It might seem like all they eat in Thailand is meat and seafood. And yes they do have amazing seafood, chicken, pork, beef, duck and chicken dishes. We could never imagine giving these up. However, we understand many foreigners are vegetarians, vegans or even Muslim who can only eat halal food. You may think choices are very limited but in fact, that is not entirely true. There are plenty of options and ways to find Halal, Veg & Vegan Food in Thailand.
Halal Food
Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6% of the population.
This means that the government and food industry already recognize the need for halal processes and certifications. Almost every meat at supermarket have the halal stamp certifcation on their packaging. They have to make sure of this not just for the thousands of Muslim tourists coming into Thailand but also for their own Muslim nationals.
However, we admit, finding halal food at street stalls might be a bit more difficult. You could ask them if a particular dish is halal but chances are they either don’t know or will say it is even if it isn’t.
There are also many halal restaurants all across major touristic cities like Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. A simple TripAdvisor search is enough to find you the best options. There are many Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern restaurants in Bangkok and other touristic cities, each of them are clearly Halal-certified.
You can also use Eatigo to not just find Halal, Veg and Vegan food but also at value deals and promotion.
Apart from halal restaurants, you can also find halal hotels as well, especially in Bangkok. Who knew that could be a thing, right? These are the 4 best halal hotels in Bangkok.
- Al Meroz Hotel – marketed as the best and completely Halal hotel. There are no bars in there and it is close to the Muslim communities and an Islamic center.
- Grand Sukhumvit Hotel\
- Nouvo City Hotel
- Shangri-La Hotel
You can see how much effort Thailand is putting into gearing towards the Muslim community and tourists.
Vegetarian & Vegan Food
There’s vegetarian, there is vegan and then there is eating Jay food
In Thailand, the words “kin jay/jeh” supercedes even veganism. So if you’re ever looking for strictly vegeterian or vegan food, just say to the restaurant or street food stall staff – “kin jay, ka/khrup”.
Read our useful Thai words to know for more information.
By simply saying “kin kay” might not be enough as this would sometimes leave the staff clueless and confused. Instead what you can do is the following:
- Ask for a vegeterian menu by saying “mii ahaan jay, mai?” This is you asking if they have any vegeterian food at which point they will bring or show you a menu with vegeterian dishes. Usually this consist of stir-fry vegetables, tofu or mock meat.
- Be specific. Saying jay means no onion or garlic also (as it is closest to Jainism and vegan diet). If you want a vegeterian meal (egg and dairy is ok), then you say mangsawirat.
- Thailand is great at substituting things in dishes, so you can simply ask to remove a particular ingredient from a dish that you like. For example, when we don’t feel like eating meat but want to have our favorite dish, we say “mai sai kai (chicken), sai pak”, which means don’t put chicken, put vegetables. Also remember the keyword – jay. You can easily point at a dish and say “jay”.
Thailand has many fruits and vegetables
Apart from substituting out the meat, there are many vegeterian dishes too. Pad Thai, Som Tum, fruit salads, spicy mushroom salad, vegetable fried rice and so much more. The possibilities are endless.
Photo cr: rachelcooksthai.com
Photo cr: www.eatingthaifood.com
However, be cautious as these dishes are often cooked with fish sauce or oyster sauce. You can ask them to not put it by saying “mai sai nam pla/nam man hoy”.
7-11 is not your best friend either
Most of the items in a 7-11 either contain meat, bits of meat or have traces of non-veg ingredients. You will find the odd cheese sandwich or veg protein-based meal but your options are quite limited. Besides you want to avoid 7-11 food in any case.
Learn names of meat and non-veg items
It might be useful to learn names of things you don’t like or can’t eat so you can say “mai sai _____”. Suppose you can’t eat beef but fish is ok, you can say “mai sai nua, mi pla mai?”
Now you might be thinking, hey you guys aren’t vegeterians or vegans, how do you know? Well we did the research for you guys but we also asked some of our friends. Here’s what one of our vegan friend and expat has to say
Dana Boulin
“My first tip would be to come to Bangkok during the Jay festival. All you have to do is look for that sweet, sweet yellow flag and you know you can find vegan food easily.
The rest of the year there might be some challenges, but there are still a few gold mines you can tap for a vegan fix. Of course you can alway go to any night market and if your Thai is good enough you can always request your favorite dishes to be made Jay. Although depending on the enthusiasm of the particular vendor, your experience might vary.”
He also suggests some particular restaurants he has tried (in Bangkok) and vouches for:
Pala Pizza – veggie and marinara pizzas are both fully blown vegan and they have a bunch more vegetarian pizzas on the menu as well.
Broccoli revolution – one of the best vegan burgers. Or you can check out BK Magazine’s list of best vegetarian burgers in Bangkok.
Veganerie – for desserts. Try their berry crumble.
Also try May Veggie home for a wide variety of vegan-only whole foods.
Let us know if you’re interested to find out more about the halal & veg food scene in Thailand. If you want to know specific restaurants, we can also give some recommendations in our next post.
I LOVE THIS POST! I’m vegetarian going vegan and found that in Asia, if I asked for something without the meat, they would often use eggs as a replacement. Thank you SO MUCH for the useful phrases in Thai, I will definitely use them on my next visit to Thailand – and I desperately want to go to the Jay festival! I’ll note your friend’s recommendations on restaurants for my next visit to Bangkok too. Great post – thanks!! 🙂
So glad it helped Abbi. I guess this post was meant to be for you. The veg festival is happening right now in fact but this should help you find what you need otherwise.
All the best to you!
Such a cool post! Reading some more about Jay food (thanks for the link) was really interesting; I had never heard of it before your post. While I’m not fully vegetarian, my husband is and as such we don’t eat meat that regularly. I can’t wait to show him this post!
Great article guys. As we are veggies, this will be so helpful for our upcoming trip!
Great Blog !! Very informative , everything you need to know about Thailand . Happy Travels !!
thank you Raj. Glad you found it helpful. Email or message us anytime you need help.
Such a awesome post! and reading some more about Jay food (thanks for the link) was really interesting
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. So glad it helped.
I’m not a rich Western expat, just your regular vegetarian from India so can’t afford to eat at those fancy restaurants. 7-11s in Thailand are my best option at the moment. I’m OK with eggs and dairy but fish/pork sauce is going a bit too far. I guess it’s still better than eating dead creatures. Why can’t Thais, who are such devout Buddhists, have more affordable and easily accessible veg. options, with clear labeling.
Hi Sarong, there are plenty of restaurants and road side food stalls/food courts that serve vegetarian food. You just say those words we mentioned in this post like ‘jai’ or ‘mangsaveerat’ and they will point you in the right direction. You cannot possibly live on 7/11 food. Just try out the food courts – food is cheap there and definitely have stall(s) for veg food. True the minute you look for vegan joints, the price skyrockets which is ridiculous we agree but veg food is easier to find than you think. Hit us up if you need more tips and advice.