kwilco

Has anyone seen what the UK state pension is?? - Freezing nothing is hardly significant. It woulds be simpler to unfreeze them. THy are about half the French level and a third the German level - the EU was pressuring the UK to bring state pensions up to international levels before Brexit -

Bacteria normally settles on the surface of foods - so if cooked at high temperatures - of the grill or wok, any bacteria with be killed. Western buffets are just bacterial gardens. Maybe increased numbers at those hotel buffets is to blame? - and lets not forget airline food.

People have been eating street food here for years and Thailand had a reputation for relatively low incidence of food poisoning - what may be different now is an INCREASE in incidents so the eating of streetfood is very unlikely to be a factor in this.On a personal note, I lived on an almost exclusive diet of street food and chwap restaurants for 20 twenty years without any cases of illness from them

Most of food production in Thailand is controlled by single family companies – they are often very secretive or at least avoid the glare of publicity. This was in the news today. Thai Union Group, the world's leading seafood producer, has broken years of silence and low profile to announce a major transformation plan, Strategy 2030, aimed at thriving over the next seven years. At a press conference on Monday, Thiraphong Chansiri, president and chief executive officer of Thai Union Group, outlined this ambitious roadmap, which aims to boost net sales to US$7 billion by 2030 from $3.9 billion in 2024. If this lot started cutting corners to increase profits, it would affect the entire country.

Agin this is a constant factor from BEFORE ovid so should account for an increase in upset stomachs - just a constant source.Unless there is a dramatic increase in consumption of street food or a sudden change in hygiene practices.

Certainly antibiotics are overused on a world scale and some food poisoning bacteria are now resistant - but I think that would make headlines in itself if this was the case.

Yes is an unfortunate incident - and there was another a few months back in Pattaya - but it doesn't account for a general increase in tummy upsets ( it appears to have been Norovirus??0 What it does show is that the Thai authorities have systems in place to monitor these circumstances - we know how corruption is rife in these situations but in general ice/water datories in Thailand are pretty good. If the reports on social media have any credibility, this wouldn't be an outbreak as such, more a general increase.

I'm actually asking two questions. Is there a demonstrable increase in "tummy upsets"? and secondly - Why?

I doubt if it would change the rate - antibiotics are not used in every case and only some of the bacteria would be "superbugs" - this would lead to a "tip of the iceberg" situation of increased hospitalisations and majot =r insurance claims..As pointed out about they may not even be food poisoning" - a rather vague term - it could be other forms of gastroenteritis.

“There is no way to know since most cases of food poisoning are not treated at government hospitals “ Stats are usually commissioned and gathered from more than one source – for instance insurance companies and are commissioned by various bodies - .e.g. - Ministry of Public Health, many Hospitals and Health Facilities e.g. - Public and private hospitals, clinics, and other health facilities report cases of food poisoning they treat, contributing to the data collected by the MoPH and its associated bodies. Also Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA), Bureau of Epidemiology, Provincial Health Offices, WHO, “those statistics do nto s[earate out food poisoning from other types of gastroenterisits [sic]” As the reports I am seeing are largely from laypersons, it doesn’t really matter if it is food poisoning or types of gastroenteritis as bacterial, viral and parasitic may be the causes – but if there is an increase in anything then the public need to be aware “increased numbers of tourists alone could account for this” – But you miss the point – the numbers are in fact LOWER than before Covid, they are concentrated into smaller areas, but the rise – if there is one – would an increase per unit over previous figures. I have already considered the “mass-histeria” effect of social media which is why I’d like to see statistics rather than just guess “Food poisoning cases here follow seasonal trends and always increase in the very hot season, for obvious reasons (food spoils more quickl” – you seem to miss the point – the effects of climate in Thailand have been the same for decades – what I’m trying to find out is if there has been a CHANGE in the circumstances. It also may not be just tourists, it could be the population in general cause by the industrialisation, transportation and processing within the food industry.

Why do you think this change has occurred? Are you getting sick more often? I used to travel frequently throughout Thailand. The only time I got sick was at home. If there has been a change it would seem to me to be post covid. This is not my personal experience.... I just notice a plethora of mentions mostly on social media.

Seems to be the first comment based on any analytical reasoning. Taking this a bit further - I suspect if there is an increase in may be that the extra tourists are being catered for by cutting corners too and businesses which are cash strapped are doing whatever they can to maximise returns. For decades, Thailand's risks of food poisoning have remained. constant and low - If the is an increase it represents a change which personal anecdotes don't contribute to our undrrstanding

So th level is the same but reporting is higher? I agree this is a possibility which is why I asked if anyone knew of statistical evidence, I suppose anecdotal responses were inevitable but really don't shine a light on anything. I suspect, if there is any truth in this that it is a result of the huge numbers of tourists being inflicted on just the main tourist areas and the general infrastructure is being strained under the pressure. I would be nice to know though as THailand has for decades been a relatively safe place to eat just about anything.

It seems on the social media about THailand that there are more and more people getting food poisoning whilst on holiday in Thailand. Some of them requiring hospitalisation. I visit visited Thailand in 1994 and lived here for over 20 years - to this day I have contracted some form of tummy upset 3 times. The first was shellfish, the second was salmon a western restaurant and the third was unidentified but serious food faeces contamination - however over a period of 30 years I would say that is not statistical outlier for any country. So what (if anything) has changed? - Is the country losing a battle against hygiene whilst accepting ever higher concentrations of tourist in te mai tourist centres? Are there any statistics to clarify the situation? We all know how to get sick tummies in Thailand and we all know it has (until now?) been relatively safe. So can anyone come up with an evidence based comment on the situation (please no anecdotal or apocryphal stories!)

THere was a joke back in the day about a student who was asked in an exam to write an essay on William II of England. He was upset because he failed despite writing a long and copiously cited piece of work.His opening line however explained it. "I don't know anything about William II but I have researched William I, so here is my essay on him...." It would seem that those students now inhabit the ASEAN NOW website.

THe Thai legal system is just incompetent and too slow moving. The police are under pressure to "solve" a case and many innocent people in Thailand are charged or in prison with crimes they didn't do, just so the police and authorities can claim to be doing their job.

THey speak Thai - there is no thai word for winter. Its cultural imposition.

That's not the Thai government and it is in English. THere is no word in Thai for winter.

Nope! not a good view of the problem - lot of people covering their ignorance with a big dose of cynicism.

Dredging and canalisation of Bangkok has the opposite effect - it drains the water table causing subsidence. Bangkok ias a city is sinking.

sadly you don't seem to realise how short of reason that falls.

sadly you don't seem to realise how short of reason that falls.

Winter is a misnomer. It shows a basic misunderstanding of th local climate by westerners - this goes back through centuries of colonialism where people tried to impose there western ideas of climate on tropical and equatorial countries - the results where insane farming policies and disastrous famine. Wrong crops wrong weather and then the colonists had the arrogance to blame the locals. THese colonial attiudes have rolled over into the use of inappropriate language to describe the seasons in Thailand.

you know absolutely nothing - but you are ruled by your own prejudices.

that translates as "looks cold" - the word winter doesn't apply to the Thai climate - if they were talking about a temperate climate, they would talk about 4 seasons and use the local words for it.