Have you ever been poisoned

[Once Bitten]

Another weekly local expats get together where one guy recounted his recent bout of  feeling sick due to mild food poisoning . In his estimation the culprit was a snack purchased from a local night market stall the snack in question was BBQ chicken held in place on a split wooden stick . He had been drinking at a near by expat watering hole ( watering hole translates into small grocery shop with a few outside plastic red chairs and tables for you to sit at ) .

 

So he decided to go for the BBQ chicken on a stick and a small plastic bag of sticky rice to eat on his way home . For me there were several surprising comments that he made  . This buying and eating food from markets and road side vendors was normal practice for him , he had no qualms about ever buying food from these types of sellers no matter what their obvious hygiene habits appeared to be.

 

 The other fact was that the guy had a history of being taken ill due to eating this type of food  but in his words,  if in the long run you want to take full advantage of these types of foods then getting bouts of food poisoning only goes to strengthen your body's immune system and your body's ability to cope with suspect or contaminated foods . So eventually over time you can eat as much street food as you want and not all ways become seriously sick. Now this guys theory sounds to me some what insane and crazy a bit like playing Russian Roulette . But he is convinced his past bouts of food poisoning have paid benefits that now allow him to eat almost any Thai street food without suffering constant serious repercussions.

 

Personally I do not ever eat any foods from these street vendors or market stalls , yes some things do look nice and tasty and yes some do look well cooked but over all I  will not take a chance and possibly end up in a hospital bed attached to a saline drip feed . 

I'm not going to personally try it but do you think  the guy some how has a valid point and the more of this market or street food you consume and the more times you become ill or sick because of the food then your body gets use to the situation,  thus as time goes by you will become more and more protected and immune to bouts of food poisoning thus allowing you to consume that type of  food with less risk or serious consequences.

 

So are you like this guy and happily eat from these market or street food stalls and if you do have you ever suffered any health consequences 

 

Or are you like me and avoid food from markets and street vendors  like the plague 

 

 

 

[Dmaxdan]

I eat from street/market vendors on a regular basis and as far as I know never had a problem. I have had to odd morning where I have....how can I put this.....been  a little bit loose, but I have never actually sick. But remember just because I don't have a problem doesn't mean others won't. We are not all the same. Interestingly, I have known a number people who have been sick after eating in a fancy restaurant here, but I don't recall anyone complaining about being ill after eating street food.  

[watcharacters]

 

 

I don't understand how a person can enjoy a meal which can be a Russian roulette situation regarding food poisoning.

 

I'd love to eat street stall food but that awareness prevents me from doing so.

 

I once new a fellow who claimed to be sick for three months due to the food poisoning he contracted.

 

Once Bitten I think your mate needs to brush up on immunology.  

 

 

[toughlove]

Food poisoning can be in your system for days before it triggers. It's hard to know where it came from but if you eat in resteraunts and had street food once then of course everyone blamed street food.

[The manic]

I always eat from food stalls. They are more hygienic than many restaurants because you can observe the cooking area and conditions In hotels and restaurants you do not know if the the kitchen is infected with cockroaches , rats, mice or blow flies or whether the food has vermin faeces on it or whether the staff have sneezed on the food. The rules on eating street food are: try to go to a busy stall where the turn over is high. Don't eat food late at night or early morning when the food has been hanging around too long. Street food is the heart and Soul of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. The only time I suffered really badly with dreadful food poisoning was from a posh Fish Restaurant. Having travelled in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan where one has to be a little careful about food I have no hesitation or qualms about eating Thai street food but try to go to busy stalls.

[The manic]

14 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

I eat from street/market vendors on a regular basis and as far as I know never had a problem. I have had to odd morning where I have....how can I put this.....been  a little bit loose, but I have never actually sick. But remember just because I don't have a problem doesn't mean others won't. We are not all the same. Interestingly, I have known a number people who have been sick after eating in a fancy restaurant here, but I don't recall anyone complaining about being ill after eating street food.  

Fancy restaurants can be the worse.  Their kitchens hide a myriad of hygiene secret. You can see everything on a street stall.

[billd766]

Oddly enough, The only place in Bangkok I had a nasty dose of food poisoning was from an international restaurant on Sukhumvit 23 but that was back in 1995.

 

The other really bad case was from an apart hotel in Lahore, Pakistan.

 

Most of the other times have been mild and were gone the same day. I quite often eat market food out here in rural Khampaeng Phet without a problem.

[The manic]

5 minutes ago, toughlove said:

Food poisoning can be in your system for days before it triggers. It's hard to know where it came from but if you eat in resteraunts and had street food once then of course everyone blamed street food.

Er no. The more toxic the bad food the quicker the reaction . Really toxic food poisoning can give you instant diarrhea at the table. Mild food poisoning might not kick in till the day after. The most famous victim of food poisoning was the film director and gourmet Michael Winner who died from Oysters bought in a posh restsurant.

[The manic]

6 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Oddly enough, The only place in Bangkok I had a nasty dose of food poisoning was from an international restaurant on Sukhumvit 23 but that was back in 1995.

 

The other really bad case was from an apart hotel in Lahore, Pakistan.

 

Most of the other times have been mild and were gone the same day. I quite often eat market food out here in rural Khampaeng Phet without a problem.

In the 90s in London the health authorities found kitchen conditions very bad in some posh hotels and restaurants including the Ritz.

[sanemax]

The woman opposite me has a food stall , which is left in a place where rats roam free at night .

Last week she was drying mean out on the balcony in the sun , someone upstairs threw some dirty water out, which went all over the meat .

   Flys regularly feed on the meat  , sometimes the whole tray of meant falls on the floor .

As she was selling the food , a old guy who lives on the street , pisses and shits without washing his hands , came up and picked up the food , which was there without any wrappings

[watcharacters]

1 minute ago, The manic said:

In the 90s in London the health authorities found kitchen conditions very bad in some posh hotels and restaurants including the Ritz.

 

 

And hopefully those bad kitchen conditions were properly addressed.

[toughlove]

Er no. The more toxic the bad food the quicker the reaction . Really toxic food poisoning can give you instant diarrhea at the table. Mild food poisoning might not kick in till the day after. The most famous victim of food poisoning was the film director and gourmet Michael Winner who died from Oysters bought in a posh restsurant.

Er yes, feel free to use Google, it's your friend [emoji16]

'Have Food Poisoning. Cramps in your stomach and gut, diarrhea, and vomiting may start as early as 1 hour after eating tainted food and as late as 10 days or longer. It depends on what is causing the infection.Apr 2, 2017"

[watcharacters]

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

The woman opposite me has a food stall , which is left in a place where rats roam free at night .

Last week she was drying mean out on the balcony in the sun , someone upstairs threw some dirty water out, which went all over the meat .

   Flys regularly feed on the meat  , sometimes the whole tray of meant falls on the floor .

As she was selling the food , a old guy who lives on the street , pisses and shits without washing his hands , came up and picked up the food , which was there without any wrappings

 

 

 

Sounds tasty, indeed.

 

Stall food.   To eat or not to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

[The manic]

In Thailand one of the main causes of upset stomachs and diarrhea is draught beer. NEVER drink draught beer in Thailand where slops are recycled and their is no cellar man tradition of cleaning the lines. Draught beer is an invitation to get the  'ten bob bits' for sure.

[The manic]

9 minutes ago, sanemax said:

The woman opposite me has a food stall , which is left in a place where rats roam free at night .

Last week she was drying mean out on the balcony in the sun , someone upstairs threw some dirty water out, which went all over the meat .

   Flys regularly feed on the meat  , sometimes the whole tray of meant falls on the floor .

As she was selling the food , a old guy who lives on the street , pisses and shits without washing his hands , came up and picked up the food , which was there without any wrappings

This is very bad and unusual and if her stall causes sickness it will have no customers. I presume  you do not use her stall because of what you have witnessed. But behind the closed door of restaurants the same thing might be happening but you would not know.

[dabhand]

I recall, a good number of years back, watching a Thai lady placing her two shoulder carried trays of corn on the cob down on the ground to serve a customer. Along came a mangy dog who, unknown to her, lifted it's leg and proceeded to give one of the trays a good sprinkling. More than likely though, even if she had spotted the dog doing it's business, there would have been no reaction from her, aside from possibly cursing the mutt.

 

Have not been inclined to buy any food from similar sellers since then..........

[tonray]

4 years between Malaysia and Thailand with stints in Laos and Cambodia...eaten street food at least one meal every day...never had any issues

[LomSak27]

I judge a country on street food. A couple trips to Cambodia back 15 odd years ago and each time minor stomach issues. A friend had the same. I'm sure things have improved and we might have went to the wrong places but .... that is how you form opinons. Heh

[daoyai]

 I do think you can develop an immunity to lower levels of salmonella bacteria,  have lived most of my life in the tropics and seen many "newbies" fall ill from the food, after a few months they can eat like the locals without issue. 

[OneMoreFarang]

Lots of people have mild or not so mild food poisoning when they come on holiday to Thailand. I had the same experience when I was first here long time ago. I guess after a while people get used to some of the more common bacteria.

 

Now I eat regularly street food, most of the time BBQ chicken, beef, etc. and I can't remember the last time I had any issues. But I would never eat sushi or something like that from vendors with an uncooled try in the sun.

 

I think the worst food poisoning I had was a couple of years ago from a tuna salad from a 5 star hotel on Sukhumvit....

[Been there done that]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

The woman opposite me has a food stall , which is left in a place where rats roam free at night .

Last week she was drying mean out on the balcony in the sun , someone upstairs threw some dirty water out, which went all over the meat .

   Flys regularly feed on the meat  , sometimes the whole tray of meant falls on the floor .

As she was selling the food , a old guy who lives on the street , pisses and shits without washing his hands , came up and picked up the food , which was there without any wrappings

See you there then for an eveningmeal.

[The manic]

On 14/01/2018 at 1:11 PM, daoyai said:

 I do think you can develop an immunity to lower levels of salmonella bacteria,  have lived most of my life in the tropics and seen many "newbies" fall ill from the food, after a few months they can eat like the locals without issue. 

individual's stomach flora have to get used to local conditions, food, water and even benign but different bacteria. This process can cause mild stomach upset and is well documented

[The manic]

On 14/01/2018 at 12:11 PM, watcharacters said:

 

 

And hopefully those bad kitchen conditions were properly addressed.

Yes . Hopefully. Institutionlised bad hygiene practices can be addressed but individual's rogue processes are more difficult to control. 

[CLW]

1 medium and 2 light cases in the last 4 years here. I guess in some western country you would have the same average incidents. Eat street food regularly...

[rooinekrsa]

What dont kill,makes you stronger

[side]

On 1/14/2018 at 12:06 PM, The manic said:

Er no. The more toxic the bad food the quicker the reaction . Really toxic food poisoning can give you instant diarrhea at the table. Mild food poisoning might not kick in till the day after. The most famous victim of food poisoning was the film director and gourmet Michael Winner who died from Oysters bought in a posh restsurant.

Micheal Winner did not die from oysters bought in a posh restaurant

"On 1 January 2007, Winner acquired the bacterial infection Vibrio vulnificus from eating an oyster in Barbados"

"In an interview with The Times newspaper in October 2012, Winner said liver specialists had told him that he had between 18 months and two years to live............Winner died at his home, ...., on 21 January 2013"

 

• It is not always the last thing you ate that made you sick — it could be anything you have eaten days, weeks or, in the case of listeria, even months before.
• Diarrhoea is unlikely to start less than four hours after eating of food.
• What you bring up is not necessarily the cause of your illness — it is just what was in your stomach when the symptoms started.
• Diarrhoea and vomiting illnesses can also be caused by contaminated water from swimming pools.
• Food does not have to look or smell bad to be contaminated.
• Vomit does not always contain carrots — it is often lumps of orange-coloured bile.

 

Facts dammit!

[Cylon]

Memo to self: Do NOT eat free food at happy Birthday Party. 

[timendres]

Eat street food every day. In 7 years, sick three times:

1) Undercooked and ate a sausage I had kept in my fridge for too many days

2) Bad meat at Subway (I thought the meat looked odd, but stupidly ate it anyway)

3) Undercooked sausage sampler at BigC

 

For the most part, after a time you get pretty good at recognizing street stalls to be avoided.

It also becomes obvious which types of street food are "safer" in general.

As others have pointed out, closed kitchens present their own risks.

And, of course, some people are much more sensitive to what they eat than others. It is understandable that they might need to avoid anything but the highest hygienic standards, and typically will cook for themselves.

[klauskunkel]

 

On 1/14/2018 at 12:10 PM, sanemax said:

The woman opposite me has a food stall , which is left in a place where rats roam free at night .

Last week she was drying mean out on the balcony in the sun , someone upstairs threw some dirty water out, which went all over the meat .

   Flys regularly feed on the meat  , sometimes the whole tray of meant falls on the floor .

As she was selling the food , a old guy who lives on the street , pisses and shits without washing his hands , came up and picked up the food , which was there without any wrappings

 

"Meat a la Khlong":

found on the foot path along khlong Saen Saep, every now and again one of those canal boats would shoot by, marinating the meat... notice the puddle under the tray.

 

 

[Deli]

As long as my marriage lasted