Not so long ago, I have had a chance to get myself into the place named, ‘Sukhumvit’. Here, I could say that it is equivalent to one country despite that it is just one area in Bangkok. The reason is because there are so many kinds of culinary culture as well as the norm of selecting food choices, gathered here that you don’t even have to travel abroad to try them.
To be fair, this column is not written to review shops or restaurants in Sukhumvit. But I am here to share you the culture of food consumption and food imported from many different countries even though some foods can be produced in Thailand. However, some expats who live here are willing to spend their money on the frozen imported product that are way costly.
I started by getting to know Japanese people who followed their husbands to work in Thailand. Their children are also here to study in Thailand for at least 6 years. Of course, for the Japanese family's eating culture, it can be noticed that they don't eat outside much. So after their husbands leave to work, and their wives would send their kids to school, we will see a group of Japanese housewives gathered at the supermarket around Sukhumvit area. In fact, if you were to count the number of shops in Sukhumvit, there are already many supermarket brands, but most Japanese mothers usually do their shopping in Japanese supermarkets or stores that import fresh, dried, frozen products from Japan as you may see below:
Makotoya Thailand, a shop selling frozen goods, raw materials and various ingredients imported from Japan which has been in service for 13 years since 2005 where most customers are restaurants and Japanese housewives. There are fish, shrimp, squid, clams, sausage, bacon, sesame bean sauce imported from Japan. Despite being frozen, it is still received a lot of attention from housewives and Japanese restaurants. There is also a freezer for fresh vegetables and fruits. And because Japanese housewives living in Thailand tend to cook almost everyday, therefore, buying a jumbo size ingredient that makes the unit price cheaper is not uncommon for them to find the reason to cook daily.
Thonglor Nihon Ichiba, an air-conditioned market, opening from 9.00-18.00 hrs. The morning session is only available for wholesale distributors, whereas the ordinary buyers are allowed to go in in the afternoon. This market gives the feeling of walking in the real market in Japan because most raw materials are imported from there and only Japanese people do their shopping here. The raw materials will focus on meat, seafood and fruits and vegetables, with Thai store officers waiting to help advise about the products. Of course, you will see Japanese people walking around because aside from being like an air-conditioned fresh market, you can order to cook here with an area to eat on the 2nd floor. The prices of fresh food here fluctuate depending on the logistics and the season of raw materials. Therefore, you can observe that Japanese people who live here will eat seasonal food of their own country. The logistics is well calculated so that the raw materials arrive in Thailand consume the shortest time while remain in the freshest conditions.
Fuji, a Japanese supermarket opened in Thailand, gathers Japanese-style food with 4 branches:
Branch 1 is in Soi Sukhumvit
Branch 2 is on the 1st floor of City Resort 39 Building, Soi Sukhumvit 39
Branch 3 (Express) is on the 1st floor, City Resort Building, Sukhumvit 39, and
Branch 4 is on the 1st floor, City Resort Building, Sukhumvit 49.
The Fuji Japanese Supermarkets sell Thai products together with Japanese products, but the proportion is considered less than imported products that include frozen goods, meats, snacks, and snacks. There are also many high-quality organic ingredients in Thailand that have been placed and sold here such as fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs or even meat. In addition to the products the housewives can buy, the other side of the supermarkets also offer ready-to-eat food, both Japanese food or even hot ready-to-eat Thai food that aim to support customer with single lifestyle who live in condos that do not have cooking area.
These are only 3 examples of the supermarkets where you can barely hear people speaking in Thailand. However, I am still wondering about their standards of living that seem to be nice, consuming foods that have no preservative and MSG. But at the same time, it’s undeniable that the meets they are eating are frozen and we would never know what they have been through in terms of procedure. So, I ask a Japanese source about how they decide to choose the imported materials from their own country. The answer is because, in addition to being a familiar taste, they heard that meat in Thailand uses antibiotics a lot and the meat in Thailand has a strange smell. So, they chose to believe in the export standards of Japan more than trusting organic raw materials in Thailand. This sounds sad but they further commented that now the situation with chicken should better as Thai farmers are trying to improve security and safety in food more. There are more knowledgeable young people who return to do safer agriculture that make a good trend seem to be better.
I, myself as a Thai, wish to contribute and push this safe agriculture to all stakeholders. This would positively affect the organic farmers that at the end, their organic products can be trusted and can be sole, and subsequently to our young children both Thai and non-Thai who live here to receive safe and comprehensive nutritional foods in each season.
Author
Nattaporn Pinpech
Creative / Story teller