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Thai rice and fish: Thai people’s relaxed attitude stems from an abundance of staple foods 

By Kim Hyoung-joo (travel writer)

If you ask people who have returned from traveling to Thailand about the most favorite aspect of their trip, most mention the sanguine personality and smiles of Thai people along with the country’s delicious food and beautiful landscapes. In reality, most Thai people are actually laid-back—a national character that is no doubt partially influenced by a tropical climate and the Buddhist faith. Another significant factor is a long history of not having to worry about what to eat due to the wealth of available food in both quantity and quality. 

   King Ramkhamhaeng, who is known as the “Father of Thailand,” is one of the country’s most beloved kings even today for his invention of the Thai alphabet in the latter half of the 13th century. Part of an inion of a stele erected in 1292 in Ramkhamhaeng’s honor read, “The rivers teemed with fish while the fields were full of rice. Everyone could trade freely, and there was no travel tax.” It suggests how rich Thailand was in resources from a very early date. The Korean expressions jalmeogeosseumnida (“I ate well”) and jalmeogesseumnida (“Let’s eat well”) are difficult, if not impossible, to translate into Thai: with no shortage of food since antiquity, there was (and still is) simply no reason to make such statements.

   Today, Thailand is the second-largest rice exporter behind India. On average, Thailand produces far over 20 million tons of rice, of which approximately 10 million tons are exported. Because of this, Thailand is known worldwide as a food-rich nation. Rice cultivation is concentrated in the country’s central regions. Wide stretches of flat land surrounding the Chao Phraya River Basin have the added blessing of high rainfall, which makes it possible to double-crop (or even triple-crop) each year. 

   Like Korea, Thailand was traditionally an agricultural country, with citizens eating rice as their staple food. Contrary to Korean culinary customs, in which rice is accompanied by several vegetable side dishes (kimchi, pickled cucumbers, and others), Thai people’s side dish of choice is fish. A significant proportion of the country’s borders consists of rivers and the ocean, which aids the country’s rice production and fishery industry, with rice and fish thus forming the two main pillars of Thai cuisine. Compared to Northeast Asian countries, including Korea, whose culinary culture is based on bean paste (豆醬), the culinary culture of Southeast Asian countries (including, of course, Thailand) is based on fish paste (魚醬). In Thailand, the fish sauce “nam pla” is an indispensable part of almost every meal.

   The Thai word “ข้าวปลาอาหาร” (khaw pla xahar) is a compound that combines three words: rice (khaw), fish (pla), and food (xahar). The word does not mean “rice and fish and food.” Rather, it is used to mean things to eat in a general sense. This word alone shows just how important rice and fish are in Thai culinary culture. 

   There is a Korean saying that goes: “Generosity starts from the rice jar.” I would like to believe that the leisurely, generous nature of the Thai people comes from the same source: a wealth of things to eat that are grown in nutrient-rich soil. The restrictions currently in place on the majority of international travel make me miss the warmth of Thai people all the more.

This content of this article may differ from the editorial direction of the ASEAN Culture House Monthly.