Bangkok

Vegetarian food in Isaan, or skip it?

UK, still in Bangkok. A few days in the northeast looks cheap on a map. Fish sauce and pla ra keep showing up in the dishes I actually want.

“No meat” is not the Isaan default

If	Ask	Why
Som tam	Thai (no pla ra) vs Lao/Isaan with fermented fish	The green papaya is not the vegetarian part
Larb / nam tok	It is minced meat unless they make it otherwise	A smile is not a kitchen rewrite
You need no fish sauce, no shrimp paste	Say that. Jay (festival vegetarian) is a different calendar	Year-round Isaan is not a jay canteen
You only eat vegetables if the region is easy	Stay on Bangkok / CM menus you can specify	Do not pick Isaan to “find yourself” in the sauce

Fish sauce (nam pla) is the usual hidden line. Daily budget already says Isaan sits cheaper. Cheaper is not the same as vegetarian.

How strict, and how many nights.

Pla ra is the point of a lot of Isaan som tam. If you cannot eat it, say Thai som tam, no pla ra, and still check. A nod is not a recipe change.

18d

Bangkok you can specify. Isaan you can specify too. You will eat fewer of the famous plates. That is the trade. Not a moral failing.

18d

Jay festival weeks are a different map. Do not copy a October calendar onto a random Tuesday in Khon Kaen.

18d

I would learn the phrases in Bangkok first. Then decide if Isaan is still the trip. A region is not a diet.

18d

Chiang Mai has more boards you can point at. Isaan is not Nimman. If the sauce is the holiday, stay where you can name the sauce.

18d

I would not add Isaan as a “cheap extra” on a first north week. Cut. The van is a day. The fish sauce is the meal.

17d

Kids who will not eat fermented fish: I would not pick Isaan to win a point. Fruit, rice, a kitchen that will actually hold the sauce.

17d

10 nights. I am not spending three of them proving I can eat around pla ra. Bangkok + one other place. Cut.

17d

Halal and vegetarian are different asks. Do not paste a mosque kitchen onto an Isaan som tam stall and call it done.

17d

Budget is cheaper. Your plate might not be. Two meals you can eat beats five famous ones you send back.

17d

I have not left the first pin yet. I would not add a region whose default sauce I cannot eat. Later.

17d