Thailand With Fish&shellfish Allergy?

[adorablemisfit]

My boyfriend and I are considering a trip to Thailand on holiday next year. We have many friends who have been and say it is wonderful. I would very much like to go, but I'm concerned for my boyfriend. He has a severe and unusual form of allergy to fish, shellfish in particular. Conventional allergy medication doesn't help him and should he accidentally ingest fish or shellfish, he will need specialist hospital care or he could die. He doesn't personally see this as a problem, but knowing how much fish sauce and shrimp paste goes into Thai food, I am very worried, to the point where I'm considering suggesting we go somewhere else instead. So I was hoping that someone here might be able to either allay my fears and tell me how to cope with such an allergy in Thailand - or confirm that it would be impossible and we'd be better of going to a different country. Do Thai people understand if you tell them you can't eat fish? I'm wondering as my vegetarian friends say they were frequently given fish despite explaining (using a Thai phrase book) that they were vegetarian - not a great disaster for them, but could mean death for my boyfriend! What is Thai healthcare like? If the worst should happen, would they be competent to care for him? Any advice would be most appreciated!

[John K]

I too have such an allergy, however not as severe. I just get red blotches all over my skin from shellfish. People can tell when I had fish for dinner the day before. Depending on where you go you should be able to find enough international foods that do not use fish. If you plan a visit to rural Thailand then you may find it more difficult to find non Thai foods. Within walking distance from where I live there are the usual McDonalds, Burger King, steak restaurants, pizza, KFC and so on. There is also a good variety of family owned international restaurants in the more residential areas of Bangkok.

[Thumchok]

I am no expert on the subject , but had a friend who had the same sort of allergy . Whithin minutes his throat had swollen up so much as to restrict his breathing . Mainly shellfish . He told me that it was the Iodine in the shellfish that caused the reaction . However he loved shellfish , and discovered that the freshwater Yabbi/Crawfish had no Iodine and could eat them . I would assume it would be that same for the giant freshwater shrimp that is sold in most restaurants in Thailand .

On the other hand , Chicken is available everywhere .

Should such a problem arise I find the doctors here to be quite fine , but had a problem when my stepfather visited and took a tumble . He was taken to the hospital in Kalasin and was given tablets that he was allergic to . My mother insists that she informed them that he was allergic to magnesium , but a friend who went with them to interpret wasn't so sure .

I think it was just an unlucky mishap , and have to say that the hospital in Kalasin were very prompt in taking care of his cuts and as usual just went a bit overboard with the medication afterwards . Why not see a GP back home and bring medication with you in case such an emergency takes place ?

Shame to put off a visit to the orient over a minor medical condition .

Cheers ,

Jim .

My boyfriend and I are considering a trip to Thailand on holiday next year. We have many friends who have been and say it is wonderful. I would very much like to go, but I'm concerned for my boyfriend. He has a severe and unusual form of allergy to fish, shellfish in particular. Conventional allergy medication doesn't help him and should he accidentally ingest fish or shellfish, he will need specialist hospital care or he could die. He doesn't personally see this as a problem, but knowing how much fish sauce and shrimp paste goes into Thai food, I am very worried, to the point where I'm considering suggesting we go somewhere else instead. So I was hoping that someone here might be able to either allay my fears and tell me how to cope with such an allergy in Thailand - or confirm that it would be impossible and we'd be better of going to a different country. Do Thai people understand if you tell them you can't eat fish? I'm wondering as my vegetarian friends say they were frequently given fish despite explaining (using a Thai phrase book) that they were vegetarian - not a great disaster for them, but could mean death for my boyfriend! What is Thai healthcare like? If the worst should happen, would they be competent to care for him? Any advice would be most appreciated!

[bina]

my father is allergic to shellfish, and needs jsut enough from touch (like a fork that touched a shrimp and then was put on his chicken)...so, he avoids thailand. when he will visit my house, he will get the plastic untensils and kibbutz dining room food and mother and us , we get food cooked at home (i odnt keep kosher and anon uses lots of thai fishy things).

so:

everywhere u go people cook with shellfish or juice that has it in it... and people use serving spoons and pans that are washed by hand (so the shellfish juices are still there)...

one idea : go to kosher restaraunts as no shellfish, or shellfish products (and no pork also) are allowed and the ingredients all have been made with strict kosher rules ... that is what my father does when in areas with shellfish habits. there are a few restaraunts in bangkok and chiang mai *check the HABAD HOUSE* SITE they can help.

macdonalds et al cater to a thai crowd as well as farang and do use shellfish (pizza hut has shrimp or crab meat or something on some pizzas)...

carry an epipen and know how to use it...

buy your own food (life sucks when u have food allergies but this helps)... where u can read the ingredients.

stick to places that only serve one kind of food like chicken and check out the bottles and curries (have shellfish in them)

just be glad its not latex or peanut allergies as these are also airborne. usually shellfish is just from touch (hand to mouth). carry antihistamine to take also (chlortriemetone or benadryl is what dad uses before he even gets the epipen, he has about 15 minutes to medicate before needing to get to hospital.) btw, in seattle, in a gourmet restaraunt, he ordered a special dish wich the chef said didnt contain any shellfish (the allergy was pointd out to the chef). after leaving the hostpital due to anaphlactic shock, it turns out a secret ingredient had shrimp juice in it. nice law suit.

frankly, in rural areas we ate less shellfish, and noticed less bottles and cans of things (too expensive) so may be safer (isaan, grilled meats, etc.) and put your on portions of food on plates rather then frm main dish (avoids fingers with shrimp sauces etc from touching the rice).

dad also cannot eat calamari (yes its the iodine but some people are so allergic that the ppm needed is very very small i.e. a few molecules are enough to cause an attack. and they get worse not better. he also couldnt kiss mom after she ate shellfish!!. )

good luck

bina

Edited May 16, 2007 by bina

[Sheryl]

It is difficult, since in addition to actual fish/shellfish, fish sauce (used in place of salt) goes into virtually everything. Also need to watch out for tiny dried shrimp which the Thais put into a lot of dishes even when told to make it vegetarian (especially: fried rice, som tam (papaya salad) and pad thai (fried noodles).

Trying to explain only no fish/sheelfish will not work well, I know because I have always hated all fish and before becoming a total vegetarian used to try...very hard for Thais to comprehend. It was actually easier being vegetarian, this at least they do understand, although still have to watch out for those tiny dried shrimp (I let the fish sauce go, but then I'm not allergic).

Given the severity of his allergy, I'd suggest sticking to western food, which is readily available in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the beach areas. I would suggest he eat Thai food only if he can actually watch its preparation to ensure no fish sauce or small shrimp etc go into it, and also that the pan is washed out from the last dish first. Of course fruit and Thai desserts will be fine, also fried chicken should be OK.

And do carry an epipen.

[danboksida1]

My boyfriend and I are considering a trip to Thailand on holiday next year. We have many friends who have been and say it is wonderful. I would very much like to go, but I'm concerned for my boyfriend. He has a severe and unusual form of allergy to fish, shellfish in particular. Conventional allergy medication doesn't help him and should he accidentally ingest fish or shellfish, he will need specialist hospital care or he could die. He doesn't personally see this as a problem, but knowing how much fish sauce and shrimp paste goes into Thai food, I am very worried, to the point where I'm considering suggesting we go somewhere else instead. So I was hoping that someone here might be able to either allay my fears and tell me how to cope with such an allergy in Thailand - or confirm that it would be impossible and we'd be better of going to a different country. Do Thai people understand if you tell them you can't eat fish? I'm wondering as my vegetarian friends say they were frequently given fish despite explaining (using a Thai phrase book) that they were vegetarian - not a great disaster for them, but could mean death for my boyfriend! What is Thai healthcare like? If the worst should happen, would they be competent to care for him? Any advice would be most appreciated!

Are you sure fish sauce poses a problem ?

My wife also has an allergy for prawns but she uses fish sauce every day without a problem.

Medical fascillities are very good in Thailand especially in tourist areas.

Regards

Boksida

[donna]

i used to work as a tour leader and whenever any of my clients had any allergies, i used to get the boys in reception of our starting point hotel to write down the dietary restrictions in thai for me. i would then give the client a copy of this so that they could show the restaurant staff on the way around. we never had an incident.

if you have any thai restaurants at home that you frequent, why not go in and ask the thai staff to do this for you? you can also ask on the thai language section of this forum where i am sure the members would be more than happy to help you.

you can eat totally vegetarian here in thailand if you wish. a friend of mine does not touch fish sauce, oyster sauce or anything like that. she has never had any problem. remember, we DO have the vegetarian festival here once a year where you can get so much true veggie food which looks and tastes just like meat (sort of defeats the purpose in my opinion but each to their own).

[Thanyaburi Mac]

My boyfriend and I are considering a trip to Thailand on holiday next year. We have many friends who have been and say it is wonderful. I would very much like to go, but I'm concerned for my boyfriend. He has a severe and unusual form of allergy to fish, shellfish in particular. Conventional allergy medication doesn't help him and should he accidentally ingest fish or shellfish, he will need specialist hospital care or he could die. He doesn't personally see this as a problem, but knowing how much fish sauce and shrimp paste goes into Thai food, I am very worried, to the point where I'm considering suggesting we go somewhere else instead. So I was hoping that someone here might be able to either allay my fears and tell me how to cope with such an allergy in Thailand - or confirm that it would be impossible and we'd be better of going to a different country. Do Thai people understand if you tell them you can't eat fish? I'm wondering as my vegetarian friends say they were frequently given fish despite explaining (using a Thai phrase book) that they were vegetarian - not a great disaster for them, but could mean death for my boyfriend! What is Thai healthcare like? If the worst should happen, would they be competent to care for him? Any advice would be most appreciated!

Some friends of my sister in Oregon had a food allergy problem a few months back, this prior to their visit here.  I got a list of what they couldn't eat, the wife translated into Thai, printed it out, scanned, and emailed back to the U.S.  They could print it on a 3x5 card (actually had several) and show it/them to the restaurant staffs as they travelled around Thailand.

They got back to the U.S. OK so guess it worked.

Want something similar?  Do a list and will see what can be done.

Mac