Holiday from hell: How eating Pad Thai from food court in Thailand left Aussie couple with debilitating illness

[Lacessit]

55 minutes ago, tandor said:

...really!...do you also think Chili kills bacteria?

Chili and garlic are pretty good bactericides. Without spices that kill bacteria, most tropical countries would become uninhabitable. Ideal conditions for propagation in food.

[Barry343]

5 hours ago, Anythingleft? said:

Pretty easy to narrow down the meal that starts an episode of food poisoning.....

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

Not Dientamoeba Fragilis as it can take hours or days.

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

5 hours ago, Bipolar said:

 They could of got it while rimming each other for all we know! lol!

Username checks out.

[Lacessit]

I've been eating pad thai goong in restaurants and food courts all over Thailand for ten years now. It's my fallback dish if I don't like what else is on offer. Never been sick from it. Maybe it's my habit of asking the cook to add chili while they are cooking, and hold the sugar.

I've been violently ill here once from a frozen meal. That's it.

I don't know how the couple managed to isolate their food poisoning to one dish of pad thai, unless they remembered an off-taste. Which begs the question of why they would keep eating it.

[Ajarnbrian]

Very unlucky to fall seriously ill. However, no evidence that it comes from a plate of pad thai. And not considered are all other meals they ate in Thailand without a problem. Indeed many of us eat in Thailand with rarely a problem. Very small risk if something like this happening.

[hugocnx]

5 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Maybe it was airline food that did them in....

Incubation period for D fragilis is a bit unknown so it could very well be.

 

[shaurene]

What a load of rubbish. My Thai wife and I go to BigC in Khon Kaen 2-3 times a week and take the grand kid 3 and a half. We go to the food court while the kid is playing in the play section we get some food. I always get Pad Thai and see it cooking in front of me. I have the prawns. Done in a big flat pan it is fried not sizzling but bloody hot there is nothing goes in it to cause that problem. 7 years been doing this no prob. Their prob was definatally not Pad Thai. They have had something else.

[craigieboy1973]

Just another excess for losing business i cant remember i ate last week let alone 2 years ago and pretty sure eaten a few meals since then 

Edited July 8, 2019 by craigieboy1973

[Catoni]

11 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I've been eating pad thai goong in restaurants and food courts all over Thailand for ten years now. It's my fallback dish if I don't like what else is on offer. Never been sick from it. Maybe it's my habit of asking the cook to add chili while they are cooking, and hold the sugar.

I've been violently ill here once from a frozen meal. That's it.

I don't know how the couple managed to isolate their food poisoning to one dish of pad thai, unless they remembered an off-taste. Which begs the question of why they would keep eating it.

  Sometimes a bad food might taste off... and bad.... . But you can't always go by the taste.  A food may taste perfectly normal and fine and still harbor a bacteria or parasite that will make you deadly ill.

[Speedhump]

5 hours ago, Anythingleft? said:

Pretty easy to narrow down the meal that starts an episode of food poisoning.....

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

It's sarcasm people. See the four little dots?... 

[ttrd]

5 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Maybe it was airline food that did them in....

It may have been their own food as a result of el cut while their were on holiday .. ????

 

Hush, dont tell, if they knew they would probably leave their home and never go back … 

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, Catoni said:

  Sometimes a bad food might taste off... and bad.... . But you can't always go by the taste.  A food may taste perfectly normal and fine and still harbor a bacteria or parasite that will make you deadly ill.

Agree. However, if it tasted perfectly normal and fine, how did the couple identify that one dish as the cause of their illness?

[Mick501]

So many responses.  Is this what they mean by a viral story?

[ubon farang]

Sorry guys i think they are talking crap  They narrowed it down to 1 dish I am aussie and i say to you couple u are bullshitters Gives the thais a break will you

[Lacessit]

9 minutes ago, Mick501 said:

So many responses.  Is this what they mean by a viral story?

Parasites, not viruses. However, your pun is appreciated by the cognoscenti.

[moe666]

Another one of those fake stories similar to the Hill Tribe Girl stole my watch. Been coming and going living in Thailand for 20 years only been stomach sick about 5 times in all those years. Hell even Thais get sick and get parasites no big deal there

[davidst01]

low class trailer trash from perth. how can they possibly put it down to one meal..... lose your online business. excuses...

[bwpage3]

Listen to all the bashers and wannabe doctors on this post?

 

With absolutely no facts what happened what so ever.

 

Any one that think a food court would have any kind of sane sanitary practices has been in Thailand too long.

 

 

 

 

[CanadaSam]

4 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

There's other food that could be way more dangerous.

 

Well, it's not technically a "food" but we eat it anyway!

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

Presumably all of us eat Thai food regularly or at least food prepared by Thais, and yet a few individuals seem to think they alone have any experience doing so.

Like I said, I only eat at places I have eaten before, whether it's in my travels to Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Krabi etc etc, and unless the wife gives the nod to eat at a new place, you can forget it.

 

I won't eat food prepared by Thai's if I can avoid it, i.e. unless they have been trained overseas whether they have worked in Italy or Germany and the like.

 

Thai workers here do not give a rats about hygiene, an example: we selected a place to eat at a shopping plaza, and I said to the Mrs grab a seat, I am going to the toilet, when I finished my leak, I washed my hands as I usually do, then this guy comes out of the cubical and walks off, doesn't wash his hands, as I sat in the restaurant I said to my wife, lets go, we are not ordering here and stood up to leave, she said why as this lady came to take our order, I said that guy who is in the kitchen just came out of the same toilet as me and didn't wash his hands after a crap, the lady heard my comment, whether she understood English or not is another matter, but my wife told her we changed our mind as my husband saw one of the guys in the kitchen in the toilet who left after doing a number 2 and didn't wash his hands and we left. Now I will ask you this, do you think she would give a rats, probably thought to herself, another fussy farang.

 

Coming from a 1st world country with regulations, inspections and heavy fines for those that breach those health regulations if caught, they can also be shut down, there is nothing like that here in Thailand and I have travelled all over the world, never been sick from food in my life, as for here, well, been on the drip a few too many times, so I have learned to be VERY selective, and would be "one of those individuals who seem to have any experience in doing so".  

 

For the record, not a Thai basher, just stating my experiences here.

Edited July 8, 2019 by 4MyEgo

[pizzachang]

Hmnn, " at the 4th try, they finally found a doctor willing to treat them" This sounds like a story, if I ever heard one.

[CanadaSam]

Too many replies to go through, but surprised I didn't see the words of wisdom "don't eat at places which are empty".

 

Just go where there are others eating away happily, and you can be (reasonably) assured you will be well!

[meshborg]

To be fair it could have been any dish they ate in Thailand.Thais are used to eating with zero hygene,farangs are not.You play health lottery every time you eat there.Remember one time asking for soap in one restaurant and after much rummmaging one was presented to be on a plate like a magic bar of gold.Some time afterwards my Thai g/f told me it was the soap for the dog.haha.

[thaisabai]

Strange story indeed. it is not likely to get sick from freshly cooked Phad Thai.

visiting Thailand for many years; the chance of getting sick from food is not greater than getting sick from food in any other country.

admittedly, the sanitary conditions in some places are not always perfect, especially food vendors in the streets, but generally acceptable.

 

thaisabai

[Miami007]

So they were so fatigued that they could not get out of bed - but it took repeated visits to doctors to determine the cause?  And to finally get a treatment?

And no information on how the doctors determined that it was the particular dish...

 

Something does not seem right here.

[Sonhia]

Not so long ago, I had to seek medical advise plus treatment from a Thai hospital which was a waste of time and money! By chance, I met a Doctor from Vietnam. After telling him my signs and symtoms, he advised me that I maybe suffering from the early stages of bowl cancer, so I rushed back to my homeland to undergo tests. Thankfully, I was given the all clear. The prognosis was bacterial infection cause by contaminated food/s comsumed in Thailand.

 

When it comes to hygine, most sellers of food products within Thailand seem to turn a blind eye.  Word of warning, be very careful of iced water! Where did the water orignate from?

 

Paradise... 

[rwill]

This parasite is found in feces they probably went swimming at a beach in Pattaya.

 

[Number 6]

I've had food poisoning on KAL but other than a quick run to the toilet zero problems with food in Thailand. I routinely pick up food in the street as well. I eat at food courts and high school and university canteens.

 

Never had fever or diarrhea lasting more than 12 hours. 30 years.

[owenm]

Tainted food can occur anywhere, even in a nanny country like Oz.

 

I have had a cooked large black spider baked into a burger bun from a local fish n chip shop. The bun was cooked by a large bakery. On another occasion at a different burger shop I had a metal staple inside the beef patty. And on another occasion a small single strand of wire in a pasta dish from an Italian restaurant. All in Melbourne. 

 

Melbourne had a salmonella food scare from eggs recalled in March and June this year that affected 7 different brands from one factory source. And in May a recall of many brands of milk with manufacturing contamination. 

 

It's very rare that you hear of any product recalls in Thailand. Eggs purchased from markets and supermarkets are never refrigerated and yet can be at 35C sold as fresh. Pork and chicken really should be washed in a salt water solution to kill any bugs before going in the fridge or freezer. 

 

E-coli contamination, parasites causing guardia and amoebic dysentery are common place also in Thailand as in western countries. 

 

I've been full-time in Thailand for about 4 years and admit to getting a parasitic bug, along with my GF, every 2-3 months. A course of Tinizadole 500mg, same as Flagyl or Fasigyn usually do the trick over 2-3 days and available OTC. Back in Oz would require bloods and stool tests, seeing the doc twice and then a $40 script.. 

 

When you pickup parasites can take up to a week before the symptoms start. The couple from Perth may have picked up their bug anywhere, on the plane, their 5 star accom or eating something after arriving back in Perth. Anything is possible. And any responsible GP knowing their travel history, should have been more proactive and taken blood and stool tests as their first line of action. Seeing 4 doctors over two years is shear incompetence of the couple involved IMO.. If you are sick your want urgent attention for a diagnosis.. 

 

But blaming Pad Thai from a food court is just creating a media headline and unwarranted blame.. And two years post the event. Not good international press exposure detrimental to Thailand's tourism industry. 

Edited July 8, 2019 by owenm
spell edit

[Number 6]

10 minutes ago, Sonhia said:

Not so long ago, I had to seek medical advise plus treatment from a Thai hospital which was a waste of time and money! By chance, I met a Doctor from Vietnam. After telling him my signs and symtoms, he advised me that I maybe suffering from the early stages of bowl cancer, so I rushed back to my homeland to undergo tests. Thankfully, I was given the all clear. The prognosis was bacterial infection cause by contaminated food/s comsumed in Thailand.

 

When it comes to hygine, most sellers of food products within Thailand seem to turn a blind eye.  Word of warning, be very careful of iced water! Where did the water orignate from?

 

Paradise... 

Absolute tripe. I think these poor people go to great lengths and the hygiene is perfectly fine. I'm never sick.

 

When I eat in the street I always drink the iced water. You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Perfectly fine.

 

Bangkok water out of the tap. No problems.

 

Routinely purchase discounted meat at Max Value 50% off. You know it's been sitting. Milk from Big C. Last day of expiration. Crack it open a week later. Takes a week for wife to finish it. Zero problems.

 

Another falang that can't handle Thailand on its own terms.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Number 6