Rice is at the front and center of all things Thai. We eat it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition, we offer it to the monks during Buddhist rituals, and rice has also historically been one of our biggest exports. However, there's so much more to it than being a staple food - Rice inherently plays a fundamental role in Thai culture. As such, cooking, offering, serving, and eating rice are bound by tradition, etiquette, and religious protocols that most foreigners are unfamiliar with. This blog will tell you about some essential practices which you can put to good use the next time you visit Thailand. 

You may have already started to understand how rice is next to religion in Thailand. Our ancestors mostly ate rice, fish, and greens. In the old times, rice was hard to come by and growing it was labor-intensive. Then came the challenges of storing the rice during the rainy season, which also meant keeping it dry and rationing it to last while keeping it away from pests and preventing rot.

My grandparents on my mother's side farmed and traded rice. Unfortunately, my grandfather died young, and my grandmother singlehandedly raised my mother and five siblings while operating her rice business. To this day, my family treasures rice, and we rarely let it go to waste—every grain matters out of respect for the labor involved in producing it and the life of the plant itself.
When offered rice in the company of Thai people, you should be mindful of always taking at least two spoonfuls of rice from the bowl when you first plate up. Never put just one spoon of rice on the empty plate as a single scoop of rice is traditionally only offered to the spirits. The origin of this custom is not entirely clear and can't be completely attributed to spirit offerings. Some theories refer to old times when rice was a symbol of wealth. Confidently taking several spoons of rice signaled to the host that they had rice in abundance and could afford to share their precious rice with their guest. If you are not hungry, thinking you only have room for one spoonful of rice, then make the spoons smaller but still take two. The same goes when serving others at the table. Regardless of the origin, the next time you visit Thailand, you may notice that waitresses and street food vendors rarely distribute just one scoop of rice.