Once upon a time, I was traveling in Thailand and went to a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere that mostly served tourists. There were two guys there who thought they could handle spice, so they told the waiter to bring them something spiced for Thai locals. He tried to discourage them, and offered to give them something that was really spicy for westerners, but they insisted that they wanted what locals eat.

When they received their dish, they couldn’t even manage a single bite. I could overhear them, and they were convinced that the waiter was playing a joke on them, so when he came back they asked him to try it to see if it was good, trying to catch him out. The waiter had a few bites, said “yeah, tastes good”, asked if they needed anything else, and when they said no, just went on to help his other customers. The tourists were just gobsmacked.

I know my limits, and decently high for “The West”, but it’s nowhere near the limits of a Thai person who likes spicy food. And, I know enough to know that when I’m on vacation, I want it even less spicy than normal. If I get something ultra spicy at home, I might have to spend some unpleasant time on the toilet. But, at least it’s my own toilet. I really didn’t want to be caught out in some rural Thai toilet or outhouse trying to process something that was too much for me and missing out on enjoying my vacation.