Popularly regarded as the Land of Smile, Thailand is well-known for its hospitality and great food. Therefore, if you are coming into the country, you would probably like to know about the things you can eat and cannot eat. This leads us to the important question about whether you can eat beef in Thailand.
Undoubtedly, you can eat beef in Thailand without having any issues. This is because there is no law or culture in the country that prohibits people from eating beef and other related foods. So, if you are in Thailand and ready to eat beef, you can walk into a restaurant, market, or shopping mall to ask for beef without any fear.
However, it is worthwhile to realize that beef is not a common meat in Thailand as most people often prefer pork, fish, poultry, and others. Some people don’t even eat beef at all in the country but this doesn’t mean that they will frown at anyone that is eating it. Below, we will take a closer look at why some people eat or don’t eat beef in Thailand.
Lots of Thais eat beef
Thailand is one of the countries with the most Buddhist devotees in the world. Notably, during the time of the Gautama Buddha, the majority of ancient Buddhists were vegetarians. Hence, it is not surprising that they didn’t eat beef and other meats.
Nonetheless, due to the effects of Western cultures on Thais, lots of individuals now eat beef in the country without any problem. Factually, for a few centuries, people have been eating beef in Thailand regardless of their religious affiliation. Some restaurants in Thailand even have beef on their menus. Also, many young Thais love eating beef.
Therefore, if you are traveling to or already living in Thailand, you shouldn’t be afraid to buy and eat beef anywhere you are in the country. Most people will not consider you to be doing anything disgusting or contradictory to Thai tradition.
Why some people don’t eat beef in Thailand
Having noted that you can eat beef in Thailand, it is necessary to mention that some people don’t eat beef in the country. But why is this so? Can you have issues with eating beef around these people? Let’s answer these questions below.
- Worshippers of Guan Yin don’t eat beef
Being a multi-ethnic nation, Thailand has numerous ethnic groups, and the Thai-Chinese is one of them. Lots of people in this group are into Chinese Buddhism which forbids its devotees from eating beef. Basically, in Chinese Buddhism, it is believed that the father of Guan Yin (the goddess of mercy) was cursed; hence, he was incarnated as a cow.
Therefore, the worshippers of Guan Yin believe that cows are sacred animals. As such, they must never be eaten. Although this group of Thais uses cows for other activities, they don’t normally eat them.
As noted by World Population Review, about 14% of the total population of Thailand was Thai-Chinese in 2019. So, you can come across lots of people that belong to this group that may object to eating beef.
Despite this religious belief, many young Thai-Chinese don’t consider cows to be sacred; hence, they eat beef.
- Cows are believed to be noble creatures
Traditionally, cows are some of the most useful animals for Thai farmers. These animals are usually trained and utilized for a wide range of agricultural activities on the farm. As a consequence, many Thais hold cows in high regard as they see them as noble creatures. So, lots of people have refrained from taking beef as a way to honor the nobility of these useful animals.
- Cows are higher in evolution
According to Bangkok Post, several people in Thailand believe that cows belong to a higher level in evolution. As a result of this, these animals are closer to humans in the way they reason, act, and feel pain. Therefore, whenever cows are being slaughtered, they feel so much pain.
These people claim that it is pitiful to allow such useful and noble animals to feel lots of pain when killed. So, it is not strange that many Thais don’t encourage people to eat beef because of the pains the animals will have to go through.
- Beef is too pricey
Many Thais don’t have anything against beef, but they don’t eat it because of its expensive price tag. In fact, you may have a hard time finding beef in many local markets as most sellers don’t offer them. But if you go to big stores and malls, you will find beef at expensive prices. Even if you want to eat at a restaurant, you should expect the price of beef to be exorbitant.
According to some surveys, the price of beef can be as high as twice the price of pork of the same quantity. Comparatively, in Thailand, beef will cost you three times the price of chicken. So, what you will spend on buying only beef can feed a small family in the country. Consequently, lots of Thais would rather go for other types of meat.
- Beef is difficult to eat
When compared to most other meats, beef is tougher to chew and even digest. Unfortunately, lots of Thais prefer their meats to be soft and easy to chew and digest.
Similarly, Thais don’t usually raise cows to consume. Therefore, the quality of beef produced by the animals doesn’t often meet the standard that most Thais want in their diets. In addition, some individuals don’t like the smell that beef gives when cooked.
As a result of these reasons, lots of Thais don’t eat beef at all. As for some individuals, beef is only eaten on rare occasions.
As shown above, numerous Thais eat beef as nothing is stopping them from doing so. However, for a wide range of reasons, some individuals in Thailand don’t eat beef. But if you are in the country and want to eat beef, you can go ahead to do so as no one will stop you from enjoying this meat.