Vegan in Thai

“Vegan” in Thai is เจjee, the Thai-Chinese vegan diet; trendy cafés say วีแกนwii-gaen.

เจ jee

jay: Thai-Chinese vegan food (no meat, dairy, eggs, garlic or onions) adjective

  • jee mid
  • Mid: level, in your normal speaking voice.

วีแกน wii-gaen

vegan adjective cafés

  • wii mid
  • gaen mid
  • Mid: level, in your normal speaking voice.

How to use it

The Thai way to eat vegan is เจjee, from the Chinese-Thai vegetarian tradition: no meat, fish, eggs or dairy, and also no garlic, onions, chives or other pungent vegetables. Jay shops and stalls hang yellow flags with the word in red, and during the nine-day vegetarian festival, เทศกาลกินเจtêet-sà-gaan gin-jee, in September or October, they're everywhere; Phuket's festival is the most famous.

Trendy cafés use the English word, วีแกนwii-gaen.

Other spellings you'll see

There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:

  • jay
  • je
  • jae
  • jeh

More food and drink in Thai

All food and drink
  • ข้าว kâao Rice
  • ข้าวเหนียว kâao-nǐaw Sticky rice
  • ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง kâao-nǐaw má-mûang Mango sticky rice
  • ส้มตำ sôm-dtam Papaya salad

    papaya salad, som tam

  • ก๋วยเตี๋ยว gǔay-dtǐaw Noodles

    noodle soup

  • ข้าวซอย kâao-sawy Khao soi

    khao soi (Chiang Mai's curry noodle soup)

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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones