We’ve begun construction of the counter tops for the outdoor kitchen in BaanMae:

In traditional Thai houses, the kitchen is normally outside. If you think about this for a bit, there are some clear advantages to it. Not the least of these is that the cooking smells stay outside. (Do you remember the Thai restaurant cooking “nam prik pao” that caused a chemical weapons attack scare in London?) Another reason that is dear to my heart is that the heat of cooking doesn’t heat up the house. (Keep in mind we are talking about Bangkok here, and we don’t use air conditioning.)

A side note about the weather in Bangkok: Tomorrow’s weather forecast shows a high of 35C (95F). And this isn’t even the hottest month of the year. In fact, I happened to note today that according to this site, the average daily high is 31C (88F) or higher for every single month of the year! So much for the concept of “the cold season”.

So we designed all of the houses on our land to have outdoor kitchens. In the case of BaanMae, it is on the back balcony. The grease trap sits on the floor in the corner under the sink. We will also be adding a wooden trellis to provide some shade at sunset and make it a little nicer when viewed from outside of the house.