The "problem" is that Thailand has become the "Land of Food" to me more so than the "Land of Smiles" (although smiles are equally as abundant here). Not only is the Thai food amazing, but if one ever gets tired of fried rice or pad thai (which frankly, I didn't believe could happen), there is a great selection of international foods. On Wednesday, as Amber, Erin and I sat eating sushi in the Japanese restaurant chain Fuji, we joked that next we would have to dine at an Indian restaurant since we have already eaten Thai, Italian, Japanese and Mexican (nachos count, right?). But regardless of our ongoing quest to sample all the delightful food Thailand has to offer, I generally think of myself as a healthful eater. So imagine my surprise when, in the course of one week, I discovered all my pants fit much more snugly around the bum. Hm, now that I think about it, I guess the healthful properties of vegetarian khao pad and pad thai are compromised by the "pad" (fried) part. So, I vowed to myself that I would get up early, when it was still cool (80 degrees Fahrenheit), and exercise.
After much tossing and turning, I woke up yesterday at 6 am and was out the door by 6:30, pepped for a run at the Buansiri Park (near Emporium & the Queens Imperial Park Hotel). Now, to put it mildly, running is not one of my most favourite forms of exercise however, it's free. This means a lot to a student-cum-backpacker (okay, "wanna-be backpacker"). Plus, the Buansiri Park is to Bangkok as Central Park is to New York City. It's a lush, green and tranquil space in the midst of a crowded, kinetic urban jungle. There's a large pond and fountain in the middle of the park, encircled by a meandering stone footpath, which was encircled by a wider paved pathway for runners.
On my first lap, jogging in time to The Bravery's "Unconditional", I passed a group of Thai and Chinese elders fan-dancing, gracefully snapping their red fans open in time to their music. About half-a-lap later, pausing to catch my breath, I watched a group of Japanese and Thai youths doing something that resembled the Electric Slide. On my second lap, I admired the multiple bulbous sculptures that made me think of voluptuous women, pregnant women, mother and child, and all things relating to the femininity of womanly curves. On my third lap, listening to Britney Spears' "Piece of Me", I decided I didn't care about being "extra-dextra-licious thin" and started my cool-down. By my fourth lap, now walking on the inner path, I had counted: three different tai-chi groups, two jogging farang men who really needed longer pairs of shorts, and one bench occupied by four Sikh men who probably told their wives they were going to exercise but actually convened to gossip for an hour. I knew this fourth lap was my last as I began to feel the rising sun's rays beat down on my back - time to retreat to the air-conditioned indoors.
It didn't take long after beginning my short walk home that again, I was tempted by the Land of Food. The sumptuous scents of baked coconut milk, fried bananas and sweetened condensed
milk emanated from the breakfast food stalls positioned at the mouth of our soi. I spied my personal favourite, plathongo among the array. Plathongo is essentially fried dough shaped like a chromosomal pair. It's curious shape is based on a story about a young prince and princess who were punished for their forbidden love by being tied together, back to back, and burned at the stake. One pulls apart the the dough and dips it generously in sweetened condensed milk. Yum. Next to the plathongo was kanom kroke, which is made by pouring coconut cream into scalloped pans to cook. Each piece is shaped as a mini-hemisphere, with a crispy, slightly salty shell and warm, gooey coconut cream inside that melts in your mouth. Double yum. Slightly drooling, I somehow managed to will myself to the other side of the soi. However, I got to thinking about a curiosity I always notice when I come to Thailand. I see people carrying food, eating food, cooking food, selling food, buying food all the time and yet, obesity is practically a non-issue. I can count exactly four Thai people I have seen so far that could be considered obese. Now, that's not to say that all Thais are thin either - there are certainly many healthy looking individuals. But there is no evidence of obesity becoming a critical public health concern for Thailand as it has in the West (particularly the United States). I wonder why this is so, despite the cheap, unhealthy Thai foods and the ever-increasing presence of Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Dairy Queen. My hypothesis involves two parts:
1. There is less of a price difference between healthy and unhealthy foods than in the U.S. No exhaustive survey of food prices in supermarkets and restaurants between the U.S. and
Thailand has been completed on my part yet, but I have picked up on general trends. In the U.S., my friends and I always complain that the fresh produce and healthy foods are so much more expensive than foodstuffs like chips, sweets and frozen ready-made dinners. And the only two places I can think of in the U.S. where one can get cheap, healthy, fast food is Subway and Chipotle. So, you have your choice of meat, vegetables and cheese in a sandwich, on a pizza, or wrapped in a tortilla. While their assembly-line system lends itself to a surprising number of combinations, I feel like Thai food stalls offer people a much wider array of noodles, rice, curries, grilled meat and fish, fresh cut fruit, and stir-fried vegetables with no one meal costing more than 120 baht. Even in the markets, fresh fruit and vegetables can be bought for anywhere between 20-50 baht a kilo, depending on the type and the season. I'm aware I'm glossing right over the broader micro- and macro-economic mechanisms at play but I don't really feel like opening up my Econ notes right now.
2. Thais take part in a communal, more time-consuming culture of eating on a daily basis. Thais are taught from birth how to savour dishes appropriately, adding spoons of sugar to noodles or naam plaa prik, spicy fish sauce, to noodles. Meals in Thailand are usually social affairs that involve at least an hour and a half of discussion, gossiping and laughter. Although Thailand has its fair share of fast food joints where one could theoretically get a Value Meal and consume it in less than 15 minutes, with or without a little conversation on the side, the attitude is: why would anyone want to do that? And so people take the time to savour their food when eating alone, and take even more time to sample and share meals among family and friends. Thais enjoy one another's company over food as a part of life, rather than taking time out of life for mealtimes. I think that when a culture fosters the practice of savouring and sharing meals within people, they are much more likely to have a healthy, honest relationship with their food, their appetites and their bodies.
Well, these are just some thoughts I had. I will have to ponder some more but in the mean time, I figure, while in Rome... might as well have some more pad thai.
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