For the past 10 days or so I’ve been rediscovering all the little Thai markets with great Thai food and Issan food and for the life of me I don’t know why I have wasted money eating at expat type restaurants other than convenience and being lazy.

No matter what budget you are on you can easily survive food wise on 100 baht a day…and by easily I mean a full stomach and tasty food. And if you go a little more Thai then you won’t be spending much more for the the necessities.

Living Like a Thai Day 12

This morning I woke up to poring down rain and spent most of the morning in on the internet. Around 11am the rain broke and I walked up to the food market at the other end of Soi Boocow Buaciow Buakow by Pattaya Thai and got some Thai cakes and pork skewers for breakfast/lunch and at 30 baht ( $1.02 ) it was a cheap eat. After I ate I realized I forgot to get the essentials, namely soap and toothpaste and made a mental note when I went to the night market later to check out the small Thai household goods shop.

After playing around on the internet all afternoon I headed to the night market on Soi Buakow and wandered through all the food stalls finally settling on some Wu Chai ( Fried Vegetable tofu )and chicken skewers for dinner and another 30 baht ( $1.02 ). After making my Purchase I headed to the small household goods shop at the front of the market to take a look around. You can find everything here from pots and pans to plates, cups and flatware. My search was for cleaning products and they have plenty of that stuff too.

After a small look around I found what I was looking for…tooth paste, soap and shampoo. The bar of Thai soap was all of 12 baht ( $.40 ) and it smells really good too, sweet lavender me thinks. The Shampoo was close by and that was 20 baht ( $ .68 ) for the small bottle even though the bottle itself says 39 baht ( $1.32 ). Finally I settled on a small tube of Darlie toothpaste for 12 baht ( $.40 ). Darlie changed their name a few years back from Darkie and yes their mascot was a man in blackface and still kinda is 

All in all a very good day for food and hygene essentials. I spent my entire budget for the day and everything is how it should be.

Observations today: The small Thai markets have everything and are always cheaper than the chain markets and I really need to do more shopping at them.

From the e-mail bag:

Talen, you really should consider stopping the experiment now. Eating tofu is just one step above eating dog food and it is dangerously bad for your health.

Okay, seriously people tofu is really good eating. This particular tofu that I had again this evening is made with vegetables and is really tasty.  I’ve had no less than 7 people e-mail me or comment about tofu. Tofu from a health standpoint has it’s good and bad points. The good: tofu is packed with protein has very little fat and is purported to lower cholesterol. The Bad: apparently overeating or eating too much tofu can affect your thyroid gland and in older people too much tofu can supposedly lead to dementia. I like it…it’s crunchy goodness in a bag or on a stick.

Living Like a Thai Day 12 Totals