Vegan-friendliness ranking
Long-stay viability for a strict plant-based diet. Mid-depth ranking; deeper city-level guides ship in the personalised report.
| # | Country | Score | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ๐น๐ญ Thailand | 85 | Dense vegan scene in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. "เนเธ" (jay / Buddhist vegan) tradition widely understood. HappyCow listings well into three figures per city. | Fish sauce hidden in many dishes; strict vegans must specify "mai sai nam pla". |
| 2 | ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | 80 | Strong Indian-vegetarian backbone; large Buddhist vegan/lacto-vegetarian scene; KL and Penang have specialised vegan shops and supermarkets. | Halal-Muslim-default cuisine outside KL/Penang relies on dairy and ghee. |
| 3 | ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | 70 | Bali is exceptional โ possibly the densest vegan/raw scene in SE Asia. Tempeh and tofu native to local cuisine. | Outside Bali (Jakarta, Yogya, Lombok) options narrow quickly. Shrimp paste (terasi) and stock are pervasive. |
| 4 | ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam | 62 | Strong Buddhist-temple vegan tradition ("ฤn chay"). Major cities have dedicated chay restaurants. Growing modern vegan scene in HCMC. | Fish sauce in nearly every dish by default. Smaller cities thin on options. |
| 5 | ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 45 | Manila and Cebu have growing vegan cafรฉs; international supermarkets stock plant-based brands. | National cuisine is meat-heavy; little local-language tradition for vegan ordering. Expensive imports. |
| 6 | ๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia | 40 | Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have a small core of dedicated vegan/vegetarian places aimed at expats and tourists. | Outside those two cities options are minimal. Fish sauce ubiquitous; strict-vegan groceries limited and import-priced. |
Methodology (current scaffold)
Scores are 0โ100 based on: density of dedicated vegan/vegetarian listings (HappyCow, public counts), local-language tradition for plant-based ordering, supermarket availability of plant-based products, and how veganisable the everyday street/local cuisine is.
Numbers are first-pass estimates from publicly known facts about each country's restaurant landscape, not yet from a dedicated weekly fetcher. A v2 will pull HappyCow-equivalent counts and supermarket data per city, with a per-city table.