Friday afternoon I joined Tawn for lunch near his office.  We went to the local talaat nat (regular market), the noontime habitat of office boys and girls throughout Khrungthep.  These talaat take different forms, but the one located next to the Ploenchit Ayuddha Bank building is about a quarter-acre of small shops arranged along four alleys, each covered with tarpaulin to keep out the sun and rain.

One alley is exclusively food vendors, small mom-and-pop operations that have their own space or, in some cases, cohabitate in a larger space.  This is Thai food at some of its most real: fresh, fast, inexpensive, and full of flavor. 

It has to meet the exacting expectations of some of the pickiest eaters in Muang Thai: office workers.  Short on time and cash, they are looking for good value for their money.  These are not the people who are riding the Skytrain, spending 50 baht each way to and from work.  These are the people who are riding the un-airconditioned buses and concerned that fares just raised from 5.5 baht to 8 baht per ride.

Serious value shoppers.  If the food doesn’t meet expectations, the shop will be out of business faster than you can stir fry an order of pad thai.

Most vendors are selling prepared gap khao (literally, “with rice”) – curries, stir fries, grilled chicken, green papaya salad, veggies, fried and boiled eggs that are served on a plate with a molded mound of rice.  There are also some noodle vendors, who will whip up a bowl of rice noodles to order. 

Generally, there is no fried food cooked to order as this would create enormous clouds of smoke and chili oil that would make dining unbearable and result in customers returning to their offices smelling of the restaurant – a definite no-no in cleanliness conscious Thailand.

The vendor at which Tawn and I ate offers many fish and vegetable choices and is also known, incongruously, for their Korean-style pork.  They also have a khao soi vendor – the Northern Thai style noodle soup served with a curried broth that is a favorite of mine – which I’ll have to try next time.

The recent price increases for rice have hit the office workers hard: a plate of rice and gap khao cost 25 to 30 baht a year ago.  These days it is running 40 to 50.  Between the two of us (Tawn was hungry), it cost us 103 baht to eat, not including drinks.

Finding dining space would, at first glance, be a daunting challenge.   The dining room is crowded with small tables and smaller stools.  Packed shoulder to shoulder, coworkers eat and gossip.  Thankfully, turnover is rapid so upon receiving and paying for your plate of food, you’ll find a spot within a few seconds.

From your seat at the table you can order beverages from one of the roving waiters/bus boys.  On your way out you settle any outstanding charges with the owner, usually a woman and sometimes a man, who is standing watch over the operations.

The lunch rush is compacted into just 90 minutes, from about quarter before twelve to quarter after one.  But by 12:45 the food selections are running out and latecomers can’t be picky.

Afterwards, there is time for some shopping in the nearby boutiques.  Each vendor has a space of maybe three meters by four, but sells clothes, shoes, and just about everything else you might need.  Bargain hunting is a good way to burn off the calories you’ve just consumed.

Notice the tree in this picture: it is wrapped in strips of fabric and has food, drink, figurines and other offerings at the base of its trunk.  I’ve written before about spirit houses and the belief that the land, the trees, and all living things contain spirits.  Thais cover their bases when it comes to beliefs, seeing as how Buddhism – strictly speaking – doesn’t subscribe to these animist principles.  Here you can see how the tree has been saved and incorporated into the development, and how the spirit or spirits living in the tree are accorded the proper respect by the vendors.

Finally, before returning to the office, there is time to stop at the street vendors at consider which khanom – sweet snack – to bring back to the office to share.  Thais know that everything, especially eating, is more fun when done in groups.  Whether it is fresh fruit, grilled sticky rice and coconut, little taco-like sweets, or cookies, the bag will contain enough to share.

And that, my friends, is lunchtime in Khrungthep.