Guest writer: Guy Marsden - Being a vegetarian in Thailand

The night market in Pai, Thailand

After 24 years living from a traditional British meat based diet, I became a vegetarian!
I’ve been a vegetarian for nearly 6 months now and besides the obvious saving of animal’s lives, I have noticed other benefits.
My weekly spend of food is much lower; saving myself much needed money for things in life like travel. Also, before when I was eating 3 meat-based meals a day, I was regularly suffering from health problems such as stomach cramps, indigestion, acid, gas and general symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) – gross I know! Since I’ve moved to a plant-based diet those health complaints have COMPLETELY gone!!

Last month I went to Thailand on holiday - my first time leaving the UK since becoming a vegetarian. I was aware this was always going to prove a challenge finding vegetarian and vegan choices in restaurants being on the other side of the world with language barriers and their own eating traditions.

My first experience was horrible, walking down the busy Chinatown streets of Bangkok where I’m witness to ducks, chickens, pigs and even cows hanging from metal hooks, swinging in full view just a few steps off the pavement. This made me worried but I soon learnt it was fully down to the fact I was in the Chinatown area of Bangkok – an area different to the majority of the city.

A few days into the holiday and we move north to the Chiang Mai area – this is a beautiful, more peaceful part of Thailand where suddenly there’s not a single dead animal in sight! One of the café’s I noticed in the tourist popular Chiang Mai Square was this vegan café shown in the picture below. 

Their menu was all vegan and they produced their own hemp clothing, they even had vegan ice cream. I repeat….. VEGAN ICE CREAM… in Thailand! 

Go for a drive about 2 hours away from Chiang Mai across the northern mountains and you reach a village called Pai. Now this place was incredible and I’d fully recommend it to any traveller, vegan, vegetarian or lover of relaxation!
On a night the whole village center shuts down from traffic and becomes a full flowing night market busy with local villagers selling their self-made clothes, jewelry and candles. But the thing what got my attention most was how many vegetarian and vegan options there were. Every food stall served better meals than what the restaurant across the street could ever provide, from vegan burgers, burritos, crepes, curries and loads more, one highlight being this yummy vegetable and tofu dish.

So if your wanting to experience a vegan way of life in South East Asia, I’d put Pai in North Thailand at the top of your ‘to visit’ list.

Guy Marsden