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During the reign of King Narai the Great coinciding with the reign of King Louis XIVof France, Thai food took a great leap forward. Foreigners and trades arrived in Thailand at ourold capital in Ayutthaya. With them, they brought new ways of cooking as well as newingredients. Thais did not use coconut milk in their food prior to the arrival of these foreignnationals. Westerners used to milk in their food suggested us to add coconut milk in our curries.Through experimentations the use of coconut milk in curries became the norm. Coconut milk inthose days was mainly used only in desserts and some dishes. It is an important ingredient assame as palm sugar and rice flour. With the arrival of the Portuguese, we were introduced toeggs in our ending meal. Such Portuguese dessert as golden threads and golden flowers, whichare made of egg yolks and sugar syrup, are well known until these days.Chinese people brought with them their eating culture and through generations developtheir owner food which later became a part of Thai cuisine. Western cuisine also had the greatestinfluence on Thai cuisine from the reigns of King Rama V onwards. Our beloved monarchswere educated in Europe and brought back with then western culture and western taste in food.From time to time we see this influence on the menu of some old style restaurants that serveThai food but there are also stews available on their menu. Thais especially love beef tonguestew and this is definitely a left over influence from the western cuisine in the last 100 years.Thai are a nation of eaters. When Thai meet, the first word they greet each other is“where are you going?” and the next question is “have you already eaten?” Thai food is actuallynot difficult to make but one must understand the mixes of ingredients and the tastecombinations.Vegetarians & VegansVegetarianism is not a widespread trend in Thailand, but many restaurants cater tovegetarians. There are several non-profit vegetarian restaurants (ráan aahăan mangsàwirát) inBangkok and several provincial capitals. During the Vegetarian Festival, celebrated by ChineseBuddhists, many restaurants and street stalls go meatless for10 days either in September orOctober. Venues for vegetarian meals includes Indian restaurants, which usually feature avegetarian section on th e menu.Useful phrases/words for vegetarians:I am vegetarianI don’t eat ADon’t add BMeatChickenFishPorkSeafoodkin jehkin A mâi dâimâi sài Bnéua sàtgàiplaamŭuaahăan tháleh6-2. Festivals & Events in ThailandThai festivals tend to be linked to the agricultural seasons or to Buddhist holidays, afterthe main rice harvest is in. The exact dates for festivals vary from year to year, either because ofthe lunar calendar or because local authorities have decided to change festival dates. For specialdates and details, please contact TAT (www.touarismthailand.com) or the Bangkok TourismDivision (www.bangkoktourist.com). The cultural centers also host various internationalfestivals.January/February60