Hotel refuses to accept responsibility after man's wife with prawn allergy nearly dies from buffet

[webfact]

Image: Sanook

 

A husband went on Facebook to explain what happened when he went with his wife to eat at a hotel buffet in Thong Lo, Bangkok.

 

The wife was interested in the salad and inquired of the waiter about its contents because there was no sign.

 

She was assured that it was just vegetables and fruit. Pressed on this because she has a prawn allergy the staffer confirmed it was safe for her to eat, he claimed.

 

However, she soon bit into a whole prawn, half of which she spat out immediately, half of which went down.

 

She immediately went into shock and was given sugar and an ambulance was called. When they arrived she was unconscious and needed adrenaline shots. 

 

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She later recovered in hospital but the husband said they had received no help or apology from the hotel bar a cursory inquiry on Line.

 

Her health insurance had to be used for the bill at the hospital after the incident at the end of last month.

 

The hotel refused to have their insurance pay saying there was no legal requirement to display ingredients at a buffet and it was the customer's responsibility.

 

They further claimed that the waiter was in the process of finding out what was exactly in the dish.

 

The husband said that if the waiter had just said they didn't know or were not sure his wife would never have touched it.

 

The area of the buffet in which the conversation occurred was not covered by CCTV and the staffer had "left their job" reported Sanook. 

 

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[happy me]

They dont know what prawns look like????

[Cabradelmar]

If you are eating at a salad buffet with food allergies you need to have your head examined

[kingkenny]

I'm allergic to all shellfish, including  squid and octopus, thankfully mine just results in vomiting a few minutes after eating so not deadly, even then I'm so careful what I eat and unless I am 100% sure I won't eat it. Idvice from a waiter that's probably on a daily contract or filling in is not the person I would accept advice from as to ingredients. 

[bbko]

She was given sugar?? ????

 

I know in the states, those with severe allergies carry a "Epipen", it's a self injected shot of epinephrine used in life saving emergencies just like the lady had, are they not available in Thailand?

[warrima]

Ye really cant fix stupid. Trusting a waiter who would say anything just to move ye on. Then gulfing it down without confirming. Darwinism right there. 

[ikke1959]

Strange story... If I eat I put it on my plate and I will see what's in  the food. Then when I eat I look on my spoon and I see what is on it..A whole shrimp can not be looked over I think. Not when i put salad on my plate, nor on my spoon....

[OneMoreFarang]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

she soon bit into a whole prawn,

How did that happen?

Did she close her eyes and just shovel everything in her mouth?

How is it possible not to see a whole prawn?

 

If there would be some shredded prawn in the sauce which she couldn't see then nobody can expect a person to see that. But not in this case.

That reminds me of the bags of nuts in supermarkets with information on it telling us: This contains nuts. ...

 

[Liverpool Lou]

54 minutes ago, happy me said:

They dont know what prawns look like????

She, the one doing the eating,  didn't know what a prawn looks like?

[DezLez]

20 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She, the one doing the eating,  didn't know what a prawn looks like?

It seems she was acting like a prawn!

[RandiRona]

Where is this place, I want to take my wife there as well!!!

[spidermike007]

It sounds like it might have been one of those funky Thai salads with dried prawn in it, and made with a sauce or dressing with dried prawns. Could have also been an oyster or fish sauce. Anyone with an allergy to seafood, having been born here in Thailand should know better than to eat something like this. 

[richard_smith237]

My Wife doesn’t eat Beef.....   It happens an incredible amount of times that beef is in a product and staff have no idea. 

 

IF someone has a life threatening allergy they’d have to be a fool to believe the word of a complete stranger, they’d have to be a bigger fool to believe the word of an under-paid, half-educated hotel waiter, they’d have to be an even bigger fool to risk eating out at a buffet of all things... and then to top it off, they’d have to be an even bigger fool to put that very item (whole) they are allergic to into their mouth without being cautious. 

 

 

This woman with the allergy has no sensible grounds to blame someone else for her own stupidity and recklessness. 

 

That said, the hotel really should be training its staff properly, while they can’t be held responsible for the threat to this ladies health, they should know what is in the dishes and if they don’t find out instead of ‘guessing’ (which is what happens here because of the stupid loss of face thing). 

 

IF I didn’t like prawns and asked if there was prawn in the salad I think I’d notice if I picked up a whole one. IF the staff had told me there were none, I’d want to find out why they either lied or gave me an answer when they didn’t know. 

 

 

 

 

[Stocky]

40 minutes ago, RandiRona said:

A long time ago, Queen Elizabeth visited her colony , she saw people starving, asked her minister, Why are they hungry? They dont have any bread to eat my Queen!! replied minister

Why they dont eat the cake or Pastry if they dont have bread?? Queen retorted!

 

Moral of the story: TIT

I think you're confused with Marie Antoinette.

 

I have a nut allergy so always proceed with extreme caution, I also always have antihistamine tablets with me. Like everyone else I fail to understand how you can miss seeing a whole prawn in your salad.

[mtls2005]

Yet another reason we need those zero dollar, buffet-maniac chinese tourists.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMVjskBB4w0

 

 

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How did that happen?

Did she close her eyes and just shovel everything in her mouth?

How is it possible not to see a whole prawn?

 

If there would be some shredded prawn in the sauce which she couldn't see then nobody can expect a person to see that. But not in this case.

That reminds me of the bags of nuts in supermarkets with information on it telling us: This contains nuts. ...

 

Or medications which say "do not take if you are allergic to any of it's ingredients"   555

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, happy me said:

They dont know what prawns look like????

Can be hard to spot in a salad.

 

I'm not allergic to them but (1) I'm a vegetarian and (2) on top of that hate the taste. So I certainly try not to eat them but I have been caught unawares by them several times. Especially those tiny dried ones.

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Can be hard to spot in a salad.

 

I'm not allergic to them but (1) I'm a vegetarian and (2) on top of that hate the taste. So I certainly try not to eat them but I have been caught unawares by them several times. Especially those tiny dried ones.

But......  IF you had a life threatening allergy, would you:

 

a) Eat at a buffet at all ?

b) take significantly greater caution ?

c) believe the waiting staff and blindly dive in ?

d) carry an epi-pen around with you at all times ?

 

 

[Rimmer]

A couple of troll posts have been removed

[klauskunkel]

I'm a trusting person. I trust that people are in general helpful and true. However, I know that people are also stupid, so if someone hands me a gun saying it's not loaded, I check for myself anyway (that's an analogy, not related to Alec Baldwin, maybe).

[globalspark]

In some cases the fact that the salad was mixed with seafood is enough to cause  a re action.More to the point that is Thailand never accept any responsibility for stuff ups.

I been to the Land of smiles  more times that I care to remember and it is always the same story when things do not go right for the client.

I have no idea why they have this attitude  but does not seem to matter  what the issue is it is never their fault.

 Not long ago while in Pattaya I gave  a cleaning lady 100 Baht tip  and a day later I was checking out and she accused me of taking a  mineral water  from the mini bar.I was about to give her another 100 baht  but she was carrying on like a pork chop. 

 I refused to pay as I never use any mini bar and will never stay that that hotel again.

[jak2002003]

This story is a bit fishy. 

[IamNoone88]

You can't sit down for a meal in London without being ruthlessly cross examined on food allergies by the waiters. Its rather invasive and very CYA. 

[Gillyflower]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She, the one doing the eating,  didn't know what a prawn looks like?

And she's allergic to them????

[vandeventer]

1 hour ago, Stocky said:

I think you're confused with Marie Antoinette.

 

I have a nut allergy so always proceed with extreme caution, I also always have antihistamine tablets with me. Like everyone else I fail to understand how you can miss seeing a whole prawn in your salad.

There wasn't a prawn in her salad just the juice of a prawn. It looks like I am the only one who feels sorry for the lady? After living here for many years I learned not to trust what people say when eating out. One big lie they often tell is there is no MSG in your food, it's only for Thai people??? They put it in everything.

[Gillyflower]

To a certain extent I'm rather with the hotel.

[Liverpool Lou]

22 hours ago, vandeventer said:

There wasn't a prawn in her salad just the juice of a prawn. 

Did you read the article?...

"However, she soon bit into a whole prawn, half of which she spat out immediately, half of which went down".

[vandeventer]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Did you read the article?...

"However, she soon bit into a whole prawn, half of which she spat out immediately, half of which went down".

Sorry, missed that bit.

[vinci]

they will put all the blame on the cook and waiter and call it a day 

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, kingkenny said:

Idvice from a waiter that's probably on a daily contract or filling in is not the person I would accept advice from as to ingredients. 

In a country where it can be considered impolite to say 'no' to a customer... 

 

She had to know she was taking a chance eating at a buffet...