The central province of Suphan Buri, about 107 kilometers from Bangkok by car, is holding its major cultural event, “Don Chedi Memorial and Red Cross Fair,” from now until February 1. The two-week fair takes place in the Don Chedi Memorial compound in Don Chedi district.

This annual event is meant to commemorate the glorious victory of King Naresuan the Great in a traditional royal battle on elephant back. The fair includes a bazaar of One Tambon, One Product, or OTOP, products, an exhibition of public and private organizations, and many cultural performances. The highlight is a multimedia presentation on King Naresuan’s heroic deeds and the history of Suphan Buri. A special show this year features a model of the route that the army of King Naresuan traveled in its campaign.

Regarded as a respected hero and warrior in Thai history, King Naresuan reigned over the Thai kingdom from 1590 to 1605 during the Ayutthaya period. When he was nine years old, Prince Naresuan was taken as a hostage to Burma, now Myanmar, after the Ayutthaya King was overrun by the powerful Burmese army. He was brought up in the Burmese royal court. His close companion was Burmese Crown Prince Min Chit Swa, known among Thais as Phra Maha Upparacha.

At the age of 16, Prince Naresuan returned to Ayutthaya and was appointed Crown Prince by his father, King Maha Thammaracha, the then ruler of the Thai vassal state under Burmese rule. He immediately built up his own forces and set his aim to liberate the Ayutthaya Kingdom from the Burmese.

After succeeding his father as king in 1590, King Naresuan fended off the Burmese on several occasions. The most glorious battle was his duel on elephant back with his childhood friend Crown Prince Min Chit Swa, who was killed in the fight. It took place on 25 January 1592 at Nong Sarai field in Suphan Buri. In 1982, the Thai government designated January 25 Thai Armed Forces Day.

Following the battle on elephant back, King Naresuan ordered the construction of a pagoda at Nong Sarai field in memory of the Burmese Crown Prince. When the pagoda was discovered in 1913, King Vajiravudh, Rama VI, organized a grand celebration. Later, in 1952, a committee was formed by the Royal Thai Army to carry out a major renovation of the pagoda, together with the construction of a statue of King Naresuan on elephant back, which is generally referred to as Don Chedi Memorial.

Today, the Don Chedi Memorial has become a landmark of Suphan Buri, which boasts many historical and cultural attractions. Suphan Buri has organized the Don Chedi Memorial Fair on an annual basis since 1981. Local residents take pride in this fair, which attracts a number of visitors to this province each year.

Source: Foreign Office, The Government Public Relations Department

I think one of the first phrases I learned when I arrived in Thailand was “gin khao reu yung?” This is a phrase that asks if you have eaten yet but is really more of a greeting than an inquiry. They are not really interested in when you had your last meal. If you dissect that phrase a bit more you will find a clue to as what is the main component of their meals. In Thai, “khao” means “rice”. So, what they are really asking is, “have you eaten rice yet?”

A second thing I noticed was that Thai people seem to eat all the time and they don’t really have the regular mealtimes like we do in the West. I would go as far as saying that for many people, eating is like a hobby. They have a phrase which says “gin len” or “play eating”. This is a bit like our snacking. I see some people eat all the time and they never seem to get fat. However, some do as I have written about before.

Wherever you go in the streets you will always find food stalls. From dawn to dusk and in some areas, all night. By far the majority are mobile. At the end of their day they wheel their carts back home. Some are pushed and others have bicycles or motorcycles attached. However, an increasing number just leave their cart on the sidewalk and maybe just pull a sheet over it.

Around the corner from where we live there must be at least a dozen of these stalls. For breakfast you can go and eat jok which is a kind of rice porridge with bits of pork and an egg. There are also little rice and coconut puddings called khanom krok. More substantial meals include pad thai (lightly fried noodles), ba mee (egg noodle soup), kao mun gai (Chinese chicken), hoi tod (oyster omlette), som tam (papaya salad) and many more. Then there are the snacks on a stick. Both seafood and meat.

One of my favourites is the fried chicken cooked by the Muslim guy (a.k.a. the “chicken man”). His secret recipe is so much better, and of course cheaper, than KFC. I don’t think his sales were affected much by the bird flu scare the other year. In fact, everyone I know were a bit upset when he disappeared for a week or so. We later found out it was the Muslim new year so I guess he deserved a holiday. The “chicken man” starts the ball rolling mid-afternoon and then his wife takes over late afternoon. By about 7 p.m. all of the best pieces of chicken have long gone.

With all of this abundance of cheap food on every street corner it is not surprising many Thai people either eat out or get “take-away” on their way home from work. A basic meal costs from 25 baht and 10 baht more will give you an extra helping. Just ask for “piset” which means “special”. It is not that difficult to order and all of the vendors around here are very friendly. I obviously have my favourite meals but I don’t want to let any of the vendors think that I am avoiding them intentionally. So, I have this rotation worked out.

Although I do like eating Thai food, it is also nice to have Western food. Since moving into my own house five years ago and rediscovering the kitchen I often cook at home. Most of these meals are Western (like meat and three veg) though I do experiment with Thai ingredients sometimes. I think that if I want to eat Western food then I should cook myself. There are some restaurants around Paknam that have Western menus but it can work out very expensive.

Most of the Thai people I know don’t really like Western meals. They are not so keen on steak and they would rather not have extra cheese on the pizza. If they eat a hamburger they would much prefer to eat the meat and then just peck at the bread. They do have milk but it is mainly seen as a children’s drink. So, they wouldn’t have cereals. They like bacon but again it is not traditional to have egg and bacon like we do.

For myself, I prefer a good breakfast of egg and bacon on toast or some cereals with a cup of coffee. Go to a restaurant and that kind of meal would set you back 120 baht at least. On the other hand, Thai people would have a jok rice porridge for just 25 baht or so. Other Thai people I know would eat food left over from the meal the night before. Although I like curries very much, I just cannot bring myself to eating anything hot and spicy so early in the morning!

Thai cuisine involves the balancing of contrasting flavors, spicy and subtle, sweet and sharp. It is also concerned with aesthetic value, for the Thais believe that food should please the eye as well as the palate.

One particularly delightful aspect of Thai cuisine is the art of carving fruit and vegetables. There is a long tradition of fruit and vegetable carving in Thailand, especially in the preparation of meals for the royal family. This traditional craft is still popular.

In the carver's skilled hands, and with a small and very sharp pointed knife, an ordinary papaya or pumpkin is turned into a bouquet of flowers, and a radish becomes a tiny rabbit or a carrot a rare orchid. Almost any kind of fruit or vegetable can be used as long as the carver understands the texture of each and uses its natural color to imitate the chosen subject. Soft produce such as mango, tomatoes, and papaya can be shaped into flowers, buds, leaves, or any form that does not require too much detail; otherwise, they would become mushy and loose their juice rapidly.

Not all the carvings are as small as a flower. A large round watermelon becomes a richly decorated and lidded bowl to be used as a container for fruit salad. The green outer skin is cut away to make a pattern of flowers or even characters in Thai literature.

In addition to molding the fruit or vegetable into a recognizable form, Thai carvers also use the skin in some artistic manner. Skins from apples and oranges, for example, are useful for decorating platters by curling the skins into looping frames for portions of food.

The art of fruit carving has gained greatly in popularity over recent years. Nowadays most five-star hotels and a number of cooking schools hold Thai cooking classes that offer courses that are centered around the carving of fruit into decorative garnishes.

Why should someone bother to transform a pumpkin into a magic basket or a carrot into a butterfly? The answer is the Thai appreciation of beauty and craftsmanship, whatever the medium.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

Whenever we have new foreign teachers at the school, I always take them out to a restaurant as part of their orientation. This is partly to introduce them to my favourite Thai food on a menu. But, I also want to point out to them some of the finer points of Thai dining. After all, it is highly likely that they will make friends with Thai people and they will be invited out to eat.

The first thing to note is the use of communal bowls. When you go to a restaurant, you don’t usually order food just for yourself. If there are four of you, then you should order at least five dishes. When I took some people out the other day, we ordered: a red chicken curry, mix stirred fried vegetables, lemon grass soup, chicken with cashew nuts and a steamed fish. That was just enough for the four of us. The chicken and cashew nuts were very tasty so we ordered more. Another favourite side dish is deep-fried prawns.

What happens next is that the waitress will put a couple of big spoonfuls of rice on your plate. You then help yourself to food from any of the dishes in any order. However, you should make a point of using the serving spoon from each dish. You should also only put a couple of spoonfuls on your plate at a time. Don’t fill your plate up as we do in the West. Just go back to help yourself to more.

In Thailand, it is traditional to use a spoon and fork. Chopsticks are actually a Chinese influence and you probably would only use them for eating noodles. Actually, when the students eat noodles at school they use a spoon and fork. I don’t think that is because they are not old enough to use chopsticks. Maybe the administration is more worried about a student poking someone’s eye out!

Anyway, using just a spoon and fork is not as difficult as it might seem at first seem. Most ingredients in the meals are already cut up into bite sizes before cooking. So, unless you are eating a steak, there is no reason to have a knife. I usually also point out that the fork is only there to scoop food onto the spoon which is then raised to the mouth. On no accounts should you put the fork in your mouth. This is much the same as putting a knife in your mouth in Western culture.

At the orientation, I also give them some remarks about the drinks. Thai people always put ice in their beers. To me that seems strange. I just can’t handle drinking beer with ice. It is bad enough when they try to give you a straw at 7-Eleven when you buy a can of beer! Anyway, you can just tell them not to put any ice in (mai sai nam kaeng). However, Thai beer has more alcohol in it compared to Western beer BECAUSE you are expected to dilute it with ice! Just thought you should know.

When it comes to the time for paying the bill, it is usually up to the person who invited you out to pay. Either that or the oldest/richest person. There is a certain amount of prestige in being able to pay for everyone so let them do it. You should also remember that when asking for the bill in a restaurant you should say “chek bin”. However, in a street food stall you can say “gep dtung” which is more colloquial. Don't get that mixed up!

Thailand's first population census was conducted in 1909 by the Ministry of Interior. Four subsequent censuses followed in 1919, 1929, 1937 and 1947. Since 1960, the National Statistical Office (NSO) has been responsible for undertaking population censuses every ten years under the 1952 Statistical Act (revised in 1965). In accordance with the United recommendation that countries should undertake national censuses every the year ending with 0 (zero) for the purpose of international comparison, Thailand has conducted its census in 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. In 1970, the first housing census was conducted simultaneously with the population census. The tenth population and fourth housing census was carried out in April, 2000. The NSO is currently planning to conduct its eleventh census in May 2010. This year the NSO are also celebrating their 100th anniversary.

I talked before about the eating habits of Thai people. I mentioned that they seemed to snack all day and still remain quite slender. However, this is not saying that there are no obese people in Thailand. Far from it. There are quite a few very chubby students at my school. I would go and take a picture of them now but my Western sense of decency would forbid it. However, if I asked one of my Thai computer teachers to take a picture, they would go and do it. Not only that, they would also tell the student and everyone within hearing distance exactly why I needed the picture! (see picture above)

To Thai people there is nothing wrong about this. After all, some people have nicknames from birth until adulthood that mean “fatty” or “piggy”. If you are fat then they will tell you without any malice. In fact, I had quite a few teachers last year point at me and say “fat” and “big big” and gestured with their hands which parts. (I had put on quite a bit of weight over the last year or so and the teachers were only too happy to point this out to me.)

I do believe that the reason why some people can snack all day and not get fat and others do is a lot to do with their diet. Many of the children today are snacking on Western junk food. Take a look at the canteen in our school for starters. Everything is deep fried. Then there is the toast which is covered in sugar and cream. I think that if the Thai people stick to Thai food only, then they would stay thin.

Newspapers are now reporting that 14% of Thai children are obese. They are mainly blaming Western fast food, like McDonalds. However, they also note that the new generation spends too much time watching t.v. and playing video games. They are not going out to play as much as they did in the past. I think all of these are contributing factors. At our school they are now trying to promote a healthy lifestyle by having a big aerobics session every Friday after assembly. What they probably need to do next is sort out the snack shop menu.

INTERESTING FACTS: According to the Kasikorn Research Centre, the country's quick-service restaurant industry is now worth about 12 billion baht a year. Of the total, chicken menus account for about 6.2 billion baht, 2.9 billion for burgers and another 2.9 billion baht for pizza. A survey in 2004 by market researcher ACNielsen showed that KFC was the leader in the chicken market with a 72% share, followed by McDonald's with 15% and Chester's Grill at 11%. In the burger market, however, McDonald's is the leader with a 72% share, followed by KFC with 24% and the rest shared among other brands.

If you go to Thailand on holiday, you will most likely find that the local food is one of your highlights. You will find this both delicious and cheap. Here are some of my favourite Thai food dishes.

1. Tom Yum Egg Noodle with Red Pork (baa mee tom yum)
2. Egg Noodle with Wonton and Red Pork (baa mee kieo nam moo daeng)

At noodles stalls you are often spoilt for choice as there are at least five different kinds of noodles. Then you can choose either dry or with soup. With wontons and with red pork or fish balls. These are my two favourites. The first one is hot and spicy. The other is up to you how much of the four flavours you add.

3. Chicken in Yellow Curry (khao mok gai)
4. Chicken Rice (khao mun gai)

These two are always very popular. You can choose either fried chicken or boiled chicken. They both come with sauces and a bowl of chicken stock. The yellow rice has turmeric.

5. Noodles Fried in Soy Sauce (pad si-eel)
6. Crispy Noodles in Gravey (rat naa mee grob)

Like the earlier noodles, you can choose any kind you like. I prefer the wide noodles and the crispy egg noodles. The same stall usually sells both of these dishes.

7. Chicken curry (gang gari gai)
8. Green Curry with pork (gaeng kieo moo)
9. Green curry with bamboo shoots
10. Red curry with pork

There are so many different currys and soups. Difficult to be comprehensive here. Two that I missed here are massaman and penang curry. The traditional Thai curry are coconut milk based.

11. Tom Yum Chicken (tom yum gai)
12. Coconut Soup with Galangal (tom kha gai)

I like the bottom two soups a lot. Tom Yum is the dish made with lemon grass and galangal. The latter dish has more galangal and coconut milk. Tom Yum is often cooked with fresh prawns. But, it is equally as good with chicken.

13. Fish cakes (tod mun pla)
14. Satay Pork

There are so many roadside snacks that there is only room for two favourites here.

15. Grilled chicken and sticky rice
16. Som Tam

Som tam, made with shredded green papaya and sauces such as lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind paste and also crushed garlic. It is often eaten with grilled chicken and sticky rice. I never grow bored with this dish and can eat every week.

17. Fried noodles with dried shrimp (pad thai)
18. Fried mussels in batter (hoi tod)

The last two dishes are often sold together. The first one, pad thai, is popular with most foreigners. Like any dish, the recipe varies a lot and I will often cross the town to eat at my favourite food vendor. The second dish is fresh mussels fried in a batter that also includes an egg. I like the crispy version of this one.

This list is by no means comprehensive but gives an idea what you should try and eat on a short holiday in Thailand. Feel free to add your own favourites in the comments section. If I don't have them already over at our sister site www.ThaiStreetFood.com then I will add them soon.