octolavo vegetarians off to Thailand - will we survive?
 

Three out of the four of us don't eat any meat-fish-seafood products or by products. Will we be okay? I know alot of veggie dishes have a meat or fish stock. Any advise what to eat and/or avoid? Do the Thai people understand what octolavo means (lots of people in Canada don't!)? We don't want to starve!!!!!

Thanks for the help.

I think you are going to have a very hard time getting the Thai's to cook without meat broths and fish sauce. In fact, I'd guess it would be darn near impossible.

Not to be difficult or mean, but don't these extreme dietary restrictions make it very difficult and stressful to travel to areas that are not so open to special diets? While I think eating vegetarian in Thailand is fairly easy, how can you expect them to alter their tastes and culture to suit you?

Here are some sites that might be helpful if you are willing to bend a bit. If not, you might want to reconsider your trip:

http://www.thebackpacker.net/travela...k_articles.htm

http://www.vegdining.com/GetRestList.cfm?rgk=AS-THA

http://www.happycow.net/asia/thailand/

I'd imagine that the replies to your post will be much the same as when you last posted this exact same question - one month ago.

I don't think Thailand has had an 'octolavo' revolution since then.

Opps I guess I did post this awhile ago. I have been extremely busy with work and school and have put travel queries on hold. Too much on the go! Or maybe it is old age!!!!!

jkgourmet - thanks for the sites. That is the info I was looking for. FYI - I don't expect anyone to alter their customs for us - I would just like to know what I am eating. We have travelled to many places and have found ways around our dietary issues without requesting special treatment. We bring protein bars, nuts, bean soups etc and eat what we can. Others might not understand the adversion to eating living things but please don't minimize it. I don't expect others to refrain from eating meat (my husband LOVES his meat) and hope they can respect my choice.

"...if you are willing to bend a bit. If not, you might want t reconsider your trip". Being a vegetarian doesn't mean I am not going to travel!!! I just wanted some idea of what to expect and prepare accordingly. So....if anyone has dealt with this and has some info it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

Maybe Guen will chime in here.

Guen does eat fish, so her situation isn't quite the same. She does have some favorite vegetarian places in Bangkok she can suggest.

Having no meat in your food will not be a problem. But most of Thai cooking uses fish sauce as an ingredient. This is where you are likely to have a problem. Certainly you can eat western food the whole time you are there, so you don't need to worry about starving.

This is just my personal view as a vegan who has just returned from Cambodia and Thailand. I loosen up on vacation. Things that I would never do at home I do on the road.

While I do not eat meat/fish/poultry/dairy/eggs in my day to day life, I don't question something on vacation that could have been cooked in meat stock or fish sauce. Everyone with me has a better time if I'm not busy grilling wait staff in a language that they don't understand.

I realize my solution is not for everyone, but it works for me to lighten up and relax a little.


Have fun planning,

Lynnie


(I don't undestand octolave either. Do you eat animal products or not?)

Lynnie, octolavos eat eggs, milk and milk products (cheese, yogurt, etc) but not meat, poultry, fish or shellfish.

LynndieD...That might work fine for some, but not for others. Plus,it's doesn't work at all if one becomes violently ill from eating something that the system can't take anymore or if there's a severe food allergy. So, I'm VERY careful.
Personally, I gave up meat in 1976 and poultry a little later than that. But, I will eat fish because I like fish. I don't put myself into any box although I have been vegan,vegetarian, and macro very strictly at some point of the 32 year journey. I put the fish back in during the many macro years and decided to keep it in.

Travellingteacher2...As for Thailand, try Tamarind Cafe on Sukhumvit soi 20. It's between the Asoke and Prom Phong skytrain stations. They have a website. The food is very good. The owner is French, from Lyon I think it is.The vegan, mushroom steak and mushroom gravy is their famous dish...delicious. I can't remember the other places off of the top of my head. Plus, since I live in a serviced apartment, I cook a lot of my own food. I like my own cooking.
Do a search because this topic comes up quite a bit and under previous threads, there has been a list of restaurants given. And yes, there is fish sauce and other non-vegan broths in Thai food. You can always head for Chinese restaurants and have something cooked up. I've never gone hungry in the world if I could find a Chinese restaurant...except in New Zealand where there was lamb chow mein on the menu on the South Island and everything else with lamb in it. Thank goodness I was staying on the farm with Kiwi friends and could cook my veggie food amongst their 3,000 sheep. Smiles. We would laugh about it at meals. Happy Travels!

My veg daughter eats eggs and dairy. She will not eat a meat or fish based broth, but when travelling sort of ignores the fish sauce is from fish connection. Because of this,she ate just fine in Thailand and Cambodia.

And I thought the term was ovo-lacto?? ovo=egg and lacto=milk? Is this a new classification or coming from different root words? Just curious. :-)