On Thai food

So, like I said, I'm working my way up to the deeper insights from the trip.

There are many reasons that I'm glad God decided to call me to support the team in Thailand, as opposed to in other areas of the world. One of the more superficial, and yet still noteworthy, reasons is one I am thankful for everytime I sit up to the dinner table while in Thailand, and that is Thai food. I've been overseas in a cross-cultural/missions setting in 3 different locations in my lifetime - Haiti, Zambia, and Thailand. For the Haiti trip, we were with a big group stationed at a mission complex, so we didn't have a ton of local fare, but what we did have, I did NOT enjoy, with the exception of the fresh fruit. Zambian fare was okay, but it lacked variety. However, I absolutely love Thai food, in terms of both overall taste and variety. I suppose if you weren't a fan of spicy food, as was the case for members of my team on both trips thus far, that it might be problematic for you, but I have no such problem. I just love it - all kinds of meat (beef, pork, chicken, fish), solid complimentary veggies, and oh man, the fresh fruit. I don't even really like the pineapple I get around here, but it's just ridiculous getting some fresh in Thailand, and you haven't lived until you've had fresh mango and sticky rice in coconut milk for dessert. Out of this world! And as much as I like "standard" Thai food, the Issan fare we run into up in the Northeast might be even better. They do this barbecued chicken that is just crazy good.

Anyhow, despite the extent to which I'm raving about Thai food here, I rarely eat it when I'm in the States. In fact, I'm fairly certain the only 2 times I've had Thai food outside of Thailand in the last 2 years were the times we went out for it as a team in preparation for each of my trips to Thailand. You might wonder why that is, and whether you wondered it or not, I'm going to tell you. My reasons are essentially two-fold. First, and probably most significantly is the simple fact that I very rarely go out for a sit down meal of any kind. However, in those rare moments when I am pondering going out, the second reason often kicks in: I look at the menu for the Thai restaurant that is posted on my fridge, and I see the prices. It offends my sensibilities to pay their asking price when I know what I would be paying for that kind of food if I was actually in Thailand. I've found that, in general, prices in Thailand tend to trend lower than you'd pay for similar items in the States, but the food comparison is ridiculous, especially if you compare it to what you'd pay for Thai food here.

Let's set the tone for this here. I was handling the money for the team, and thus paid for every meal we had. When we were with the long-term team, we paid for their food as well. That means that there were a couple meals where there were 13 adults and 5 kids eating. The most I paid for any one meal was 2000 baht (that included a 70 baht tip). The baht was trading about 32.5 to 1 against the dollar while we were in country. So, that means we fed 14 adults and 5 kids an excellent Thai meal for about 62 dollars, including our drinks. If you only count the adults, that's about 4.80/plate, if you include the kids, it's roughly 3.50. Contrast that with the Thai restaurant whose menu adorns my fridge - the cheapest entree on it is 8 bucks by itself. Pretty crazy, really. As a further contrast, one woman who was on the team I went with last year was telling me the week before we left how the Thai restaurant in Dillsburg has an Issan meal - barbecued chicken, sticky rice, and green papaya salad - for 12 bucks. Well, last Thursday I got that same meal, along with some barbecued fish and an excellent pork dish, for 6 adults, and paid less than 20 dollars for all of us. Crazy.

I suppose I should be factoring in the cost of a plane ticket and all the lost time it would take to get to Thailand when I'm thinking through these decisions, but I seriously have a hard time bringing myself to pay American prices for Thai food.