On a previous trip to Thailand, I wrote about the most delicious roast chicken I have ever eaten. I have many special memories of Rayong, and the awesome roast chicken stands by the roadside are certainly counted among them. I had been looking forward to reevaluating the chicken itself since the last time I visited, to be sure it hadn’t been a fluke, or just how hungry I had been at the time.
The chicken stands to which I refer are concentrated along a half-kilometer stretch of a long road into town, from the east end of Mae Ramphueng beach. We scoped out the whole stretch a couple times and stopped at the one that caught my eye.
This stand had the best chicken illustration on their sign (important!), as well as the freshest-looking birds.
Aloha shirt, ski goggles and mask, and a straw hat! What’s not to like?
Grinding away in the heat – this guy’s job really sucks
The entire setup is powered by an electric motor drawing power from the lines directly above the stand.
If shirts could talk…
My man here is styling, too.
As it turns out, this wasn’t the only stand with animatrons, but it was the only one with multiple animatrons. I saw other stands that already were, or were in the process of being semi-automated with motorized spits, and most had the automatrons as well, so I figure the same man or crew may be creating them for everybody on that strip – whoever he is, the guy’s a genius.
The non-automated spits actually require a person to turn them, which is just torture in the midday heat amplifying the heat of the coals. The stands still of course require humans for all the other tasks, and this one was manned by a mother/daughter team:
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I came for chicken and by god, I got chicken (and sticky rice, biooootches!):
The sauce from this stand was good, but not great. The funny thing is, this chicken is so good, it doesn’t need sauce.
Mandatory “glistening fat” closeup:
That bottom right part is the neck – mmm, mmm good.
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All links for the On the Road 2007 series:
On the Road 2007 (Part 1)
On the Road 2007 (Part 2)
On the Road 2007 (Part 3) – Koh Chang
On the Road 2007 (Part 4) – Overloaded
On the Road 2007 (Part 5) – Tamnanpar
On the Road 2007 (Part 6) – The Animatronic Chicken Roasters of Rayong, Thailand
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
IF ONLY there were a way for you to overnight that food to me:) GLISTENING FAT AND ALL!!!
Damn! Looks good. Now they just need to serve it up with an ice cold beer and you’d be set.
If they ever open a Disneyland in Thailand, I think the animatronics guy will get the job to do the Hall of Presidents!