Is Thailand vegetarian-friendly?

Not that easy. They don't eat so many vegetables, in most dish, there is only little tiny pieces. I don't know how many times I ended up eating plain rice with just an egg (i am vegetarian not vegan) because they could not make up anything else without meat or fish xd

No

@Sara ****

😂😂😂 you started a riot here

If not already mentioned in the comments, download the Happy Cow app. Gives you all the nearby vegan & vegetarian places wherever you are in the world

Yes, it is indeed

Vegetarian: Yes. Vegan: No.

As long as you don't mind pork.

No

That's question of the day 🤣🤣🤣

I'm actually vegetarian and when to Thailand almost 4 months...it depends where but is actually going to be challenging

When you arrive at the restaurant you will need to inform/ask if they cook Jay style foods aka Vegan dishes.

😂 no

Yes.

*vegetarian-friendly, the hyphen is needed.

Not a problem whatsoever

Please shut up. When you go to foreign countries you can't expect them to cater to your privileged first world wants/ not needs.

Nope... Only solace you will get is at Indian restaurant

Oh and during the vegetarian festival.......stores have been caught selling meat as fake meat lol

Just open Google maps and enter 'vegetarian restaurants near me'.

Not really. Fish sauce in everything.

15years in Thailand and I have never met a Thai who doesn't love pork ,somtum boophalaa (papaya salad with raw crabs in it ) rice and sticky rice, Tom yum goong (with prawns ) mama noodles and padkrapow gai ( basil cbicken) ... vegetarians hell no! seems Thai's are way to smart for that nonsense and they literally have fish sauce in everything ..

Check out ! So many places <3

Obviously, not only vegetarian, it's fully vegan

EL TORO Steakhouse and Churrascaria | Sukhumvit Road

02 258 4824

Short answer “YES”

There’s a lot of complicated And mis information here. I’ve personally found it to be a very vegan friendly country. Thais aim to please and will make whatever you want however you want it.

I wrote my vegan friend a note in thai to show at restaurant everytime he order foods. It work fine.

Yes there is lots of vegetarian food here but don't expect the street vendors or small restaurants to know every ingredient of all their oils and sauces nor to be sure the food doesn't contain any meat (even if they pretend to be sure) and be aware that many Thai "vegetarians" do eat seafood so there's plenty of risk of confusion or mistakes (but that isn't because they aren't "vegetarian-friendly").

Thai cooks are usually stir frying dish after dish in one or two woks, often under time pressure, so with a queue of dishes, they are inclined to forget and add basic ingredients, incl. fish sauce, by rote. Also they barely rinse the wok with water between dishes so contamination from the previous dish is inevitable. I am not vegetarian but get this often when ordering dishes without any chilli, they sometimes forget completely and I have to send it back, or my dish is still a bit spicy from the previous dish cooked.

Most of the lady’s here eat meat

You can eat many vegetarian animals...

It's a jungle ????

You might as well make fish sauce the exception to your vegetarian diet in Thailand.

There are plenty of vegetarian Indian restaurants around. The good Thai vegetarian restaurants are not easy to find, as they are out of the way in Thai neighborhoods away from mass transit.

Buddhist cultures are very vegetarian friendly

Yes​

Yes, many if not most Thai dishes can be made vegetarian/vegan if you learn how to say the specific ingredients you want and don't want in Thai. 'Mai sai gai' (without chicken), 'mai sai kai' (without egg), etc. If you know a little about the dish you're ordering you will know what they usually put in there, and therefore what to say you don't want in there. Usually I ask first if they have tofu, 'mee tao-hoo mai kha?' then from there either order a tofu version of what I want, or a vegetable version, 'pak'. For example, 'ow pad see ew pak mai sai kai', 'want pad see ew vegetable without egg'. Basically if you learn some Thai it's super easy. Or you could just use Google translate. Either way I've found it's essential to be specific with the ingredients you want and don't want. ☺️

Vegan since 1992 no issues in Thailand. Thais are so easy going I've ended up in the kitchen on many occasions. It's definitely gotten easier over the years.

The amount of cheap fruit at the markets will boggle your mind. It's extremely vegetarian friendly.

A lots of restaurants have vegetarian menu. Also every OCT Vegetarian food festival for whole month you will find vegetarian food everywhere

Sure, if you can speak Thai fluently and explain that when you say vegetarian you mean no fish sauce, chicken or pork broth, etc etc etc. Because this concept doesn't seem to make logical sense to Thais and they add it all anyway even if you ask them not too. I've eaten way too many animal products sneaked into food when asking for vegan. Even food labeled "plant based" in supermarkets and still contain animal products like eggs etc. And it's labelled plant based.... So take a translation app and translate all the ingredients to be sure. It's a headache in this country due to the grey area they have with adding various animal product to "vegan" food. 6 years later and it still happens. Best plan is to go to a vegan restaurant. Guaranteed no animal products. At other meat serving place your are ordering and eating at your own risk, no matter how much you explain yourself. Best cook for yourself and go to vegan only restaurants. For me being vegan/vegetarian for 25+ years, I never had a harder time than in Thailand trying to order a straight, animal product free meal.

Yea! And if you need to say so, say - gin jai! Also there is a symbol

there is nothing purely vegetarian in Thai food. so even if the menu shows something, they will use the same cookware as others. also they will us the same sauces like fish sauce and fish oil. try vegan restaurants. thats ur only option

Look for this symbol on banners out the front of restaurants - indicates primarily/exclusively vegetarian food being served.

They got Indians (dots).. Indians eat a lot of vegetables.

I can't eat fish so I avoid Thai food, because fish sauce goes everywhere.

If you are strict vegetarian then you'll likely need to prepare your own food or eat at only a few restaurants. If you are only 'pretty much a vegetarian' then obviously there are more options

I think they are cus they don't like white meat.

It is no problem but it is better you go in a restaurant with a thai person. my wife always order for me. Sometime we bring our tofu there and they make a veg food for me

Most countries where Buddhism is the main religion have ample amounts of vegetarian foods and in my opinion extremely delicious.

If you're staying near Khao San I use to frequent a place called Arawy, delicious vegetarian food

Only nitnoi nua, why so seliouse!

Ask for "jey" food. Yellow branding and festival. Thai are aware of vegetarian customs

You do know it's a Buddhist country?

It's getting better. October they a vegetarian festival that's last only two weeks. I remember at the airport some years ago couldn't find one place that did anything I could eat. Lots of little start up companies popping up now also. Even KFC are trialing it in certain places. Much improved than even a few years ago.

I am a vegetarian and lost a lot of weight because thai vegetarian food usually has a lot of vegetables unless you love eating noodles everyday. You can go to restaurants and say you are ‘mangsawirat’ which means vegetarian, they’ll cook for you curries and other food with no meat.

read little bit its good for you!

Many Buddhists are strict vegetarians. Should be easy to spot a restaurant that serves that group.

Your joking? Lmao

Really

I’ve seen many restaurants advertise vegan food, but not sure of the street vendors. It’s best you ask.

Big time veggies

Plenty of vegan/veg food in Chiang Mai

No Pom Pem.

Yes it is ..any thing you want you can get I know lived there 10 years

Yes especially in Chiang Mai

no not really everything has fish sauce in it...lol

Yes but helps if you speak Thai a bit, they have a habit of sticking fish sauce in lots of things.

If you find the group vegans of bangkok i remember seeing someone made a flashcard.

Very. There is even a vegetarian festival but not sure when . Find out the thai word for it and use it. Fish sauce goes in everything so u may have to double check that