Showing 91 - 100 of 189
On the origin of dishes
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 04/10/2015
» You have to sympathise with the confusion a foreigner may feel when encountering Thai food on its native turf, especially in Bangkok. The visitor may have conflicting feelings; thinking that he knows something about what he sees, but also suspecting that he doesn’t. For instance, if the tourist comes across a southern curry and rice shop he will recognise it easily enough because every southern curry shop has a sign saying that it is a southern food shop, and often mentions the province the owners come from. Even if the sign is written in Thai and the visitor can’t read it, someone nearby might explain.
The fishermen hooked on conservation
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 13/09/2015
» Land-bound as we may appear now to anyone living in the city, Thai society of the past had an intimate relationship with water. Thais lived next to water and travelled on it in boats.
Off the beaten Trat
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 06/09/2015
» If you were to tell 100 people that you had just come back from a short vacation in Trat province, all of them would assume that you’d gone to Koh Chang, because tourists think of that island as a slice of paradise. There are more than 200 hotels on Koh Chang, and white sandy beaches and dive spots with gorgeous coral. Seafood restaurants, bars and entertainment spots abound, so it is no wonder that you see as many tourists strolling around on Koh Chang as you do on Silom Road in Bangkok.
A small fish with a long history
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 30/08/2015
» Pla salit (gourami) is a freshwater fish that Thais have relished for centuries. It is not very big, but its great virtue as a food fish far outstrips its modest size.
Mixing things up
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 23/08/2015
» In today’s column I’d like to visit an exceptional restaurant serving Chinese-Thai food. It is located in an ordinary-looking shophouse with the cooking area out in front. Customers are seated in an air-conditioned room, where they are presented with a menu with a long list of dishes. Those who know it will recall it used to be located behind the sports arena at Pathumwan but has now moved to Lat Ya Road in Thon Buri.
Inmates show their innate skills
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 09/08/2015
» There is a place that we all know about — and every province has at least one. Few of us have any plans of going inside, but we are curious to know what it is like in there. I am talking about prisons.
Rooted in culture
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 21/06/2015
» The coconut tree: there are not many more familiar sights in Thailand. It bears fruit with juice that is good to drink and meat that can be used in cooking. It is an emblem of the seaside and grown in extensive groves by farmers. The taller the coconut trees, the older the community in which the grove is located. And the versatility of the plant is something to marvel at.
The sense of the ‘common’
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 07/06/2015
» Many people probably think of farmers, orchard keepers and fishermen as “common people”, and they would most likely describe themselves as ordinary workers or labourers without any high ambitions, lacking the knowledge needed for other kinds of work.
Gone but not forgotten
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 19/04/2015
» How is it that dishes that were once favourites can disappear completely from memory? There are a number of reasons. One is that the cooks who made them are all gone.
Getting down to brass tacks
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 12/04/2015
» Look back at the metal kitchen tools and utensils that people used to use daily in Thailand before modern replacements came onto the scene, and you’ll get a glimpse of the lifestyle of which they were such an important part. But you will also notice that some of them have survived into the present, with very little change.