are used too. I remember clearly sitting in a Thai restaurant in America and thinking I can live on these "summer rolls" not spring rolls. I have never found anything that even remotely resembles a summer roll in Thailand, the rest of the food resembles little what you will find in a Thai restaurant outside of Thailand.

In Thailand one thing you can take to heart is, if it�s made here or grown here it will be extremely cheap, anything imported will be extremely expensive by Thai standards. The one exception to this rule appears to be cow�s if you can eat it or drink it and it originates from a cow, either its hard to find, tastes like awful, or is imported which makes it very expensive. Other meats, pork and chicken are very cheap. Fish and seafood are also very cheap. Fruit and vegetables are practically free by western standards.

Over a period of 18 months I have got to a place where with minor substitutions I eat basically the same as I did before arriving in Thailand. The hardest thing to get your head around will be cheese; smaller towns in Thailand just don�t have it, others that do will be charging astronomical prices. After been here a good 15 months a friend explained the only way around this, is to buy it in bulk 1 kg at a time.

Because 90% of the groceries I use are made, grown or reared in Thailand the total cost is still considerably less than in the west, even on a western diet. Eating out is cheaper if you stick to Thai food.

   Continue Reading Day 21: Health care options in Thailand.