Thai food fat, thai people thin

I was wondering on this question...

Thai food is considered high cal/ high fat as they are prepared with coconut milt. But how come I have never seen a single thai person to be fat? In all the restaurants, the people working there are thin and fit.

Tried to research and found the following, don't know if they are really true:

1. Coconut milk is high in saturated fat, but it also heats up the body, so we tend to burn more calories than we consumed (saw in tv sometime back, don't know if it's true).

2. Thai people eat with chopsticks. Now the amount of food a chopstick can hold is certainly less than a spoon. Also, taking the food many times to your mouth in small portions kinda fills you up faster, so you tend to eat less. (My theory, dunno if it's right :))

3. Just like any country's food, restaurant food are high in fat, but there would also be a healthier low cal version being prepared at home.

P.S. I love thai food, it's my favourite, but I don't have it often since I started trying to lose fat.

I'm not sure if this is true for Thai food, but it's true for Filipino and Korean food (I have a few Filipino and Korean friends).
Real Filipino/Korean food (as in food actually made by people who live in the Philipeans/Korea) is pretty bland. In restaurants they use MSG to boost flavor. I don't know loads about MSG, apparently in a lab test, MSG corelated to obesity in rats; but there's no evidense suggesting it relates to obesity in humans.
Here's the wikipedia site on wikipedia.

Also the same for most cuisines. The food you get at resturants isnt their every day food,. Mum is chinese. The food we eat at restaurants is NOT what they eat everyday at all. Kung pao chicken - pfft, maybe for a treat. But you dont order the normal chicken noodle soup and steamed veggies out at dinner (well i do but I mean normal fat people) Also the food you get from our shops isnt authentic - its mass produced, so its much easier to add flavour with fat.
MSG is an additive and effects everyone differently.
Basically the food you eat at chinese restaurants isnt more healthy than american food just cos on a whole china has a lower obesity rate. Keep in mind people in wetern countries EAT TOO MUCH and that's what makes them fat. Half the people in china eat fish and rice, but burn it off as many dont have cars.

Also that coconut milk thing is silly - sure you MIGHT burn a tiny bit more b ut you're consuming an extra 100 cals and burning off 1-2 max.

Make your own thai food - healthier and lower in cals.
Tell me your fav recipies and i'll ighten em up.
Eating wtih chopsticks does slow you down (hence why fast food is eaten with HANDS and why ppl seem to get fatter on fast food, aside from the piles of fat in it - you eat faster and the signal to stop eating comes later in the meal)
Ps there are plenty of fat thai people. And fat japanese people,. THe ones you see are, and i'm not being racist (I'm chiense anyway, but i hope you dont see this as offensive) the people you see there are working. So they're active. And if they're waiting at a resturant, chances are (not the truth always) they have a low-medium income, so cant afford to snack on mars bars. Veggies are much cheaper than chocolate. The fat ones are the buisness owners (not always) the ones you dont see. The chances are hte ones you see are willing to work hard and take control of their lives, so are busy burning cals, beign waiters.

 just wanted to let you know thai people usually don't eat with chopsticks, they use spoons and forks, unless its like noodles or something. actually most southeast asian countries don't use chopsticks daily.

portions are also so much smaller than the asian food you get in buffets here.

ya i spent forever trying to convince my boyfriend that thai food is fattening.  we have both traveled there and enjoyed thai food and it is similar to what we enjoy here where we live.  he ate curry every day for months and did not gain weight and he also uses the example of thai people and how thin they are.  i can not explain it either.  but it is hot there and you dont eat as much when its hot.  also people in poorer countries dont eat as much of the priceier ingrediants like meat....more veggies...more filling. but i really dont know except that i love thai food but stopped eating it cause of the cocunut milk and peanuts in everything.

I'm half Korean and whenever I go to visit my family in Korea I ususally get thinner. I have a few theories: They walk everywhere, or bike. They don't eat desserts, they have fruit instead. They eat rice instead of bread. They don't have chips and things for snacks, it's fruit. They eat A LOT of veggies. Typical Korean meal is a bowl of rice and many many sidedishes including spinach, fish, kimchi (spicy lettuce), and tofu.

Just my opinion on this one, but my best guess as to why Asians can eat "Asian" food and still stay slim (on average) is because their portion sizes are much smaller than American ones.

Whenever I've gone abroad, it takes me a day or two to adjust to a "normal" portion - I always thing "Hmm, that was a nice appetizer, now where the heck is the real meal"??? :)

American portion sizes are 2 to 3 times that almost anywhere else in the world - and I suspect that has more to do with our weight than anything else.

Real Filipino/Korean food (as in food actually made by people who live in the Philipeans/Korea) is pretty bland.

I disagree. I'm living in Korea and homemade Korean food is much better than in restaurants.


I'm half Korean and whenever I go to visit my family in Korea I ususally get thinner. I have a few theories: They walk everywhere, or bike. They don't eat desserts, they have fruit instead. They eat rice instead of bread. They don't have chips and things for snacks, it's fruit. They eat A LOT of veggies. Typical Korean meal is a bowl of rice and many many sidedishes including spinach, fish, kimchi (spicy lettuce), and tofu.

Most adults eat fruit. And a lot of people eat chips and the like. I teach English here and I have a lot of chubby students. Obesity is becoming a problem everywhere. I see a number of overweight adults too. And even 1 bowl of bibimbap has 600cals...

I am living in Thailand for over ten years now. Most people were/are slim here although eating is their favourite pasttime  but they do eat small portions and thai food is not always coconut curry. However over the last years obesity  increased dramatically here particuarly in children. Lots of Fast food restaurants opened up and eating habits change and not to the best.

Hi, I'm from Thailand. I just moved to the State last year and I'm a teenager. One thing I can tell you is

1. Not all Thai food cook with coconut milk. There are only certain food. And if I was at home and my nanny cook my family the dinner...we BARELY use any coconut milk. 

2. Portion size!! Me and my friends snack ALL the time! But we shared stuffs and everything come in a tiny pack. And we didn't only eat Thai snack, we eat a lot of things like ice cream but they come in a single serving size (most of it anyway). 

3. We walk a lot. We have cars and my mom drive me to school. But my school is kinda like in Times Square in Bangkok (we are one of the top competitive school, though) and me and my friends got to go shopping and walking around or take sky train. So we are being active without really realize it.

4. We didn't drink green tea all the time. We drink the cold version like Arizona that is selling in USA. We also drink even sweeter drink like Thai Milk Tea and Bubble Tea...but as above...activity level and small smaller serving.

5. If you go to fins chips in super market...the biggest size bag you would generally see is like...4 serving. If you eat them all or eat just half...it's not that bad. 

6. TONS of healthy food are selling on the street. If you're walking and really hungry...stop and but a piece/serving of fresh fruits. That is the BEST part of Thailand. They are so many variety of fruits. And noodles, and snacks, and all the food. You wouldn't be starve and overeat later like American people. You don't have to carry snacks with you all around. You will not be as obsess about food.

And, we use only use chopstick when we eat noodle (Kwoi-Tiao). 90% of the time, we use spoon and fork.

This topic makes me miss home already!

I am going to Thailand in December, I guess I will experience all of this myself. Can't wait. :)

I live with a family friend who is thai. She's not really stick thin, nor is she fat. She only eats thai food. You've got to keep in mind that the thai food you get in restaurants is high in fat and oil. My friend, Suewanna, home makes all her own thai food, which is a lot healthier. Also, she eats a lot of vegetables and her only source of protein comes from nuts, eggs, and fish. She doesn't eat meat, nor do any of her thai friends, which may be a contributing factor.  And just like obncf said, thai people don't eat with chopsticks.

Isn't there regional thai food?  Like parts of thailand only eat that really spicy and sour food.  And I hear spices reduce your appetite when you are eating.

white_sakura - 

  uhm...to answer this question....if you go to the north of Thailand, you will find a lot of traditional Northern food but it will consisted of Thai characteristic. They will have sticky rice with some thing else. There may be no coconut milk in Northern food. Similar to the North-Eastern part of Thailand where they mainly eat sticky rice with Thai grilled chicken (a bit different from American grilled chicken). And they will have spicy-sour-salty salad mix with all the other food. In the south, you will mainly find a lot of soup composed of coconut milk or other curry. In the middle including Bangkok, you can find all those food from every part and include the original food of middle part. But no matter how much different they will be, you can see that Thai food are spicy, lots of veggies that give the nice taste and helps keep you feel clean and healthy. (The Tom Yum Soup will helps clear your nose a lot when you are sick and it taste good in general anyway.)

 I miss Thailand!

OMG! YES! I have Been pondering this since i got here seven months ago. thai food is LOADED with oil, meat fat, nhealthy white rice, MSG, and hwo knows what else.

And they eat a TON! constantly - pls they eat chips, candy, ice cream, and cake all the time - it so Bad for them! And Thai ppl are lazy, too. They go shopping a lot - which sonds like they get exercise, Bt when yo go to the malls and stores - everything is atomated. They even have movaBle floors - these people are that lazy. Walking along hte street, ask a Thai (very nice and helpfl, Btw) for directions and htey will sit yo on a Bs - everywhere is too far too walk. Oh, no, too far. Almost a kilometer! (half a mile) so none of them are getting exercise. And I hang ot with Thai friends for entire days, sometimes entire weekends - The only thing they do is, they have this game where they jmp on each other's feet while they try to jmp away from them. So there's a BIT of exercise...

I dnno, I am at a loss. The school where I teach feeds them fll-fat milk, cookies, donts, sala plaos (these Thai-style dont things loaded with sgar), lnches that make me almost gag from the grease and carBs, and then the kids go to this store and get sgary treats and chips after! and there is no recess in Thailand - they have a period for swimming, that's it.

Baffling, I know. And my friends in the states, who get real exercise and eat salads and generally healthy foods and strggle with weight...wtf?? And since I got here, I've gained 25+ lBs :(

Closet anorexics? Possile, yet they don't exhiBit any ED Behavior, so I'm thinking no.

Uhm....I would say the portion size is smaller and easier access to food since they are all on the street. We don't eat donuts or American sweets that much unless you choose to (trust me, Krispy Kream donut may taste even better than the one there). 

And we eat everything, but we didn't eat the whole thing...just a bit of each

i believe its because of portion size and the way its cooked... like for instance chinese takeout is dripping with oil, i hardly doubt they eat that crap there.. and of course the portions are tremendous, which i believe is a contributing factor!!

Original Post by gettinghealthy123:

OMG! YES! I have Been pondering this since i got here seven months ago. thai food is LOADED with oil, meat fat, nhealthy white rice, MSG, and hwo knows what else.

And they eat a TON! constantly - pls they eat chips, candy, ice cream, and cake all the time - it so Bad for them! And Thai ppl are lazy, too. They go shopping a lot - which sonds like they get exercise, Bt when yo go to the malls and stores - everything is atomated. They even have movaBle floors - these people are that lazy. Walking along hte street, ask a Thai (very nice and helpfl, Btw) for directions and htey will sit yo on a Bs - everywhere is too far too walk. Oh, no, too far. Almost a kilometer! (half a mile) so none of them are getting exercise. And I hang ot with Thai friends for entire days, sometimes entire weekends - The only thing they do is, they have this game where they jmp on each other's feet while they try to jmp away from them. So there's a BIT of exercise...

I dnno, I am at a loss. The school where I teach feeds them fll-fat milk, cookies, donts, sala plaos (these Thai-style dont things loaded with sgar), lnches that make me almost gag from the grease and carBs, and then the kids go to this store and get sgary treats and chips after! and there is no recess in Thailand - they have a period for swimming, that's it.

Baffling, I know. And my friends in the states, who get real exercise and eat salads and generally healthy foods and strggle with weight...wtf?? And since I got here, I've gained 25+ lBs :(

Closet anorexics? Possile, yet they don't exhiBit any ED Behavior, so I'm thinking no.

hahahahaha oh wow.... u've gained 25+ pounds? oh u poor thing. sounds like someone's a little bitter.

i'm part thai, and i live in thailand so i can honestly say that our eating habits are much much better than ones u've said here. maybe in the school ur teaching at, they feed kids fatty foods but certainly not everyone in thailand.