24 Hours as a Thai Street Food Vendor in Bangkok
I'm in Bangkok and this is my friend P two years ago we went viral together due to our unusual friendship dragon fruit TI's hard over the next 24 hours I will show you a day in the life of a tie street food vendor but I had no idea Le expected me to do this I'm scared most tourists try street food in Thailand but there's so much more to it long hours hard physical labor it's a lot of work I am sweating constantly in a city like Bangkok hard work is the minimum for survival but Le threw away a steady job to be a street food seller so by the end of this video you'll know why he did it and if I can keep up actually this story starts over 2 years ago I ran into P selling fruit in the street next to my hotel every day I would visit him and every day he would teach me a new tie work and Sapar Saar we even went viral together fast forward to today I walked back to the same place I'd seen Lex selling for 2 years on my numerous trips only problem he wasn't there anymore luckily I found the girl in his place was his employee and a quick phone call from boom meant Le was on his way to say hello and give his approval to hang out with him for the day ironing out the finer details via social media he's just he's just reped oh he's in he's just replied he said I'm no problem I'm happy to help you any day is fine it's up to you nice Lex's work actually Begins the night before with a trip to the night market and I was lucky enough to arrive in one piece Le is a crazy driver you are [Music] fast all right so we've made it to the market and I I think I've actually been here before maybe I'm not sure you have to pick up all the fruit I hired a translator for the day as Le and I speak very little of each other's language and I really wanted to get to know him more Le wanted to help her get into the market nickname nice to meet you everyone stepping into the clong toi Market is crazy there are sides and smells everywhere but Le knew exactly what he was after and how to get it joking around with everyone in the process but then he ordered fruit and walked away where's the fre just for he order something and he go to another shop to pick another thing more and but doesn't he take that home the oh actually if he buy a lot he can order for the and take from him this guy knows what he wants he's having a look he's moving around if he can't get it from one place he's going to the other if it doesn't look good enough he's going to the next place so you know that he has quality fruit cuz I'm telling you right now he's vetting them really well I also saw just how much of an expert Le is with fruit that's literally the sweetest Mandarin I've ever tasted in my life as we walked around and bought what he needed for the next day he helped me try some of his favorites yeah how are you check he's getting so he's hitting it and taught me about the difference in fruits I'd never seen before like green and red mangoes it was hard work building these friendships and negotiating is important for Le he spends up to 5,000 B around $140 a day just to purchase and transport it all and even with the heavy bags he never let me carry a bag at any point a true gentleman we are loading up this massive basket of fruit and let is for one day's worth of fruit he'll be back here tomorrow night buying more [Music] fruit a start Before Sunrise isn't normal for me but it is for Le and for countless vendors across the country I met up with my translator and we rode to Le's house good morning oh is this it wow okay so many fruit okay what do we do I soon found that I wasn't just going to be standing by and watching Le put me to work and I would be a member of his team For Better or Worse careful about your hand your finger yeah no no no no here no no no ah and then this yeah this is hard maybe you finish this one yeah okay Le told me he's been selling fruit for 10 years and it really shows in how fast he can skin this mango and prepare this fruit in the morning this used to take him 3 hours and now it takes him around 1 and 1/2 Le gave me something a little smaller but it still wasn't easy even though Le makes it look like it is okay I can't believe how generous he's being with his fruit I'm definitely messing it up and he's just so patient and teaching me how to do it and I didn't realize how hard it was it's just peeling fruit and he's just so good boom showed up to help out and I took the time to get to know Le better and I asked why he started his business he do to many of oh really yeah so what what made him do fruit what what started his fruit cut Freedom yeah and he can be owner because he just he just um employee or staff some some company that have the board something like that yeah so he's his own boss yeah yeah yeah me too it was inspiring to hear Lex's reasons for doing this it's the same for so many of us around the world I left a steady job to start this YouTube channel I'm still waiting for it to pay me well but the freedom that comes with it is my driving force just like Le can you ask him as well cuz I met uh ke does he have any other kids or Just ke oh they have for two and two boys two boys two boys okay and how old are they said told me he was six or six or seven but I can't I don't know if he no do he will 10 10 old for July with all the carts cleaned filled and prepped for a day's work set out to our first location the place where we first met all those years ago boom [Music] okay good good all right well I'm in my fruit selling uh apron today yeah uh and how do I say what would you like again La ala la ala yes okay I'll try and remember that yeah so we're just here to Che on Boom so this is where I met him on this street the first time like 2 or 3 years ago so he's checking boom he's now got her working for her for him as well um and then we're going to move on to I think to the other spot that he's been going to which this is why I didn't see him the other day cuz he was somewhere else now sugar chili yeah and you put and you dip fruit in it can put also but but but much more Ty people them use with with uh the mango sour ah sour mango okay so he puts them in little bags cuz sometimes you'll put them with the fruit chili and chili chili which one's the most popular for Tha people and I this one yeah I was thinking uh salt and chili Le's phone kept going off and I really wanted to know why so some someone's ordered have they and we make them oh we we make like prepare pH right okay so she was just telling me that he actually has this group on on like line and basically they just Place their orders he sends a photo says this is what I have for the day what would you like and they all just tell him what they want and he pretty much delivers it it's like grab but his own business that's really cool and there was heaps of people in that group there was hundreds of people so no wonder he's doing so well and he has really good fruit Le started cutting the fresh fruit and again his experience with these massive utensils meant he isn't as scared to use it as me oh scared okay okay foot you okay okay what if I chop my head careful careful I'm scared hot hot hot okay I I'm scared I'm going to chop my hand [Laughter] I'm it's sharp it's a sharp tell him I'm going to chop my finger off if I do that I almost missed then I'm scared boom help oh okay no no no here yep better okay boom you do wow that's crazy okay TI tight I think Lex saw I needed something a little easier so he gave me some Rose apple and a smaller utensil along with it okay oh done yeah slice slice yeah little bit more yeah up yes as usual Le is generous and giving me fruits to try and I tried some Green Mango after picking them out myself last night at the market oh it's nice and cold sour I started to wonder if I was eating LAX profits literally so I asked him how much of it he makes from his fruit business so when you said it was 3 to 4,000 a day does that in is that the profit or is that like like how much does the fruit like you know what I mean how much does he make in profit but the profit I think 2,000 bu yeah every day wow yeah so we left boom in one spot while Lex showed me how he moves around to sell his car he has a couple of different locations where he sells to his regular customers and it was time to head there but with the crazy traffic in Bangkok I wasn't sure if we were actually going to make it we just survived and found Le's next selling spot so now he's going to stay at this spot for about half an hour I assume that's where his customers like know where he'll be and I've taken his coffee order he wants a espresso Yen Mayan he has the same coffee order as me so we're just meant to be friends uh thank [Music] [Music] you okay thank you is it good I said he order not one not so we my but actually sweet because of you now that we're both caffeinated I found out Le drinks multiple coffees a day by the way just like me I ask Le what he loves about his job also for the freedom time this one and also he this money the one he get from here he can take care of himself or he family also so he he loves everything there's nothing he doesn't like what about getting up so early yeah yeah yeah he can do like that and he love that yeah can you ask why um he was so nice to me the first time he met me actually he actually be nice with everyone yeah but but with you he said he can make some joke with you that's why he and and you're not angry that's why he like he love you to [Music] yes good and and I tell him you learn from him you learn Ty TR TR can you ask him has he gone a holiday in Thailand before no he say the want don't want he doesn't want a holiday yeah like every day wake up okay today I have to work today I have to go something like that that's what he love he doesn't want to go on holiday yeah he's it was so good to get to know Le a little better to know that he loves his work so much that he doesn't even feel like he needs a holiday it was time to move to the next location where I met the most amount of people no time is your br oh no are you YouTuber yes ch ch he's very nice though he's very he's very nice yeah sorry chai ch ch ch but not handsome chai chai no not handsome oh he's handsome handsome chai c c okay so we have pulled up at the second or third third stop of the day and this is why sometimes if you find a fruit vendor you like you can't always find them because they're one spot then they move and that's the other cool thing about having something on Wheels it's just such a cool idea you move around m for [Laughter] [Applause] it was during this moment that it really did hit me how important someone like Le is to the community we often think of street food sellers as being in tourist areas but street food is an authentic part of everyday life in Bangkok as nurses workers and anyone who is in the area popped in to buy some fruit I was grateful for this opportunity to meet so many wonderful people that I never would have had the chance to say hello to otherwise after serving everyone it was time to yet again move to the next location we stopped to serve a few more customers even on the side of the busy main streets of Bangkok as well as dropping some orders in to people at work after arriving at the final location it did set in how much I was enjoying myself and how it really felt like I made a true friend even if we don't even speak the same language I noticed a lot of people were looking at me there are lots and lots of questions about me and why I think what they're saying is why is there a foreigner riding around with you and selling fruit with you yeah but too many people ask about you how you can come with him and no we uh he not say you come to make content but he said you want to buy franchise the the fruit for from him that's why you come to learn when I uh come back to Bangkok I'll I'll get a stall yeah work for him yeah my face hurts from smiling so much today what would you want to tell people who aren't from Thailand the most like what's something you want to tell people who aren't from Thailand it's number one number one too many people that think about high not so good too many people they they they don't know like C show or have the beautiful be someone that just know like Nana Plaza Market something like but I want to tell all the people in this world if you come to TI you can see too many the beautiful Temple the people yeah you can [Music] come I have to say that in no way shape or form is this easy I am sweating constantly it is a hot day he doesn't get air conditioning he doesn't get really a break it's 12:00 and we've been going since 5:00 a.m. this is a hard job this is hard yaka every time I ask him what he loves about what he's doing and what he loves about his job he just says everything he's there's nothing he doesn't like about it and with that it was time for me to go home but Le wasn't done yet he was staying out for hours more to sell I turned in my apron but I wanted Le to have something other than that for his kindness and generosity to others I want you to tell him that um I'm going to give him this it's not much money but it's enough for him to have a day off so next time he wants a day off you tell him that I'll pay for his day so you tell him [Music] [Music] [Music] that don't lose it don't lose it I said goodbye to p and I rode away from one of the best experiences I have had traveling it's funny isn't it when we dream of travel from our desks we imagine beautiful beaches cocktails by the pool temples and fancy hotel rooms but it's proven time and time again travel is best when you're brave and outside of your comfort zone 2 years ago Le was a fruit seller I stumbled across by accident I was the loud Foreigner he didn't expect to know basic Tha and a friendship was formed and today I got to have a true tieland experience so next time you feel adventurous I dare you just say hello [Music]
2024-06-06 15:38
