Any tips on how to not get sick in Thailand

[Suradit69]

19 hours ago, stud858 said:

Poor hygiene in most places.

I cook myself and buy meat early in the day at food land or big c.

Fresh veg.

Be careful what drinks your accepting.

Be wary of cutlery and glasses.

Use alcohol wipes.

If the place your eating at looks clean then risk it. Otherwise..walk away .

Stay away from seafood at restaurants.

 

And remember to put on your tinfoil hat before going out in the sun.

 

Seriously, in 20 years I've had no more than a couple of gastrointestinal upsets and nothing else remotely related to hygiene of restaurants, food carts, eating utensils.  If you're that worried (and frequently accept drinks from unreliable strangers), maybe it's time to find some place to stay where you can enjoy life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chicowoodduck]

Just remember three things:

 

1.  Wash your hands after using the bathroom (WC)???

 

2. Never sit on the floor....that is why you see most just squat...??

 

3. Do not lick your fingers while eating.....in Southeast Asia that is like eating like a cat...?

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, Catoni said:

 

I’m sure you’re much smarter than doctors and scientists and researchers. Please share your wisdom with us. Can I get your autograph? 

common sense mate. Why seven years?  What is so special about that length of time?  What about babies against adults?  My daughter moved from LOS to UK at the age of 3.  Are you telling me that it took her until age 10 before she was acclimatised?  How about moving from the UK to the US?  Does that take 7 years as well?  As I say, sounds like BS.  Oh and  Wikky says it takes about 2 weeks, if you believe that.  Makes more sense to me. 

[TSF]

I've had a few friends over the years who had to be super careful and could easily get upset by what they ate or drank in Thailand (and elsewhere in SEA) I must be fortunate and have cast iron guts, I drink beer with ice in, eat somtum from roadside stalls, eat seafood wherever and whenever, last time I got crook for eating something was about 2O years ago and that was from a can of Campbell's soup.

[spidermike007]

Thailand is relatively clean. As long as you avoid tap water, use insect repellent when you are near alot of mosquitos, and use protection with the local talent, you should be fine. Now, Mexico or India are a whole different story. In India if you do not eat in five star hotels, and eat anything on the street, you will probably get sick. Most get sick in Mexico. But Thailand? Mild. Easy. 

[pmarlowe]

Its an interesting topic to me because it seems whenever i have visitors, especially a group of visitors to Bangkok, at least one of them comes down with some kind of food poisoning, salmonella being the worst, or more rarely some kind of flu, cold or URI. That said, I think the standard travel immunizations (hep b especially) and keeping your fingers crossed are smart things to do. But it too careful takes a lot of the fun out of living in Asia. Never had a problem with Bangkok tap water or street food in 15 years. 

[Bonobojt]

I am talking mainly about gut issues like food poisoning, germs, bugs, bacterial, parasite etc...as I don’t have the strongest gut at the moment.

 

i just want to play it smart this time, think ahead etc ..

 

i thought Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother was good for the gut ? It kills germs, it’s alkaline, maybe it’s overhyped 

 

things like turmeric and green tea are very well known to be healthy for your body and immune system.

 

anyway I guess it’s out of my control, it’s all down to the restaurants and chefs hygiene, and how lucky or unlucky you are ..

 

[Cranky]

Go cryogenically freeze yourself

[Fairynuff]

4 hours ago, mommysboy said:

Stay cool, or as cool as possible.  Don't overstretch yourself.  Good sleep.  Light exercise at a clean gym.  Avoid alcohol (and smoking). Don't go nutty with your diet- a Big Mac won't give you food poisoning.  For extra fibre: eat bananas and there are some whole grain cereals on sale even in 7/11.

A Big Mac won’t give you food poisoning??????

[buick]

3 hours ago, Catoni said:

According to research, if you permanently move to another part of the world, it takes your body about seven years to adjust to the local “bugs” (bacteria etc.) in the local food and water. 

this was my experience.  i've been in thailand approx 8 months a year for 12 years.  i got sick 2 or 3 times a year for the first 9 years.  none in the last 3.  when i lived in my home country, i was rarely sick (maybe once every five years).  my parents have visited me in asia, thailand, hong kong and vietnam, they both got sick towards the end of all 3 of their trips.  they are never sick at home.  i don't think my father ever took a sick day during his working career and my mother is one of the healthiest people on earth (when she stays in her home country !!!). 

[Fairynuff]

From the first day I came to Thailand I’ve had ice in my drinks eaten “local”food and occasionally drunk a little tap water. Only lack of knowledge made me take longer to eat street food. Never had an issue.

went back home a few years back and spent 3 days n bed after an egg mayonnaise sandwich from a well known coffee chain.

[Bogbrush]

I don’t know if it aids keeping lurgi at bay - although it’s all the craze in health mags - but we each have for breakfast: 2 cloves of garlic, a glass of turmeric and ginger in water, a glass of coconut water, and a bowl of mango/pawpaw with cinnamon, linseed and unsweetened plain yoghurt.

 

Yes, I know - yum yum, but it’s not too bad if swallowed quickly, as the actress said..

 

I also used to take a multi vitamin, but since being diagnosed with fatty liver I’ve had to move to only Vit B & C : A is apparently off limits.

[Nice Boyd]

Wash hands , don’t touch rails, elevator buttons, escalator railings , doorknobs, carry disinfectant wipes, eat at restaurants with Hot Water, I never get sick, I fly 100,000 miles a month, btw

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Catoni said:

My first trip to Thailand, four months in Chiang Mai and to tribal villages northwest of Chiang Dao, I made sure all my regular and travel vaccinations were up to date. AND I took two doses of DUKORAL oral cholera and e.coli traveler’s diarrhea vaccine. I pretty well lived on street food, including salads, lots of drinks with ice. Spent days with my Thai friends in mountain villages that tourists never see. I was the only westerner in those villages at the time and ate and slept in village homes and half the time had no idea what I was eating, but I did see the pig slaughtered for a big dinner. 

I NEVER got sick.

    Same with two months in Siem Reap and surrounding villages last year, I did the two doses of DUKORAL before arriving in Cambodia. Again lived on street food or at tiny restaurants that local Cambodians eat at, and meals with a poverty stricken family in a village. NEVER got sick. 

     Some other travelers I met had tried the vinegar and other natural immunity things, and they spent days sicker than a dog. One woman ended up getting help at a hospital. Vomiting and bad diarrhea, losing it out both ends. She felt horrible, and lost several days due to sickness. Oh well. They said they don’t trust vaccines. 

     If you can’t get DUKORAL in your country, (I get it in Canada) , then in Bangkok get Dukoral at the Travel medical clinic at the tropical disease section of Mahidol University in Bangkok

https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/

Two big trips to Southeast Asia, even in isolated villages, NEVER SICK. I’m a 66 year old Canadian. Yes, I believe in vaccines, including DUKORAL oral vaccine. 

Google Dukoral for more information. I’m very happy with it. 

Don’t drink the tap water. And don’t brush your teeth with tap water. It’s okay to shower with it. I buy bottled water or use the water machines in Thailand for drinking and brushing teeth. Same in Cambodia, but I didn’t see water dispensing machines in Siem Reap. 

I am somewhat wary of preventative medications.

I was taking doxycycline long-term as an anti-malarial. I had been in remission from bladder cancer for  many years after BCG treatment.  In 2015, after taking doxycycline for several years, my bladder cancer recurred.

When I looked up doxycycline on the medical sites, they all stated doxycycline weakens the immune system. I stopped taking it and said to hell with the malaria risk. The bladder cancer has not recurred.

We do tend to over-medicate ourselves. I've come to the conclusion it's preferable, if possible, to adjust one's diet and lifestyle so the medication is no longer required.

[straylight]

Don't eat street food.

[Fairynuff]

4 minutes ago, straylight said:

Don't eat street food.

Why not? I eat it regularly and not posting from “the other side”

[Pdavies99]

In many cases, it really is lack of fluids!!

[mikosan]

4 hours ago, dotpoom said:

Myself and many aquaintances do not have this problem. We eat at stalls etc., and do not take any particular precautions. 

  It appears it is a medical situation you may have and making enquiries with a doctor might be a good idea.

  Possibly an allergy of some description. As the say..."ask the experts"... Go see the doc.

 

I couldn't agree with you more.  I've lived her over 6 years, I eat at local Thai restaurants, food stalls, street vendors anywhere really and I rarely get a problem and if I do it's a five minute thing.  In fact I'd go so far as to say I've had more problems after eating in supposedly clean western restaurants.  I do not drink the tap water, but anything else goes.  I reckon the sooner you build up the local bugs in your stomach the better and avoid antibiotics which kill them! 

[mommysboy]

1 hour ago, Fairynuff said:

A Big Mac won’t give you food poisoning??????

I've never had food poisoning from one! Anybody?

[Cranky]

If you enjoy dining at the Y don't forget to gargle with mouthwash. Including DUKORAL oral vaccine, yum.

[mommysboy]

2 hours ago, Bonobojt said:

I am talking mainly about gut issues like food poisoning, germs, bugs, bacterial, parasite etc...as I don’t have the strongest gut at the moment.

 

i just want to play it smart this time, think ahead etc ..

 

i thought Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother was good for the gut ? It kills germs, it’s alkaline, maybe it’s overhyped 

 

things like turmeric and green tea are very well known to be healthy for your body and immune system.

 

anyway I guess it’s out of my control, it’s all down to the restaurants and chefs hygiene, and how lucky or unlucky you are ..

 

No, it's not completely out of your control, though not within it either.  You can avoid bacterial infection by eating well cooked food, basic hygiene steps, etc. And you can keep in good shape.  

 

All those products you mention may have small benefits, but not much.  

 

If you have IBS or a sensitive gut, then really you are best sticking to bland food, and the tried and tested.  I'd also avoid too much fibre.  There is a strong connection between anxiety and IBS.  Bio yoghurt could help.

 

I another thread you mentioned problems with high fibre foods. You may be eating too much of them.  Some people don't need  much fibre.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, Catoni said:

According to research, if you permanently move to another part of the world, it takes your body about seven years to adjust to the local “bugs” (bacteria etc.) in the local food and water. 

Yep sounds like B. S. to me as well. And I base my opinion on the fact that, on average I moved from country to country around about every six to seven years during my working life.

 

I very rarely get sick and can nearly always fight off minor problems without any medical intervention.

 

Take gentle exercise regularly, preferably daily. A sensible diet without too much meat and carbs, but plenty of fruit and veggies. Restrict alcohol and no smoking of course.

 

Have a positive attitude and ensure you sleep well.

 

72 years old and still fit and well.

 

 

 

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

A Big Mac won’t give you food poisoning??????

No, just make you fat and sick

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Yep sounds like B. S. to me as well. And I base my opinion on the fact that, on average I moved from country to country around about every six to seven years during my working life.

 

I very rarely get sick and can nearly always fight off minor problems without any medical intervention.

 

Take gentle exercise regularly, preferably daily. A sensible diet without too much meat and carbs, but plenty of fruit and veggies. Restrict alcohol and no smoking of course.

 

Have a positive attitude and ensure you sleep well.

 

72 years old and still fit and well.

 

 

 

sounds good to me.  I was in the airline industry for many years, flying from continent to continent for over 20 years.  I never got sick from local produce/water/bugs/mossies/, just the odd cold and that was when I was at home base,  in UK or Taiwan. 

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

I've never had food poisoning from one! Anybody?

I’ve never had food poisoning from one either but that’s because I never eat them

[Bonobojt]

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

No, it's not completely out of your control, though not within it either.  You can avoid bacterial infection by eating well cooked food, basic hygiene steps, etc. And you can keep in good shape.  

 

All those products you mention may have small benefits, but not much.  

 

If you have IBS or a sensitive gut, then really you are best sticking to bland food, and the tried and tested.  I'd also avoid too much fibre.  There is a strong connection between anxiety and IBS.  Bio yoghurt could help.

 

I another thread you mentioned problems with high fibre foods. You may be eating too much of them.  Some people don't need  much fibre.

Yeah my diet in Thailand is low in fibre, Basically rice eggs meat and some fruit and veg. Hopefully My stomach will fill better in Thailand than it does now. 

 

 

[siamcrut]

1. wash your hands before eating and never be the first guest in a local thai restaurant.
2. use condoms
3. Buy a juicer:
During the week do 2 apple, 2 big carrots and a big chunk of fresh ginger in the morning.
Every 2nd day use pineapple instead of the apple, the carrot and ginger stays.
On weekends have a few big chang beer instead the juice!

[attrayant]

Check out Grapefruit Seed Extract.  You just put some in your water daily.  I’ve had family friends come out here for a few weeks, a family with three boys and they used it the entire time, didn’t have any gut issues.

I’ve been carrying this specially painted rock in my pocket and have never had any guy issues.

[attrayant]

don’t touch rails

Meaning handrails? That’s a good way to get a broke leg on the stairs.

Handrails are safety devices. HOLD ON TO THEM. Just accept the fact that being public means your hands are going to get dirty. Grubby hands don’t make you sick. Using your grubby hands to rub your eyes or pick your teeth might.

[Bonobojt]

If anyone knows any supplements that have antibacterial properties that you can buy in Thailand easily can you let me know 

 

things like Grapefruit Seed Extract etc ...