BANGKOK – The various merits of Thai cuisine were espoused at length by two expatriates yesterday while dining at the Silom branch of British-owned fast-food chain Burger King. “Thai food is my absolute favorite,” said Marcus Bigg, a 32-year old Australian national currently teaching at Shrewsbury International School. “The way they combine salty, sweet, bitter, spicy, and fruity flavors is unlike anything you find in European food,” he went on, in between bites of his Western Whopper With Bacon. “It’s also good for you, and low in calories,” he observed, possibly inspired by his own concurrent consumption of 788 calories and 46 grams of fat. His friend and dining companion, Alan Fellner, a 29-year old Canadian working in publishing, couldn’t agree more. “I especially admire the way Thai dishes mix in ingredients that you don’t eat but which add flavor, like lemongrass, or even bits of fermented crab leg. You watch the way Thais eat it, and it’s so slow, so delicate,” he noted while finishing an extra-large carton of onion rings in under 6 minutes. Both Bigg and Fellner agreed also that one of their favorite things about living in Bangkok was the wide availability of cheap Thai food, or what Bigg calls the “30 baht lunch” – 178 baht less than his Super Value Meal.
