Fah Thai Magazine Sep/Oct 2017
"FAH THAI" is the in-flight magazine of Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited and is edited and published by MPMI Group Ltd.
"FAH THAI" is the in-flight magazine of Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited and is edited and published by MPMI Group Ltd.
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FOOD MECCA<br />
Even for a hard-core foodie like<br />
myself, stalking miles of super<br />
scrumptious local foods in Phuket<br />
still feels like running a full-blown<br />
marathon. It is exhilarating, euphoric and<br />
seems never-ending.<br />
Top<br />
A morning treat of<br />
fluffy flat bread roti<br />
and a side of fried<br />
eggs and curries.<br />
Right<br />
Crabmeat curry with<br />
wild betel leaves<br />
served with rice<br />
vermicelli.<br />
Bottom<br />
A clear Tom Yum<br />
soup with fish and<br />
enoki mushrooms.<br />
Allow me to clarify that this is<br />
not the first time my husband and I<br />
visited Phuket and stuffed ourselves<br />
full. Phuket is our top-listed<br />
favourite town. We come for the<br />
gorgeous beaches, the superlative<br />
resorts, the famous annual<br />
marathons and always, the delicious<br />
foods. However each time we leave,<br />
Phuket never lets us do it in peace.<br />
There is always something left to<br />
come back for and rediscover and<br />
most especially, the food. Because,<br />
the more we eat, the more we think<br />
we missed out (on other potential<br />
good eats). Foods in Phuket are<br />
abundant, tasty and great in variety<br />
that you will have to consider<br />
dedicating a trip here along with a<br />
willing tummy for the real treats this<br />
city offers.<br />
But then again, Phuket foods are<br />
no longer merely just a favourite<br />
among locals. In December 2015,<br />
Phuket was named a ‘City of<br />
Gastronomy’ by UNESCO – an<br />
accolade that makes Phuket on par<br />
with 17 other selected cities around<br />
the world with the same significant<br />
international recognition. This is<br />
a big deal not just for Phuket, but<br />
also for <strong>Thai</strong>land as a whole. The<br />
award recognises what many of<br />
us might have taken for granted:<br />
the long list of legacies and unique<br />
cultural mix so prominent in the<br />
local foods of Phuket.<br />
“Phuket is relatively a much<br />
younger city when compared to<br />
others that have been awarded the<br />
‘City of Gastronomy’ by UNESCO,”<br />
says Dr. Kosol Taengutai, President<br />
of the <strong>Thai</strong> Peranakan Association.<br />
Also a former Deputy Mayor of<br />
Phuket City Municipality and the<br />
former Coordinator in charge of<br />
the City of Gastronomy, UNESCO,<br />
he states that, “Phuket is about 150<br />
years old, whereas other listed cities<br />
have histories harking back as long<br />
as thousands of years.”<br />
“The foods of Phuket are so<br />
unique because they are the result<br />
of Phuket being formed as a trading<br />
hub in the Malay Peninsula, the<br />
place where people from the region<br />
converged, merged and created a<br />
series of unique eats from their own<br />
kitchens. These foods have become<br />
Phuket’s own foods, unlike others.<br />
And still today, we have these rich<br />
legacies of the food we eat daily. It is<br />
authentic, flavourful, and delicious,”<br />
Dr. Kosol adds.<br />
For those who travel the world,<br />
one thing agreed hands down is<br />
that food is never merely something<br />
just eaten but always a colourful<br />
reflection of life with real stories of<br />
people. Food is the edible culture<br />
and it encompasses so much more<br />
than the space of one’s kitchen, the<br />
local markets or beautiful plating<br />
one yearns to capture on Instagram.<br />
For Phuket, the best place to observe<br />
Foods in Phuket are abundant, tasty<br />
and great in variety – you will have to<br />
consider dedicating a trip here along<br />
with a willing tummy for the real treats<br />
this city offers.<br />
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