Travelfish newsletter Issue 339 : Ko Lanta & Ko Jum + The Food of Northern Thailand + travel&tech
Hi all,
This week we’re all about Thai islands, with two great, family friendly spots, Ko Lanta and Ko Jum. Can’t decide which is best for you? Don’t fret they are almost beside each other.
Late light on Golden Pearl Beach, Ko Jum. Photo: David Luekens
In this week’s Soapbox I wrap an entire roll of tinfoil around my head and muse about tech and travel and we’ve got a neat little interview with Austin Bush about his excellent new book, the Food of Northern Thailand.
I’m sorry to the guy who unsubscribed last week saying we don’t cover Thailand enough—if you’d just held on one more week! Hopefully this will get forwarded to you :)
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
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Soapbox
On tech and travel
This week, journalist Kashmir Hill wrote a thought provoking piece about “blocking the tech giants”—over the course of five weeks, she blocked Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple one at a time, to find out what it was like to live in the modern age without them. The story is linked to in our reading list below, or, if you can’t wait, you can read it here—it is well worth a read.
It did get me thinking though how much tech is now a part of most people’s lives when they travel. As Hill points out in the story, some of the tech does make our lives ”easier”—especially when travelling, but ... reaches for the tinfoil.
There is no shortage of sand on Ko Lanta. Photo: David Luekens
During my recent trip to Phnom Penh in Cambodia I booked a bunch of hotels online, then later when I went and opened my calendar, I noticed all the stays had been automatically inserted into the calendar. It was useful I guess (if I used the calendar, which I don’t), and I assume it scans my emails to figure this out, but I never asked this to be done for me. And don't get me started on the ads that chase me across much of the internet (though not on Travelfish—we do value your privacy!) telling me there is just one room left at the XYZ hotel and I have to book it right now or the world will melt.
I stayed at a hotel in Java a while back which asked for my number—after checkout they spammed my mercilessly via WhatsApp pushing their weekend deals—I don't hand over my real phone number anymore. Want to use the restaurant WiFi? It is free but you need to like them on Facebook. I don’t know that I want to tell all my friends where I am eating—nor the restaurant who I am. When I book a hotel with Agoda or Booking, why do I then even need to give the hotel my telephone number and email? I understand why they want it, but why should I as a guest give it to them? Why is the hotel asking me to review them on TripAdvisor before they even ask me how my stay was?
Ko Lanta’s Long Beach is ... long. Photo: David Luekens
What could my phone tell you about me? Who I fly with, when, what and how I paid (on the occasions when the AirAsia app actually worked of course). What type of places I stay in (mostly cheap dumps, though yes sometimes lovely spots), how I paid, how much I paid (thankfully there is no app for the minibar). How I got around (damn you ridesharing apps), where I ate (yes, I confess I spent way too long at Juniper Gin Bar), where I went, how long I spent at each attraction, did I Instagram all of the above (yes, invariably—I need an intervention). How did I do yoga when I only stopped at each yoga centre for five minutes (ok I didn't actually do a class) Why did I visit four embassies in one morning in Phnom Penh (Good question!)?
Of course I can leave the phone and laptop at home, buy a paper guidebook and a fold out map, but that does feel like the baby going out with the dishwater. I want a comfortable middle ground and I think when someone figures out how to provide that, they’ll do quite well for themselves.
Good travels,
Stuart
PS Yes I know, there are certain aspects of tracking on the phones which can be disabled, but not all are aware of those options.
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Talking Travel
Meet Austin Bush
Every week we publish a Q&A, this week with chatted with food writer Austin Bush about his newly released book The Food of Northern Thailand—read on to get those taste buds warmed up.
1) You’ve been based in Thailand since 1999, when would you say you decided you wanted to write a book about Thai food?
Almost as soon as I started working as a freelance writer and photographer, around 2004, I wanted to do one. I actually started work on a Thai cookbook back then, but it got put on the back burner. I'm happy about that now, as it took a decade of writing, taking photos and collecting knowledge and contacts to make a book I was really proud of.
2) Why specifically Northern Thai food?
Mostly because I like that part of the country, I've spent a lot of time up there, and knew a fair bit about the food. But also because there's nothing about it in English, while at the same time, people in the US were learning about the food via Andy Ricker's Pok Pok restaurants.
3) You’ve got years of experience writing about Thai food (and food of the region for that matter), contributing to over twenty books for Lonely Planet, along with a raft of more specialist food publications. Would you say you’ve always had an interest in food and food writing or is it something you grew into?
I suppose I've always been interested in food. From my first years of working as a writer and photographer, I always tried to find a link with food in the things I wrote and photographed. It's an expression of the culture of a place, people are always happy to talk about it, and it's tangible, empirical. I also really love cooking.
4) A lot of first time travellers to Thailand, find themselves in a world of guesthouse food like pad thai, chicken green curry, tom yam, and of course chocolate banana pancakes (none of which I note have recipes in your book!). I assume at one stage back in the day, you were there too—how did you break out into “real Thai food”?
Actually, I never really got too mixed up in that. By the time I was living here, I was lucky that I spoke Thai and had a sense of what Thai people ate and what was served to tourists. I fell in with many Thai people during my first visits here, so I was pointed in the right direction.
5) With its non Roman script, Thai can be a challenge for non Thai speakers wanting to break out of tourist restaurants (unlike say in Malaysia where you can read “nasi lemak” on the food stall). If you had one piece of advice for first time travellers in this regard, what would it be?
For adventurous eaters, simply look for a place that's busy and ask people what they're eating! You may even make a new friend in the process.
6) In the introduction you write about how the profound changes in Thai people’s eating habits instilled a sense of urgency in you—kind of “record this stuff before it is gone”—do you think Thailand is seriously at risk of losing parts of its food heritage?
I do. And not just by Western food. I've traveled to almost every part of the country, and central Thai/Bangkok-style food is also taking over. People's tastes are becoming much more homogeneous, and the younger generation doesn't have much interested in the older, regional stuff.
7) The book includes some beautiful artwork illustrating step by step how readers can perhaps fold a banana leaf package for haw nueng kai (page 149) or khao kan jin (page 247) along with photos as almost infographics, for instance displaying the sample ingredients in Mae Hong Son’s Shan cookery (page 208-209). At least for me these deftly illustrated the rituals around Thai food—do you see these vanishing as well? When everyone buys pre-prepared curry paste how does anyone remember how to make it...
Among the older generation—mostly those who taught me these techniques—they’re still there. But younger people don't cook much these days, and are pretty unaware—and disinterested—in these techniques.
8) With part of the book organised by province rather than by type of meal, food or ingredient (a more common approach), it is hard not to see the shadow of your years writing guidebooks in the finished product. Would you recommend trying to use this as a “food guidebook”?
Sure. I knew from the get-go that northern Thai food is very, very specific, and not everybody will be able to cook these dishes. So I made a serious effort to appeal to tourists, visitors or even people just generally interested in Thailand. The illustrations and photos help the book function as a coffee table book of sorts, and my hope is that there's enough narrative text for one just to sit down and read the book.
9) Sticking with the guidebook theme, why no Lamphun nor Phayao?!
Unfortunately, I was limited by space, and had to stick with the provinces with stronger culinary legacies.
10) Last guidebookish question, I remember some years ago, when I was in Phrae you recommending I try what I’m going to call the bloody laap there. In the end I couldn’t find it, or it was closed or something, but I’m pretty sure it is the same place, Jaa Det you mention on page 275. You mention quite a few specific restaurants and vendors in the book, but at least as far as I could see, there are no addresses. Was this intentional? Why?
I made a point of mentioning the names of the people who provided recipes, and sometimes the venues, but that type of information can change so quickly in Thailand, where restaurants swap hands, move or can dip in quality. (However, I did provide a PDF of the locations that provided recipes; go to www.austinbushphotography.com, click on The Food of Northern Thailand link on the left, and click on the book cover to download the doc.)
11) After the book came out, I saw on your Instagram account that you went to many of the people featured in the book and gave them a copy. I thought this was a terrific thing to do—how did people react?
Honestly, I think they were a bit confused! I was very explicit about what I was doing in the course of my research, but I don't think many of these people had ever been approached for that reason, and perhaps didn't entirely understand what I was doing.
12) It is a bit of a tired saga that foreigners can’t cook real Thai food—did you encounter much resistance from locals when you told them what you were doing?
Not at all. I speak Thai well, which helps a lot, and I know my stuff, so they could see that I'm seriously invested in the topic.
13) You recently had a very interesting story in Taste, titled “Why Is America So Obsessed With Thai Street Food?” in which you mention that you rarely eat on the street (because the food is better elsewhere). As many of the dishes you mention are available on the street, would you say the same holds for the North? Or is it more a case of just finding the right place to eat them?
Northern Thailand is something of a paradox in that, generally speaking, it's kind of hard to find restaurants that serve northern Thai food. The most common type of restaurant in the region is the grilled meat shack/laap joint, but if you want to try salads, soups, dips, etc., you have to get them to-go from local markets or score a meal invitation from a local.
14) I know it is hard to pick a single dish from all you have brought together in this text, but if you had to pick two dishes—one vegetarian and one not—to recommend to travellers who want to break free of their pad thai chains in the north of the country, what would they be? Why?
I'd urge people to try a naam phrik, chili-based dip. Some of them, such as naam phik num, a dip of grilled chilies, garlic and shallots, are almost vegetarian (they may contain fish sauce or dried fish), and are unique to the region and so delicious.
15) So what is next? The Food of Southern Thailand?
Yes! Not having spent a lot of time in Thailand's south, I'm genuinely intrigued by this region and its food. Much of it's new to me, so there's a sense of discovery. It's very diverse—in the south one can find influences from the Muslim world, Malaysia, regions of China and elsewhere—and super tasty.
The Food of Northern Thailand is available via Amazon and other major online booksellers. Do grab a copy—it is a terrific addition to a library of books on Thai cuisine, or would make for an excellent gift.
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Ten things worth reading
I Cut the 'Big Five' Tech Giants From My Life. It Was Hell
Only tangentially travel related (though it did inspire this week’s soapbox) this interesting story follows the author’s experiences in trying to remove five tech giants from her life. Has big tech become the lifestyle equivalent of the salt in our diet? Well worth a read.
Whose facade is it, anyway?
Does the world really need another story on Instagram? Seems so and at least this time it is a good one. Lots of food for thought—imagine living in one of these houses dealing with this day in day out. Instagrammers take pause!
Travelfish on Instagram
Staying on topic, do you follow me on Instagram? If not, perhaps you should. Just ignore the previous story! Pics are all by me (Stuart here!) and vary between our kids, the never ending stream of food I stuff face with and travel. I’m off to Cambodia in seven hours for a few weeks, so expect more Cambodia, less Bali and invariably a few pics whining about AirAsia.
The fight to preserve the Khon Pi Luang rapids
I dunno how many books I have by Milton Osborne on my shelves (personal fave, Before Kampuchea), and so I enjoyed this short piece by him looking at some of the longer term thinking about what China is doing to the Mekong River. With the rail coming (for better or worse), why is this destruction even being wrought on such a glorious river?
Oh Thailand
I‘ll just direct quote this and leave it at that. “Beyond this theorizing and all the jostling yet to come, the extraordinary developments of last week — actually, of the last months — reveal that Thailand is a military dictatorship like no other. It is a military dictatorship under royal command.”
A travel writer in Sumatra. Yes really.
Our Sumatra coverage is woefully out of date (it is on our update list for this year really!) but American travel writer Rolf Potts (I reviewed his book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There here) is kicking around there at the moment, and I’ve been really enjoying his Instagram feed. Damn, Instagram again!
Live like a local ummmm
While Europe focused, this is just as relevant to Southeast Asia. “Five minutes from the door of my house I have nine places selling avocado toast." Ha ha try Bali! But more seriously, what does it mean for the locals who live in these towns who suddenly become flavour of the month—not surprisingly there are winners and losers.
Just terrifying
“On average, the rupture unzipped the crust at a rate of 2.7 miles per second, or 9,600 miles per hour, almost 25 percent faster than is typical, and among the fastest ever recorded for rocks at shallow depths.” Indonesia gets (justifiably) flogged over its tsunami buoys and so on, but this was a catastrophe of near impossible to foresee proportions.
You are what you eat. Sort of.
“Anyone can pontificate an opinion, and that happens a lot in the world of taste.” Again only kind of travel related. You eat when you travel right? Ok this qualifies then. A fascinating WashPo piece looking at the “Sommeliers of Everything”. I started skimming this on my phone, put the phone down, cranked up the laptop and spent twenty minutes reading it slowly as my jaw dropped lower and lower. I want to be a hot sauce sommelier. There I said it. Too many curious factoids to choose just one, but I loved the idea that honey with a smoky aroma may mean the beekeeper is scared of his underlings. Read it and you’ll never look at mustard, honey, chocolate, tobacco or a bunch of other things the same way.
Support the Mekong Review
I’ve long been a fan of the Mekong Review, and so I’m happy to tilt you towards their latest fund raising drive (they are targeting US$50,000), but, I’m probably not alone in thinking a publication like this should have been paying their writers from the get go. Better late than never I guess.
What we’re reading (still)
Moonwalking with Einstein
From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind, this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that, in every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories.
Travel shot
There is a slight chance of rain this afternoon. Photo: David Luekens
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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