Why can Thais eat spicier food than farangs?

Why can Thais eat spicier food than farangs? Farang is Thai for Westerners, and for guava. Kids in chilli-loving families start small and get more each year. Eating chilli often dulls the heat sensors only slightly. The big change is enjoying the burn. It’s called benign masochism, a thrill the brain knows is safe. Genes matter too: identical twins share all their genes, non-identical ones about half. Finnish identical pairs were more alike in liking chilli, so genes explained 18 to 58 percent of it. And farangs can learn: in a British study, liking grew over five chilli meals. We tell you everything you need to know about Bangkok. Follow for more!

Liking chilli is largely learned. In chilli-loving families children start small and get more as they grow; eating chilli often dulls the heat sensors only a little, and the big change is learning to enjoy the burn. Genes play a part too, and farangs can train up.

• Farang (ฝรั่ง) is the everyday Thai word for Westerners – the Royal Society of Thailand's dictionary defines it as white-skinned peoples – and the same word is the guava (Psidium guajava).
• In a Thai–Japanese study of adults aged 50–90, 70% of the Thai participants were mild or moderate spicy lovers and 10% strong lovers, and 70% ate spicy food every week (Trachootham et al., 2017): not every Thai loves strong chilli.
• Liking chilli is largely acquired: the strongest influences are the surroundings from childhood on and repeated exposure. In Mexican families children are given small amounts of chilli, increasing gradually as they grow (Rozin and Schiller, 1980, reviewed by Siebert et al., 2022).
• Regular chilli eaters are only slightly less sensitive to capsaicin, and they like chilli because of its burn, not in spite of it (Rozin, Mark and Schiller, 1981). Psychologists call this benign masochism: enjoying an experience the body falsely reads as a threat (Rozin et al., 2013).
• In 331 young Finnish twins, identical pairs (who share all their genes) were more alike in how much they liked chilli heat than non-identical pairs (who share about half on average): genes accounted for 18–58% of the variation, the rest was environment (Törnwall et al., 2012; Törnwall, 2013).
• In a British experiment, liking for the chilli burn rose steadily over five chilli meals, without the burn feeling any weaker (Stevenson and Yeomans, 1995).

Behind the Dish
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Sources:
– The Royal Society of Thailand: Royal Institute Dictionary (พจนานุกรมฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน), entry ฝรั่ง: https://dictionary.orst.go.th/
– Trachootham, Satoh-Kuriwada et al. (2017): Differences in Taste Perception and Spicy Preference: A Thai-Japanese Cross-cultural Study. Chemical Senses 43(1):65–74: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29136162/
– Siebert, Lee and Prescott (2022): Chili pepper preference development and its impact on dietary intake: A narrative review. Frontiers in Nutrition 9:1039207: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9795841/
– Ludy and Mattes (2012): Comparison of sensory, physiological, personality, and cultural attributes in regular spicy food users and non-users. Appetite 58(1):19–27: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21986186/
– Rozin, Mark and Schiller (1981): The role of desensitization to capsaicin in chili pepper ingestion and preference. Chemical Senses 6(1):23–31: https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/6.1.23
– Karrer and Bartoshuk (1991): Capsaicin desensitization and recovery on the human tongue. Physiology & Behavior 49(4):757–764: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1881981/
– Rozin, Guillot, Fincher, Rozin and Tsukayama (2013): Glad to be sad, and other examples of benign masochism. Judgment and Decision Making 8(4):439–447: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500005295
– Törnwall, Silventoinen, Kaprio and Tuorila (2012): Why do some like it hot? Genetic and environmental contributions to the pleasantness of oral pungency. Physiology & Behavior 107(3):381–389: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23010089/
– Stevenson and Yeomans (1995): Does exposure enhance liking for the chilli burn? Appetite 24(2):107–120: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7611746/
– Törnwall (2013): Genetic and Environmental Influences on Chemosensory Perception and Preferences. Doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki (includes the 2012 pungency study): https://hdl.handle.net/10138/40697

Facts and sources: https://soibysoi.com/episodes/why-can-thais-eat-spicier-food-than-farangs

Illustrations, not to scale. Not every Thai loves strong chilli: the taste is learned, person by person.
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