Life on board
Vegan, halal, kosher and allergies at sea
Can a charter yacht cater for special diets in Thailand?
The short answer
Can a charter yacht cater for special diets in Thailand?
Phuket provisions well and a competent charter chef handles vegan, vegetarian, halal, gluten-free and most allergies without difficulty, provided it is on the preference sheet about a month before departure. Kosher provisioning needs more notice and is usually arranged through a supplier in Bangkok. Severe allergies need to be stated with the person's name and the severity, because a yacht at Koh Rok is fifty nautical miles and several hours from a pharmacy, let alone a hospital.
What each one needs
| Requirement | Difficulty in Phuket | Notice needed |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetarian | Easy, Thai cooking is well suited | Preference sheet |
| Vegan | Easy with notice, fish sauce is the hidden one | Preference sheet |
| Gluten free | Straightforward, soy sauce is the hidden one | Preference sheet |
| Halal | Straightforward, Phuket has a large Muslim community | Preference sheet |
| Kosher | Needs a Bangkok supplier | Six weeks or more |
| Nut allergy | Difficult, peanut is in a great deal of Thai cooking | Preference sheet, stated explicitly |
| Shellfish allergy | Manageable, but the galley must know | Preference sheet, stated explicitly |
The two hidden ingredients
Fish sauce and peanut. Fish sauce is in nearly every Thai savoury dish and it defeats a vegetarian or vegan diet invisibly. Peanut is in more than the obvious dishes and it is the allergy most likely to be encountered by accident. A chef who has been told will work around both; a chef who has not will cook the way the cuisine works.
Write allergies against a name, not as a general note. On a yacht with eight guests, a line saying one guest has a nut allergy is a much weaker instruction than naming the person, because plates get handed around.
Last checked 6 September 2026. Rates, fees and regulations in this market change every season, so figures on this page are correct as at that date and not afterwards. How the figures are gathered.