The first time I went to Thailand was way back before I had become vegan. So, the second time that I went (when I had become vegan), I was curious about what I would be eating. What surprised me the most wasn't that the food was as delicious as it was pre-vegan (of course it would be)! No, what surprised me was that, as a vegan in Thailand, I ate a much wider variety of dishes and foods than I had when I lived there as a non-vegan!
But over to you, maybe you're bracing yourself for a week of plain rice and awkward pointing at menus. Maybe you've read all the warnings about fish sauce hiding in everything. Don't worry, I've got you! With a few tips and tricks, let me show you how easy it is to be vegan in Thailand.
The one word that changes everything. The word is pronounced like "jay" and written like เจ. It's a Buddhist-style way of eating that's accidentally vegan, as it means no meat, no egg, no dairy (it also excludes onion and garlic, but hey, we can't win everything).
Hot tips for vegans in Thailand: "jay" (เจ)
The one word that changes everything. The word is pronounced like "jay" and written like เจ. It's a Buddhist-style way of eating that's accidentally vegan, as it means no meat, no egg, no dairy (it also excludes onion and garlic, but hey, we can't win everything).
Stalls and restaurants that cook jay fly a yellow flag with red lettering (เจ), and once you start noticing those flags, you see them everywhere, especially around markets and temples.
If a place isn't specifically jay, the phrase I leaned on was "mangsawirat" (vegetarian) followed by "mai ao nam pla, mai ao kai" (no fish sauce, no egg). Save it in your phone in Thai script (มังสวิรัติ ไม่เอาน้ำปลา ไม่เอาไข่) and show it. Don't do what I did and get your best Thai friend to write it on a piece of paper which then disintegrated from my overuse and sweaty palms. In my experience, though (before the paper disintegrated), most cooks happily swapped things out.
Here are some of the things I ate that are either accidentally vegan or an easy tweak away from it:
The markets were some of my favourite memories of Thailand. Chatuchak in Bangkok has a whole run of vegan stalls, and I filled up on fried spring rolls, curries over rice and fresh fruit. During the vegetarian festival in October the streets practically turn jay, and it's the single best time to visit for us. (Yes I know vegetarian isn't vegan, but the vegetarian festival has a whole lot of vegan options and then some.)
The north is a proper bonus. Chiang Mai, up north, might be the most vegan-friendly city I've been to anywhere. There's a real cluster of plant-based cafes and a Sunday walking street market where half the stalls will feed you well without a second thought. If your trip can stretch that far, build in a few days. I stayed a week the first time I went and it wasn't enough for me.
Base yourself near the food, then explore.
How to say "vegetarian plus no fish sauce, no egg"
If a place isn't specifically jay, the phrase I leaned on was "mangsawirat" (vegetarian) followed by "mai ao nam pla, mai ao kai" (no fish sauce, no egg). Save it in your phone in Thai script (มังสวิรัติ ไม่เอาน้ำปลา ไม่เอาไข่) and show it. Don't do what I did and get your best Thai friend to write it on a piece of paper which then disintegrated from my overuse and sweaty palms. In my experience, though (before the paper disintegrated), most cooks happily swapped things out.
What to eat as a vegan in Thailand
Here are some of the things I ate that are either accidentally vegan or an easy tweak away from it:
- Mango sticky rice: accidentally vegan
- Khanom krok: Thai coconut pancakes, street food that's accidentally vegan
- Pad thai with tofu: generally served with egg, shrimp and fish sauce, but as it's usually cooked on the spot from scratch, it's easy to ask them to keep those out. Ask them to substitute the egg for tofu
- Green curry made with coconut milk: ask for it without the fish sauce ("mai ao nam pla") but double check there wasn't shrimp in the curry paste itself
- Som tam: green papaya salad, as long as you ask them to leave out the dried shrimp.
- Pad see ew: my personal favourite, ask for it without eggs, oyster sauce and fish sauce
Things to do in Thailand
The markets were some of my favourite memories of Thailand. Chatuchak in Bangkok has a whole run of vegan stalls, and I filled up on fried spring rolls, curries over rice and fresh fruit. During the vegetarian festival in October the streets practically turn jay, and it's the single best time to visit for us. (Yes I know vegetarian isn't vegan, but the vegetarian festival has a whole lot of vegan options and then some.)
The north is a proper bonus. Chiang Mai, up north, might be the most vegan-friendly city I've been to anywhere. There's a real cluster of plant-based cafes and a Sunday walking street market where half the stalls will feed you well without a second thought. If your trip can stretch that far, build in a few days. I stayed a week the first time I went and it wasn't enough for me.
Base yourself near the food, then explore.
My rule now is to stay somewhere with a market or a jay cluster within walking distance, eat my way through the morning, then go and do something in the afternoon.
In Bangkok that meant long mornings grazing and afternoons on the river or in the temples. I'd happily lose a day just wandering, but if you want to pin a few plans down, it's worth looking at the things to do in Bangkok in advance so you're not sorting it out in the heat. A cooking class was my favourite. I asked for a fully plant-based session and came home able to make three of the dishes I'd been eating all week. The coast, and eating vegan by the sea
I'd been told Pattaya was all nightlife and not worth a vegan's time. Both wrong. There's a surprising number of vegan-friendly and jay places, and the markets do the same naturally plant-based dishes you get everywhere else. I spent my days there on the quieter beaches and a boat trip out to a nearby island, eating grilled corn, som tam and rice on the sand.
If you go, it's worth lining up the main things to do in Pattaya before you arrive, partly to know the real prices and partly because the good boat trips sell out. I left mine too late and missed the one I wanted, which is the sort of mistake you only make once. A few honest tips: Carry snacks for travel days. Long bus and ferry journeys are where the options thin out, so I kept fruit and nuts in my bag for the stretches between towns.
Learn to read the yellow flag and the jay symbol. It saved me more times than my phrasebook did, and it works even when there's no English and no shared language at all. And go during the vegetarian festival if you possibly can. For about nine days the whole country makes it easy, and it turned what I expected to be a compromise into the best eating of my life.
Thailand stands out in my memory as one of the best places to travel to as a vegan. It's not just the abundance of fresh fruit and veg, it's not just the ease of jay, it's not just that (almost all of) the people are smiley and nice and a step above other places where they judge you for not eating meat and dairy.. it's everything and more. And it being a beautiful country helps too. The food is half the reason I want to go back, and the other half is everything there is to do between meals.
In Bangkok that meant long mornings grazing and afternoons on the river or in the temples. I'd happily lose a day just wandering, but if you want to pin a few plans down, it's worth looking at the things to do in Bangkok in advance so you're not sorting it out in the heat. A cooking class was my favourite. I asked for a fully plant-based session and came home able to make three of the dishes I'd been eating all week. The coast, and eating vegan by the sea
I'd been told Pattaya was all nightlife and not worth a vegan's time. Both wrong. There's a surprising number of vegan-friendly and jay places, and the markets do the same naturally plant-based dishes you get everywhere else. I spent my days there on the quieter beaches and a boat trip out to a nearby island, eating grilled corn, som tam and rice on the sand.
If you go, it's worth lining up the main things to do in Pattaya before you arrive, partly to know the real prices and partly because the good boat trips sell out. I left mine too late and missed the one I wanted, which is the sort of mistake you only make once. A few honest tips: Carry snacks for travel days. Long bus and ferry journeys are where the options thin out, so I kept fruit and nuts in my bag for the stretches between towns.
Learn to read the yellow flag and the jay symbol. It saved me more times than my phrasebook did, and it works even when there's no English and no shared language at all. And go during the vegetarian festival if you possibly can. For about nine days the whole country makes it easy, and it turned what I expected to be a compromise into the best eating of my life.
Wrapping Up: How to be Vegan in Thailand
Thailand stands out in my memory as one of the best places to travel to as a vegan. It's not just the abundance of fresh fruit and veg, it's not just the ease of jay, it's not just that (almost all of) the people are smiley and nice and a step above other places where they judge you for not eating meat and dairy.. it's everything and more. And it being a beautiful country helps too. The food is half the reason I want to go back, and the other half is everything there is to do between meals.
If you've been putting Thailand off because you weren't sure you could eat well there, don't. You'll eat better than you do at home, and probably for less!
