Fine dinning at Thai petrol stations

**dirtydog** · 03-09-2007, 04:38 PM

The thread for your fine dinning experiences at Thai petrol stations.

My first few dinning experiences at petrol stations was about 15 years ago, the days before 7/11s and all that, this was when men were men and didn't have things like that poofy iron butts club or whatever it is called that Mr Earl belongs to, this was when real men considered a motorbike ride of 1,500kms or more as just a day out and not something thats deserves accolade or something special, didn't have these big touring bikes in those days, this was when us real men done these sort of journeys on our 125cc motorbikes and lied to the Malaysian immigration and police about owning the bikes and having insurance and driving licenses and non important stuff like that, anyway, the food was shite in those days, it was like, "Would you like meat with that plate of rice, gristle and fat", but hell this was living the Thai way, living everyday like a Thai would, it was foking awful....

Anyway in those days the only reason you would do something that stoooopid was for an adventure filled visa run, and the adventure would often entail sitting behind a lorry at 3am in the morning doing 100kmh breathing in clouds of black smoke and getting closer and closer to feel the engine heat cos it was so bloody cold.

But times have changed all that, well not the crappy old lorries belching black smoke, but the quality of the petrol stations in Thailand, the toilets are now cleaner and don't look like the local mental hospital of patients has made a stop off there to smear excrement over all the walls, the squats aint full of squits anymore, some petrol stations here have toilets that supposedly civilised countries would be proud of.

But lets move onto the food, 15 years ago basically all I would eat at these places would be the rice and whatever juices came off the supposedly meat dish, nowadays they got food that even the pickiest farang can eat, burgers and hotdogs in the 7/11s for our American friends, and for the more normal people that are a bit more adventurous they have Thai restaurants that serve Thai food suprisingly enough, and it's not all that bad.

This place is a PTT service station I think in Rayong, got to admit I was looking for a Jiffy or a Jet one as they are better but I needed beer and food so any port in a storm so to speak, suppose thats why Soi Yodsak does so well, not for food though, this place specialises in pork dishes, whether it be red pork or the boiled pork they got it all, I had the boiled with rice and a large chang beer for a whole 70baht, things don't get better than that, well unless you have a few chang beers but they aint got no girls so it's a bit of a waste of time getting pissed up and expecting a bird to drive you home

The Thai toilet, relatively clean but the only toilet paper is the stuff in the bin so probably best to bring your own, also had about 10 sinks outside the toilets but obviously no towels or anything like that.

The food counter.

My lovely meal, boiled pork, no fat or gristle, half an egg and a lump of green stuff.

**chinthee** · 03-09-2007, 04:42 PM

I've been eating at those for years, as I drive cross country between Phuket and Bangkok often. Some very good food indeed, depends on your luck. PTT, Shell, they all have them.

Once had one of those restaurant ladies try to pick me up. Must have been the wheels.

**Thetyim** · 03-09-2007, 04:53 PM

^ You in a wheelchair then ?
Sorry I didn't know

**Rattanaburi** · 11-09-2007, 05:05 PM

Since I'm autoless I don't get a chance to go to those very often. There sure are a lot of interesting places along the BKK - NongKhai highway.

**buad hai** · 11-09-2007, 05:28 PM

We often drive to the PTT Park station that's about 4K from our house. They have all sorts of decent food at reasonable prices plus a 7/11 which is the closest place we can buy Farmhouse whole wheat bread and Coke Lite....

If my retirement gets any more exciting I'll have to lie down for a moment.

**dirtydog** · 05-10-2007, 02:40 PM

Well if your going by bus between Bangkok and Hat Yai this is where you will be able to stop for some food, this place is absolutely massive and it is about the halfway point, has about 60 toilets and sinks all done out as good as a 3 star hotel, granite counter tops etc, basically the place is spotless, there are about 30 vendors all selling different Thai foods so basically whatever you want will be there, worth making them sit in the car for an extra hour if your going to Phuket or somewhere else down in Southern Thailand.

Just wish we had a food venue like that in Pattaya

Some of the food stalls.

The condiments table, no ketchup though so not sure what Americans are supposed to eat.

My dinner at 2am in the bloody morning, pork with rice and a funny looking boiled egg which I didn't eat, 50baht can't be that bad

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**peterpan** · 05-10-2007, 05:35 PM

Bit of a rip off I reckon, I would have just offered them 30 Baht and their egg back.

**Texpat** · 05-10-2007, 11:23 PM

My 71 year old mother came within a few kilometers of shitting herself in my car after we stopped at 3 petrol stations with, shall we say, substandard restrooms.
We were driving from Nong Khai to Bangkok (7 hours) and had stopped for khao pat. Not more than 10 minutes after eating, her belly started temblors, but she wanted a nice western style crapper.

Welcome to Issan ma.

**kingwilly** · 05-10-2007, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by dirtydog

50baht can't be that bad

famous last words!

**peterpan** · 06-10-2007, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by buad hai

We often drive to the PTT Park station that's about 4K from our house. They have all sorts of decent food at reasonable prices plus a 7/11 which is the closest place we can buy Farmhouse whole wheat bread and Coke Lite....

If my retirement gets any more exciting I'll have to lie down for a moment.

BH I assume you are talikng about ythe two PTT's on oppostie side of the road on the Korat by pass ?
Its my first and only stop on Udon BKK run, the one on the LH side on the way to BKK is great, good food, freindly young Maiden serving wenches. The one on the other side not so good. In fact now I do a U turn when heading North and dine at the Southbound one.

**buad hai** · 06-10-2007, 08:26 AM

^That's the one. Very good food, which surprised me the first time we went there, but now it's a regular lunch stop. Always lots of activity there. Fun to spot all the provincial license plates.

I'll try to get some photos next time we dine....

**dirtydog** · 06-10-2007, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by buad hai

I'll try to get some photos next time we dine

It may take a while but we will make this thread a century one

**peterpan** · 06-10-2007, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by buad hai

^That's the one. Very good food, which surprised me the first time we went there, but now it's a regular lunch stop. Always lots of activity there. Fun to spot all the provincial license plates.

I'll try to get some photos next time we dine....

I like the Kuoew teo, The girls recognise me there and call me Khun Baa Mee phiset, I think they are taking the piss becauase I am a stodgy old fart who orders the same thing every time.
Two bowls of that for brunch and I am set to go for the rest of the trip to BKK or Patts.

**buad hai** · 06-10-2007, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by peterpan

Two bowls of that for brunch

!?!?!

**peterpan** · 06-10-2007, 12:26 PM

Yup, Order one and then another of the same, BIG spender I am, maybe thats why they recognise me.

**dirtydog** · 05-12-2007, 05:06 PM

Thung song is where your going to stop for dinner if your on the VIP bus from Hat Yai to Bangkok, now this place was great, they must have had over 100 meters of different food stalls, absolutely everything you could think of, alas it won't be the place you stop for food unless you get a puncture like we did, you will be going to some really crappy service station for some disgusting mess that they call dinner and is included in the price of your VIP ticket, the coach even had a toilet, the sales staff were well proud of that fact, but the coaches could have done with some maintenence I think.

Anyway the food here is great, just a shame you won't be stopping there.

My squid in curry for 25baht.

The toilets were a bit of a let down

The destroyed tyre which blew out on us, notice there doesn't seem to be a tread pattern of any kind at all

I only looked at one of the other tyres, looks like a home made retread done with a hot knife while pissed

**Wallalai** · 05-12-2007, 05:35 PM

Many such good places to stop for a meal en route to Mae Sai from Chiangmai. Khao man gai, khao moo daeng, kha moo, kuey tio, phat kaphrao are available and fresh beer of course. 25 to 30 bahts for the food and 40 for the big beer, it's ok.

Another nice place is Cabbages & Condoms between Chiangmai & Chiangrai on the right side. A very nice coffee shop with excellent coffee, a big restaurant (never ate there though), a mini supermarket, decent clean toilets and even some bungalows to rent (2 to 4 beds). It's a must stop for me for a good coffee.

**dirtydog** · 05-12-2007, 11:01 PM

So with the puncture fixed it was back onto our VIP bus to the next Thai restaurant, nice big place, real quick service, nice tables and 6 people to a table, got to admit didn't think the Thais would be back on the bus in 15 minutes as that was the time the driver had given us, hmmm, about 5 minutes and most of the Thais had left, yep the food was that bad, some tasteless roadside green stuff, some water soup with some ground pork in, some chicken curry which looked like the chicken had been butchered by a mad angry axeman who couldn't stop chopping and chopping, yep pretty yucky

**Fabian** · 15-12-2007, 04:36 AM

Ok, I will say something nice about Isaan now. I really liked the barbequed beef at the Cakltex station win Khon Kaen when you drive out north. Is it still there?

Luckydog · 15-12-2007, 11:20 AM

In my car journeys round Thailand I have often driven for hours looking for a place to eat and get Petrol!

It amazes me that in a country where no opportunity to make a few Bht is to be missed there are so few service centres outside the cities and towns......

**MeMock** · 15-12-2007, 12:38 PM

You have to open your eyes luckydog.

**Fabian** · 15-12-2007, 08:44 PM

I was about too write the same. The petrol stations are everywhere, much more than in the west.

**dirtydog** · 03-02-2008, 12:48 PM

This restaurant is somewhere between Korat and Khon Kaen, it's in a PTT petrol garage, nicely tiled floor, lovely black granite tables and uncomfortable modern style crap chairs.

They also sell beer but generally want you to buy 3 or 4 at a time, probably due to it being illegal nowadays.

They didn't have much food pre prepared and most was cooked to order, well apart from my Pad Kappow which for some reason they decided to reheat for me.

Noodle soup at 25baht seems a bargain.

My fried beef with Basil, not bad for 30baht but a bit too damn spicey.

Toilets are flush squaters though

**dirtydog** · 03-02-2008, 01:31 PM

This PTT petrol station is on the way from Udon Thani to Khon Kaen, only thing I didn't like was that it was one of those coupon places, ie you go and buy coupons from the counter, swap coupns for food, then take your spare coupons back to get your change, the idea seems to be to waste peoples time as much as possible.

The toilets were the same as the one above, so we can reckon PTT like squat flushers, although I have to admit they are clean.

Lots of choice of Thai food here and also a 7 11.

Some Thai dishes I didn't try.

Beef noodle soup.

Fried beef with basil, meat looks really dark though don't it, maybe dog?

Boiled pork with rice and cabbage, quite nice for 30baht, an extra 5 baht if you wanted a boiled egg with it, note no fat or gristle on mine

**Bluecat** · 03-02-2008, 02:55 PM

Or along the road to Isaan for that matter.
This one I never tried so far.

WHAT'S FOR LUNCH? ROAST RAT

In the countryside, large rodents have become a cash crop

Story by APINYA WIPATAYOTIN . Bangkok Post. 3rd Of February 2008.
A vendor sells roasted rats beside the Bang Pa-in-Bang Bua Thong highway. A Suphan Buri farmer, right, shows a wooden trap to catch rats in his paddy field, which sometimes catch snakes (below picture) as well which mean more money for the farmer. — Photos by SURAPOL PROMSAKA NA SAKOLNAKORN

It doesn't matter if they are truck drivers or behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz. Once they are on the road from Pathum Thani to Suphan Buri, they know where to stop.
Along the side of that road are about 100 small bamboo shelters selling roasted paddy rodents, or pig rats. These small businesses have been growing rapidly to cater to the high demand from clients, regardless of their incomes.
"My customers come from everywhere - from truck drivers to Mercedes Benz drivers. I even get foreign tourists during the holidays. I think they are happy with the delicious taste of my rats," said Sompong Malapong, a 52-year-old who has been selling roasted paddy rats on the side of the road for the past three months.
Despite the expensive price of 120-160 baht per kilogramme, the roasted rats sold on this road sell like hot cakes.
Mr Sompong is very happy to make a daily net profit of about 2,000 baht from selling 50 kilogrammes of his product, which are caught in paddy fields in several districts including Muang, Bang Plama, Bang Li and Don Chedi in this central province. "Many villagers catch rats and make good money," he added.
One of the 100 villages where local people make their living from the rat trade is Ban Don Chan in Muang district.

Boonchom Klakondee, a 46-year-old farmer from Don Chan village who has been an expert rat catcher since he was young, said his family now earns more than 10,000 baht a month selling rats to merchants.
"We invest nothing, only our energy, and place more than 200 wooden-made traps in front of the rat holes in the paddy fields. Then we have to be patient and pray. If luck is on our side, I can get snakes. The price for them is very expensive," he said.
Mr Boonchom can catch more than 20 rats per day, each weighing between 700 and 800 grammes. He and his son-in-law place their wooden traps in the paddy fields late in the morning and leave them there overnight. Then they return to count the trapped animals early the next morning.
Mr Boonchom explained that his job needs skill, and catchers have to understand the nature of the rats. Catchers have to know if the rat holes are occupied or vacant, he said. One of the things he looks for, he added, is footprints around the holes.
"Of course, we have to put the traps in front of the holes that are still active, not the deserted ones," he said.
But rats are not stupid, he said. They are very smart and know how to survive threats from humans, he added.
The animals, he said, defuse the deadly traps by throwing small pieces of soil into the traps to clear them before going out to forage in the rice field.
Despite the booming business, Mr Boonchom said he is confident that there are more rats to catch because the province still has plentiful paddy fields and water.
Sompote Srikosamat, of Mahidol University's faculty of sciences, said the population of pig rats, or bandicoots in scientific jargon, in Suphan Buri had sharply increased due to the rapid expansion of paddy fields, which is an ideal food source for the rats.
The steady decrease of snakes, which eat rats, due to the changing environment, and hunting, had also allowed the pig rats to dominate the fields, said the biologist.
"I don't think the massive hunting of the rat will cause any adverse impact to the ecological system because, with the absence of its natural predators like snakes, the practice will help control the population," said Mr Sompote. Although people selling the cooked rats claim they taste delicious, the Public Health Ministry has cautioned

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