Well, one cannot but think about food whenever you talk about Thailand, much more when you actually go there for a visit. Thai food is spicy alright, maybe too "hot" for the palate of most Filipinos, but if you get used to it, the cuisine is one of the most exquisite tastes you can enjoy across the globe. It's chili here, chili there, chili everywhere, plus hundreds of other exotic herbs and spices, but it's not simply just about being hot and spicy, it's delectable!
Thirty years ago, I had the opportunity to live in this so similar, yet so different neighboring country for almost two years. Learning how to eat Thai food requires considerable effort and determination, for the weak at heart (or mouth) will cringe from the smoldering spices that ooze out of any Thai food preparation. I did it in a month, but having passed the test, it opened up the culinary taste to the richness of Thai cuisine, from the food fit for kings to the everyday delicacies one can taste in all corners of the streets of Bangkok. Up to this day, merely thinking of "tom yum" makes my mouth water. The wife often complains of the packs of instant Thai noodles that I bring home each time I visit Thailand.
I was with the Philippine delegation to the Asean Air Transport Working Group meetings in Bangkok last week. From the provincial but exotic rural setting of the meeting in Krabi last April, it's the Thai capital this time, with the malls and Skytrains, and the 14 million urban population. And the street food - almost synonymous with Bangkok or Thailand. In almost all nooks and crannies of this Asian capital, one can buy food and eat it …in the streets. You don't even have to find a restaurant, though that's an option, too.
Food is literally abundant and cheap. But what comes as a surprise, especially to Filipino visitors, is how the Thais love street-food themselves, to a point that it has become a way of life. In the morning, on their way to work, and at the day's end, in going home, Thais buy food, eating then and there, or in plastics bags to be brought to work or home. If you think further, you'd realize that in general, Thais don't cook at home. This penchant for eating out, for all walks of life, together with the general attraction of the cuisine which is famous all over the world, earned the country the nickname "Kitchen of the World," which they exploited to the fullest in their international tourism advertising campaign. Apparently, it worked.
I was discussing this particular Thai phenomenon with my good friend Ner (Porciuncula), deputy executive director of the Civil Aeronautics Board and head of the Philippine delegation, and we both agreed this may have contributed much to Thailand's economic productivity. If they eat outside, then they don't cook at home. This maybe a generalization but come to think of it, it is indeed a fact that you seldom see an apartment unit being advertised for lease with a kitchen. Why cook at home when you have all the choices you want, outside, almost anywhere, and almost, any time of the day? It's probably cheaper, too.
One would probably insist on the virtues of home-cooked meals, especially health buffs. But if you have choices outside, including healthy food, then really, it's a preferable option. The mass production of street-food will make them very cheap and affordable. Imagine what percentage of the household income is spent on food - now think if you will only spend less than half of it by eating out. And you can have your choices, too…with no leftovers!
From the economic point of view, the contribution to the national economy is even more immense. Cooking at home will take considerable amount of time, much longer than the time to eat your meal. Of the 24 hours we all have, eight hours we use for working on the average, and eight hours we sleep. The remaining eight hours we use for all other activities, usually non-earning but should be. If we eliminate the time for cooking (for which we are not paid anyway), we could use that time for more productive ends, both financially and for other intangible benefits. Plus, there is income earned by all the people who cook the food as a livelihood, thereby contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the economy.
Maybe too serious a stuff to talk about when one can simply enjoy Bangkok street-food to the fullest. But really, there is something that our economic managers can learn from Thailand, when they advertise themselves as "the kitchen of the world."