Healthy Eating on Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan is a much easier place to eat well than most of Thailand, for reasons that have nothing to do with tourism. The yoga community that settled around Srithanu two decades ago brought its own demand with it, and the kitchens followed.

That density is genuinely useful. It also means a certain amount of language — raw, activated, alkaline, superfood — gets used here as decoration. This guide tries to separate the two.

Where to eat

The cheapest healthy food is at the market

Worth saying before anything else, because it gets overlooked in favour of cafés with nicer branding. Thong Sala market sells tropical fruit and vegetables at a fraction of café prices, and the quality is the best you will find anywhere. Mangoes at their peak between roughly March and June, papaya, pomelo, dragon fruit, young coconut year-round.

If you have a kitchen where you are staying, this is the single best thing you can do for both your diet and your budget.

Thai food, honestly assessed

Thai cuisine has a reputation as light and healthy. Some of it is. A great deal of what is cooked for tourists is not, and the difference is mostly sugar and oil.

Two phrases are worth learning. Mai sai nam tan — no sugar. Mai phet — not spicy. Sugar goes into savoury dishes here as a matter of course, including som tam, and asking for it to be left out is completely normal.

What the marketing means

These kitchens cook extremely well and are worth seeking out. Knowing what the words on the menu actually carry just helps you order the thing you came for:

• ·"Raw" means uncooked, which is not the same as more nutritious. Some nutrients are more available cooked, some less.
• ·"Superfood" has no agreed definition. Cacao, spirulina and moringa are all genuinely nutrient-dense; the label itself tells you nothing.
• ·"Sugar-free" usually means no refined sugar. Dates, agave and maple are still sugar, and a raw dessert can carry as much as a conventional one.
• ·"Detox" is a marketing term rather than a physiological one — your liver and kidneys do that job. Fasting and cleansing programmes can still be worthwhile, but if you have any medical condition, take advice from a doctor rather than a retreat.

The gap: dinner, and everything around it

Same gap as the vegan scene, and for the same reason. The Srithanu kitchens are built around a community that eats early, so they are largely a daytime proposition — several close between lunch and evening. Plan lunch there and make a separate plan for dinner. The vegan guide covers the hours issue in more detail.

Frequently asked questions