Consumption of globalized food among Isan women Bangkok

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the consumption pattern of Western fast food among women from Isan, who were working an living in Bangkok. Qualitative data was collected from six case study informants, as well as a broader set of data was collected from 25 informants. This study investigates the extent to which Isan women incorporate the consumption of Western food into their own lives, and the extent to which this is done by the process of cultural heterogenization versus cultural homogenization. Thailand has, since 1983, been introduced to a variety of Westen fast food restaurant, such as KFC and McDonald’s. The fear of cultural homogenization is that these large, Western corporations are spreading across Thailand and the rest of the world, the local cultures are disappearing, leading to a globalized world. As KFC and McDonald’s restaurants are opening across the world, according to this particular view, it is believed that they will dominate every food culture they are exposed to, eliminating any differences between cultures. On the opposite side there are those who believe that globalization does not happen in a vacuum, and that local cultures interpret and use these foreign influences in their own manner, causing a localization of the Western brands into the new cultures. Bangkok has a large Isan community, and a significant proportion of them are women. The majority of these women do not have a university education and most are therefore employed in jobs that pay the minimum salary. In addition, most of these women live in cheap housing, they are forced control their spending, and they are the sole breadwinner of their family back in Isan. This constant focus on money makes it difficult to purchase products which are not necessary to their survival, yet living in Bangkok they are surrounded by products, including Western fast food, which they were not exposed to while growing up in Isan. As they are now faced with this variety of products, they are bound to have their own interpretations and perceptions about these brands, despite not having the resources to consume them as often as the middle - and the upper class, both of which have received extensive amounts of research. The case study informants came from various provinces in the northeastern region of Thailand. I followed them to their homes where I studied their eating and consumption patterns, as I acquired a general set of knowledge about their lives. I also studied their consumption pattern in Bangkok. I then looked at the data connected to their consumption of fast food and drew some conclusions regarding their eating habits in light of the heterogenization-homogenization framework.