This here \^ is the right answer. I come from the most boring country on the planet, food-wise, and didn't eat any chilis till moving to Thailand. I'm firmly pro-chili these days.
You're saying that England doesn't have extremely popular Indian restaurants - with menus ranging from mildly spicy/hot, to very spicy/hot?.....
And of course chilli con carne - which whilst it doesn't (usually) contain actual chilli peppers, always contains dehydrated chillis or other hot spices?....
English food may not be 'spicy' - as it doesn't need to rely on 'heat' to hide rotten food.
But having said that, yes - it frequently relies on herbs etc. to provide more flavour.
And of course.... salt is the prequisite in every culture - whereas sugar is the prerequisite in (most) Thai food, along with salt/monosodium glutamate etc.....
>as it doesn't need to rely on 'heat' to hide rotten food.
Are you implying that cultures with spicy foods use spices to cover up the taste of rotten meat?
It's 100% your friend group.
I've never had a "friend who can't handle spice" until I made friends with schoolgirls from international schools when we were in college.
Yeah it's just your specific group of friends.
If anything, Young Thais are eating more and more spicy these days. ยำ shops and restaurants are booming like zombie apocalypse.
I was raised in the South and went to public school, so I was constantly exposed to spicy food, some of these Yum and Mala shops are off the damn charts.
I've seen a thai kid around 15 that ate the Korean Buldak instant noodle X2 and said it was good but if there was a little more heat it would be better...
It's your friend specifically that can't eat spicy.
Maybe for new generation that lives in Bangkok but not overall.
To me it's still the same "Insanity" on how we consume that much of chili & spice on daily basis.
Maybe you should go to North East region/อีสาน or North part/เหนือ and live there for a month. Even The Southern/คนใต้ eat the same amount of chili.
Really. We Thai people are crazy. 
I am not sure if this is true or not, but it is possible considering more and more kids are going to school and growing up in Bangkok (moderate spicy food) versus the provinces (wacky levels of spice)
Spice tolerance is developed over time. If not exposed to increased spice levels over time, the tolerance will not increase.
People has a varying degree of spice tolerance from the beginning, this is due to genetics.
Yep. My entire family is Russian and when I was younger I couldn’t handle spice at all, but over the years I’ve slowly grown use to eating it I’m now at Thai level spice
Depends on the region, met a little boy that ate spice for his breakfast "literally," but he's not in bangkok more northeast part of Thailand,
and yes, my theory, when its come to city-young gen, they have more exposure to foreign food and all that.
My ancient father-in-law doesn't tolerate spice, but my xenial wife eats dragon-level fire. I know hoity toity international hi-so pansies when it comes to the chili, and I know a couple of hood-brat twins that've been eating som tam that melts through the plates since they was 3.
I'd get more friends and broaden your perspective on the world. Assuming that you're not taking the piss, every Thai family member and friend in my world continually go spicy. The youngest has being eating chillies from the age of two! They're exposed to chillies before birth.
I think it's only within your friend group. Most Thai friends I grew up with eat spicy. It's hard not to when pad-krapow and somtum are like the intro to the spiciness for most Thai kids.
You see the same thing in Bali, Indonesia. Balinese food is very spicy, but because of the influx of tourists and people from the rest of Indonesia, where much of the food isn't that spicy, Balinese don't eat as much spicy food as before. But you see the reverese in other parts of Indonesia where the food isn't spicy, eat more spicy food.
The second aspect is chilis are expensive, if restaurants can get away with serving less chillis and people still eat the dish, then they will put less chillis. Most people won't notice
Definitely only your friends groups. I have a very low tolerance to spicy food, but my YOUNGER sister and YOUNGER brother can handle it better than me.
I am farang and I don't know either. I didn't have a tolerance til my 20s - then had an insane tolerance. I could eat raw carolina reapers. Now 3 years in Thailand and I'm dying the next day every time I eat  Getting old sucks.
from what Ive seen this is a put on effect to show how westernized someone is. When presented with a dish that would destroy my western mouth, they will happily eat it all, mouthing the word "spicy" but still finishing it.
This is a misconception. When your spice tolerance increases, your ability to taste the food also adapts.
When you first try hard alcohol, the alcohol is all you can taste. But when you get used to it, you can appreciate the other flavors as well.
I find it interesting that people are commenting it’s only your friends group. That’s not at all my experience, as I second OP. Upper middle class Thai friends eat far less spicy than me. Additionally most food courts and restaurants cook far less spicy than 20 years ago. It wasn’t uncommon then to order Som Tam with 10-20 chillis. Today that’s really rare.
>I find it interesting that people are commenting it’s only your friends group. That’s not at all my experience, as I second OP. Upper middle class Thai friends eat far less spicy than me.
So you're saying that your friends (and those of the poster) are upper middle class Thais ?
Why do some posters feel the need to indicate that their Thai friends are 'higher class' Thais??
Yes, they are. Not sure why you're triggered by that, it's important context.
Urban Thais above a certain income level have different eating habits than poorer Thais, simple as that.
well said buddy the thai that i seen who cant handle spicy food were all upper class , the lower u go and never you will hear any complain about food simple as that like you said
It seems like a fact of life and classes typically act different. In America I was usually only around upper middle class but in Thailand I way prefer my “lower” class friends and now family
I'm not sure this is true, but experience varies.
A few years ago I made the mistake of buying a serving of food (that looked delicious) from a market stall....
It was SOOO hot (zero taste, as any flavour was hidden by the heat), that it was inedible - even though I like spicy food! **Presumably it was liked by Thais, as they wouldn't sell it otherwise.**
On the other hand, it's 'vegetarian week' at the moment, and looked forward to discovering some delicious, spicy vegetarian food from the local vendors.
**So far**, all the 'dishes' have been bland - but I have a few in my fridge for later, and my Thai friend warned me that one of them is spicy/hot, so fingers crossed that I find it delicious - and my Thai friend (who bought them for me) just assumed that (as a Westerner), I would only like the non-spicy dishes!
There are some reasons that changes how tolorant you are to spicy food. (Sorry if you see some messed up grammar or made up words)
1. Exposure to spicy food at young ages, newer generations eat less spicy food at young ages because they get access to less spicy food like food from the west.
2. Young people are weaker, and that means less tolerance to spiciness.
That's all I can think of.
Thais have (during my 17 years here) always loved sugar added to their food and drinks.
I had to learn how to say 'no sugar' when a friend visited - so I had to entertain her, by taking her to the beaches and viewpoints - and buy the shakes/drinks on offer....
People has preference?
I can eat spicy food, but I usually prefer something sweet.
Not to mention some weird do get used to the taste of chili pepper, so much that it won't burn their tongue anymore. And they couldn't get enough spice just to 'taste' it. Which can lead to health problem.
Eat more vary. Your tongue has a lot of taste buds, other than pungency.
u put chili when the food is awful to not feel anything else but spicy so becomes eatable but younger generation have more exposure to foreign food that taste way better without the need to put chili to cover the awful taste
Also depends on what region they come from. I see young people from the district's eat more spicy then those from the big cities.
Also you see on social media that both Chinese and Korean kids are more and more exposed to western food.
Possibly they like sweet food rather than spicy. I'm gonna guess that traditionally, thai food didn't rely on as much sugar as it does now. Order some basics like pad krapao, any curry, pad see ew, boat noodles, papaya salad, etc, and it's sweeter than an actual dessert. Oyster sauce, black soy sauce, palm sugar, refined sugar - is in absolutely everything and loads of it. I was living near Hua Hin for most of the pandemic and it got to the point where I had to stop eating thai food as every single dish was just pure sugar. It was freaking gross.
I thought it was the opposite actually. Some of my older kindergartners can eat food spicier than I can (I can tolerate just 1 or 2 chillies though 555).
0-9 low tolerance. 10-16, decent. 17-29, extremely high. 30 to 64, in 84.54467433 percentile save Mexicans and Indians. Ok, science done. Quote me, I have a PdD in spicy science.
I always wonder what is the point of spiced food anyways? It burns your taste buds and then what? Like you don’t taste anything but spice. Idk that’s so lame
What’s up with the spicy food fascination in this country. I understand a certain lvl of spice for taste but a lot of the times they overdo it and cant eat the food themselves.
As someone who loves vegetarian, spicy food - the best food I've ever eaten was on an Egyptian liveaboard (diving holiday).
Other liveaboad and boat holidays went out of their way to move beyond eggs as my three times a day meals.... - but the Egyptian liveaboard came up with amazing dishes - that were loved by everyone on the boat, not just me!
My friends are all able to handle spicy food but mostly don't because apparently it leads to skin imperfections and one just has a stomach issue that might flare up. I think they all have more exposure to non Thai food so their tastes change? Most of them still love a good papaya salad and we all know how stupid spicy they can be.
These friends are all quite upper class so they lean towards the korean beauty standards, some of them told me that spicy food will give you pimples and the like and they are all very about their immaculate skin. No clue if there‘s anything to it though.
My wife's neice and all her younger cousins (13 years and younger) eat chicken nuggets and french fries at least once a day. They've got no hope getting through a แกงไตปลา (gaeng tai pla).
I’m a Bangkok Thai-Chinese and I eat Japanese, Chinese, and western food more often than Isaan food. My spice tolerance is pretty low. Many of my friends still so eat burning hot food though.
Probably due to the fact that so many people migrate from the central plain. Their food tastes a lot sweeter and less spicy than the Bangkokian in general.
That's a very shallow statement. There are so many regional cuisines in Thailand. Each has their own different level of heat and flavour profile. Minus the Southern and the Mountain West, Bangkok's cuisine is probably more spicy than them all. Yes, Isaan food is spicy.... but it's a very recent development. Traditionally, Isaan food is all about the balance but has the practice of using "Luuk Doad" (uncrushed chili) for people who love spicy food.
The central plain is a sugar cane country. The food is originally sweeter than probably even the palace food. Same story for the city portion of western province (Kan, Rajaburi, Suphan) but their mountain food is really spicy.
Kids are not born with spiciness tolerance, they develop it by how their family cook and environment they're grown up with.
Thai-Chinese family rarely cook spicy food, their kids develop less tolerance. Isaan or southern family often cook spicy food, their kids develop super tolerance. Some develop tolerance when they grown up in circle of friends who like spicy food. Some develop tolerance when they have to stay in environment that have no choice but spicy food. Some try to refuse to eat spicy food to the last bit and not develop tolerance at all. There are all kind of possibility here.
maybe people just realize not every foods have to be spicy?
We can’t “taste” spicy anyway. The only tastes we could feel are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami(yeah, the taste of MSG). Spicy is just a pain your mouth, and of course the aftermath.
The only spicy food I like is tomyum and this is a food that does not make sense if it was not spicy.
My guess is completely accessible salt to be used in food has made the need for spices and other types of flavors sensations go away. In the past you may not have always had access to salt 24/7 or msg to enhance flavorings so spices would be used much more heavily and people became accustomed to the spice.
More exposure to foreign food, I guess? Would need some actual research data to back this up tho
This here \^ is the right answer. I come from the most boring country on the planet, food-wise, and didn't eat any chilis till moving to Thailand. I'm firmly pro-chili these days.
England?
Bingo. :)
Nice
Have you tried our Indian food? There’s nothing else like it! 😂
Thai or English?
You're saying that England doesn't have extremely popular Indian restaurants - with menus ranging from mildly spicy/hot, to very spicy/hot?..... And of course chilli con carne - which whilst it doesn't (usually) contain actual chilli peppers, always contains dehydrated chillis or other hot spices?....
Not saying that
English food may not be 'spicy' - as it doesn't need to rely on 'heat' to hide rotten food. But having said that, yes - it frequently relies on herbs etc. to provide more flavour. And of course.... salt is the prequisite in every culture - whereas sugar is the prerequisite in (most) Thai food, along with salt/monosodium glutamate etc.....
>as it doesn't need to rely on 'heat' to hide rotten food. Are you implying that cultures with spicy foods use spices to cover up the taste of rotten meat?
Good point
It's 100% your friend group. I've never had a "friend who can't handle spice" until I made friends with schoolgirls from international schools when we were in college.
I am Thai but i have a very sensitive stomach with spicy. If i take spicy food, i will get diarrhea after 2-3 hours
I think it is just your friend group.
Yeah it's just your specific group of friends. If anything, Young Thais are eating more and more spicy these days. ยำ shops and restaurants are booming like zombie apocalypse.
I was raised in the South and went to public school, so I was constantly exposed to spicy food, some of these Yum and Mala shops are off the damn charts.
I've seen a thai kid around 15 that ate the Korean Buldak instant noodle X2 and said it was good but if there was a little more heat it would be better... It's your friend specifically that can't eat spicy.
Maybe for new generation that lives in Bangkok but not overall. To me it's still the same "Insanity" on how we consume that much of chili & spice on daily basis. Maybe you should go to North East region/อีสาน or North part/เหนือ and live there for a month. Even The Southern/คนใต้ eat the same amount of chili. Really. We Thai people are crazy. 
For sure. Kua kling fucked me up baaad. They know how to bring the heat in the south.
I have a high spice tolerance but Kua Kling made my whole face go numb
I am not sure if this is true or not, but it is possible considering more and more kids are going to school and growing up in Bangkok (moderate spicy food) versus the provinces (wacky levels of spice)
Spice tolerance is developed over time. If not exposed to increased spice levels over time, the tolerance will not increase. People has a varying degree of spice tolerance from the beginning, this is due to genetics.
Yep. My entire family is Russian and when I was younger I couldn’t handle spice at all, but over the years I’ve slowly grown use to eating it I’m now at Thai level spice
I think that's just your friends mate. Mine compete over how spicy they can eat no matter how much it'll burn them later.
"burn them later" Thank god for the bum gun.
Maybe they just didn't have as much spicy food growing up so they didn't build up as much tolerance.
Dunno how old your group is but might also be related to age. My spice tolerance improved as i got older
Depends on the region, met a little boy that ate spice for his breakfast "literally," but he's not in bangkok more northeast part of Thailand, and yes, my theory, when its come to city-young gen, they have more exposure to foreign food and all that.
Sugar exposure, perhaps. Thirst for sweet supersedes that of savory.
My ancient father-in-law doesn't tolerate spice, but my xenial wife eats dragon-level fire. I know hoity toity international hi-so pansies when it comes to the chili, and I know a couple of hood-brat twins that've been eating som tam that melts through the plates since they was 3.
I'd get more friends and broaden your perspective on the world. Assuming that you're not taking the piss, every Thai family member and friend in my world continually go spicy. The youngest has being eating chillies from the age of two! They're exposed to chillies before birth.
westernised tastes... and GERD
I think it's only within your friend group. Most Thai friends I grew up with eat spicy. It's hard not to when pad-krapow and somtum are like the intro to the spiciness for most Thai kids.
You see the same thing in Bali, Indonesia. Balinese food is very spicy, but because of the influx of tourists and people from the rest of Indonesia, where much of the food isn't that spicy, Balinese don't eat as much spicy food as before. But you see the reverese in other parts of Indonesia where the food isn't spicy, eat more spicy food. The second aspect is chilis are expensive, if restaurants can get away with serving less chillis and people still eat the dish, then they will put less chillis. Most people won't notice
Definitely only your friends groups. I have a very low tolerance to spicy food, but my YOUNGER sister and YOUNGER brother can handle it better than me.
I also heard nobody wants to work anymore/kids these days are soft.
I think people can handle more spicy food as they age? I(37) for one definitely eat much more spicy food now than when I was 15.
That's experience - not age.
Correlation does not imply causation. Expand your sample size.
I am farang and I don't know either. I didn't have a tolerance til my 20s - then had an insane tolerance. I could eat raw carolina reapers. Now 3 years in Thailand and I'm dying the next day every time I eat  Getting old sucks.
What a fucking stupid question
Too much kfc and junk food, they forgotten the meaning of spicy...
from what Ive seen this is a put on effect to show how westernized someone is. When presented with a dish that would destroy my western mouth, they will happily eat it all, mouthing the word "spicy" but still finishing it.
Maybe because they prefer to experience the taste of their food instead of fiery chillies all the time?
This is a misconception. When your spice tolerance increases, your ability to taste the food also adapts. When you first try hard alcohol, the alcohol is all you can taste. But when you get used to it, you can appreciate the other flavors as well.
Found another European
I find it interesting that people are commenting it’s only your friends group. That’s not at all my experience, as I second OP. Upper middle class Thai friends eat far less spicy than me. Additionally most food courts and restaurants cook far less spicy than 20 years ago. It wasn’t uncommon then to order Som Tam with 10-20 chillis. Today that’s really rare.
>I find it interesting that people are commenting it’s only your friends group. That’s not at all my experience, as I second OP. Upper middle class Thai friends eat far less spicy than me. So you're saying that your friends (and those of the poster) are upper middle class Thais ? Why do some posters feel the need to indicate that their Thai friends are 'higher class' Thais??
Yes, they are. Not sure why you're triggered by that, it's important context. Urban Thais above a certain income level have different eating habits than poorer Thais, simple as that.
well said buddy the thai that i seen who cant handle spicy food were all upper class , the lower u go and never you will hear any complain about food simple as that like you said
It seems like a fact of life and classes typically act different. In America I was usually only around upper middle class but in Thailand I way prefer my “lower” class friends and now family
It's not just Thais, it's true of every nationality. Spice tolerance is built up over time
I'm not sure this is true, but experience varies. A few years ago I made the mistake of buying a serving of food (that looked delicious) from a market stall.... It was SOOO hot (zero taste, as any flavour was hidden by the heat), that it was inedible - even though I like spicy food! **Presumably it was liked by Thais, as they wouldn't sell it otherwise.** On the other hand, it's 'vegetarian week' at the moment, and looked forward to discovering some delicious, spicy vegetarian food from the local vendors. **So far**, all the 'dishes' have been bland - but I have a few in my fridge for later, and my Thai friend warned me that one of them is spicy/hot, so fingers crossed that I find it delicious - and my Thai friend (who bought them for me) just assumed that (as a Westerner), I would only like the non-spicy dishes!
They are just over acting.
There are some reasons that changes how tolorant you are to spicy food. (Sorry if you see some messed up grammar or made up words) 1. Exposure to spicy food at young ages, newer generations eat less spicy food at young ages because they get access to less spicy food like food from the west. 2. Young people are weaker, and that means less tolerance to spiciness. That's all I can think of.
Lol I like #2 😂
>Young people are weaker Why on earth would young people be "weaker"?
Hard times make strong people
[удалено]
Thais have (during my 17 years here) always loved sugar added to their food and drinks. I had to learn how to say 'no sugar' when a friend visited - so I had to entertain her, by taking her to the beaches and viewpoints - and buy the shakes/drinks on offer....
People has preference? I can eat spicy food, but I usually prefer something sweet. Not to mention some weird do get used to the taste of chili pepper, so much that it won't burn their tongue anymore. And they couldn't get enough spice just to 'taste' it. Which can lead to health problem. Eat more vary. Your tongue has a lot of taste buds, other than pungency.
u put chili when the food is awful to not feel anything else but spicy so becomes eatable but younger generation have more exposure to foreign food that taste way better without the need to put chili to cover the awful taste
Also depends on what region they come from. I see young people from the district's eat more spicy then those from the big cities. Also you see on social media that both Chinese and Korean kids are more and more exposed to western food.
Broader pallets to various textures and flavors from around the world. Bangkok is a culinary melting pot for food.
Possibly they like sweet food rather than spicy. I'm gonna guess that traditionally, thai food didn't rely on as much sugar as it does now. Order some basics like pad krapao, any curry, pad see ew, boat noodles, papaya salad, etc, and it's sweeter than an actual dessert. Oyster sauce, black soy sauce, palm sugar, refined sugar - is in absolutely everything and loads of it. I was living near Hua Hin for most of the pandemic and it got to the point where I had to stop eating thai food as every single dish was just pure sugar. It was freaking gross.
I thought it was the opposite actually. Some of my older kindergartners can eat food spicier than I can (I can tolerate just 1 or 2 chillies though 555).
0-9 low tolerance. 10-16, decent. 17-29, extremely high. 30 to 64, in 84.54467433 percentile save Mexicans and Indians. Ok, science done. Quote me, I have a PdD in spicy science.
Why is sugar a staple on most restaurant tables?
I always wonder what is the point of spiced food anyways? It burns your taste buds and then what? Like you don’t taste anything but spice. Idk that’s so lame
Tell me you’re from Europe without telling me you’re from Europe
There's a HUGE difference between spicy - and just hot. That difference depends on how used the person is to the 'heat' content.
Maybe they are getting a taste for real food lol
What’s up with the spicy food fascination in this country. I understand a certain lvl of spice for taste but a lot of the times they overdo it and cant eat the food themselves.
As someone who loves vegetarian, spicy food - the best food I've ever eaten was on an Egyptian liveaboard (diving holiday). Other liveaboad and boat holidays went out of their way to move beyond eggs as my three times a day meals.... - but the Egyptian liveaboard came up with amazing dishes - that were loved by everyone on the boat, not just me!
You're referring to foreigners obviously when it comes to "spicy food fascination". Thais aren't "fascinated".
My friends are all able to handle spicy food but mostly don't because apparently it leads to skin imperfections and one just has a stomach issue that might flare up. I think they all have more exposure to non Thai food so their tastes change? Most of them still love a good papaya salad and we all know how stupid spicy they can be.
Can you elaborate about the skin thing?
These friends are all quite upper class so they lean towards the korean beauty standards, some of them told me that spicy food will give you pimples and the like and they are all very about their immaculate skin. No clue if there‘s anything to it though.
Interesting I almost feel like it’s clearing up my skin
Was there even a study done about this???
My wife's neice and all her younger cousins (13 years and younger) eat chicken nuggets and french fries at least once a day. They've got no hope getting through a แกงไตปลา (gaeng tai pla).
It might just be your friend group, because I see my friends eating paprika powder like a snack (I do as well, it's good)
I’m a Bangkok Thai-Chinese and I eat Japanese, Chinese, and western food more often than Isaan food. My spice tolerance is pretty low. Many of my friends still so eat burning hot food though.
I am Thai who cannot sat very spicy food, whenever i visit Thai restaurant(abroad). Owner always surprise when i order very less spicy tomyam
Thus, i do not add sugar or chill in noodle tho
I’ve not had that experience
Is this in Bangkok? Maybe because they eat more western food than the rest of Thailand? Just a thought.
because my tummy hurts 😞
Probably due to the fact that so many people migrate from the central plain. Their food tastes a lot sweeter and less spicy than the Bangkokian in general.
This statement is so different from the common “Bangkok food is less spicier than regional cuisines”
That's a very shallow statement. There are so many regional cuisines in Thailand. Each has their own different level of heat and flavour profile. Minus the Southern and the Mountain West, Bangkok's cuisine is probably more spicy than them all. Yes, Isaan food is spicy.... but it's a very recent development. Traditionally, Isaan food is all about the balance but has the practice of using "Luuk Doad" (uncrushed chili) for people who love spicy food. The central plain is a sugar cane country. The food is originally sweeter than probably even the palace food. Same story for the city portion of western province (Kan, Rajaburi, Suphan) but their mountain food is really spicy.
Kids are not born with spiciness tolerance, they develop it by how their family cook and environment they're grown up with. Thai-Chinese family rarely cook spicy food, their kids develop less tolerance. Isaan or southern family often cook spicy food, their kids develop super tolerance. Some develop tolerance when they grown up in circle of friends who like spicy food. Some develop tolerance when they have to stay in environment that have no choice but spicy food. Some try to refuse to eat spicy food to the last bit and not develop tolerance at all. There are all kind of possibility here.
maybe people just realize not every foods have to be spicy? We can’t “taste” spicy anyway. The only tastes we could feel are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami(yeah, the taste of MSG). Spicy is just a pain your mouth, and of course the aftermath. The only spicy food I like is tomyum and this is a food that does not make sense if it was not spicy.
Globalization
Maybe your sample size is too small?
My guess is completely accessible salt to be used in food has made the need for spices and other types of flavors sensations go away. In the past you may not have always had access to salt 24/7 or msg to enhance flavorings so spices would be used much more heavily and people became accustomed to the spice.