Is street food healthy in Thailand?

[RolandRat]

I've seen videos showing how unhygienic street food can be in some places, like India. How does Thai street food compare in terms of health and hygiene?

[Everyman]

On 6/24/2024 at 9:30 AM, RolandRat said:

I've seen videos showing how unhygienic street food can be in some places, like India. How does Thai street food compare in terms of health and hygiene?

 

It’s pretty good, but you should eat somewhere that has a lot of customers. They know what’s good, and the high turnover means you are less likely to be eating food that has sat out for awhile. 

[SiamAndy]

Most of the time but I got a bad case of food poisoning a few months ago from Street food where I had to go to the doctor. You have to be extra careful when eating street food.

[Incorrigible1]

Rule # 1 - Do not listen to the people who judge the quality of street food by whether it made them sick

Anything fried is done in oil that has been used so many times that it is cancerous 

fancy eating the lowest quality meat or seafood, neither of which has been properly preserved

food prepared by people who have absolutely no idea what food hygiene means

eating off plates that have been put into a plastic bowl full of soap suds laying in the gutter and then rinsed in an equally filthy bowl

Bonne apetit

 

 

[bendejo]

Generally speaking, and on my own witnessing, the Thai street stalls seem to be more conscious of hygiene than those of other countries in the region.  This might not be saying much, especially if the seller doesn't like farang.

I once saw, in a neighboring country known for its hawker stalls, the person running the stall lifted a street sewer cap to dispose of something.  He put the cap back down and went back to handling the food, no hand cleansing.  Is that scary enough?

 

1 hour ago, Everyman said:

It’s pretty good, but you should eat somewhere that has a lot of customers. They know what’s good, and the high turnover means you are less likely to be eating food that has sat out for awhile. 

That same country is also known for rice meals of assorted items that are served off of a steam table.  Most of the food is set out around 11am.  If you go out for dinner at 7pm, in most cases the stuff on offer has been sitting there all day.  There will be some places that do a brisk business in evenings and will have fresher offerings, it is up to you to figure out which. 

 

[georgegeorgia]

43 minutes ago, Incorrigible1 said:

Rule # 1 - Do not listen to the people who judge the quality of street food by whether it made them sick

Anything fried is done in oil that has been used so many times that it is cancerous 

fancy eating the lowest quality meat or seafood, neither of which has been properly preserved

food prepared by people who have absolutely no idea what food hygiene means

eating off plates that have been put into a plastic bowl full of soap suds laying in the gutter and then rinsed in an equally filthy bowl

Bonne apetit

 

 

Thankyou for saying it how it really is  .

 

[KhunLA]

Simply choose wisely ... worldwide 

... or pop into 7-11, when in TH 

[UWEB]

On 6/24/2024 at 9:30 AM, RolandRat said:

I've seen videos showing how unhygienic street food can be in some places, like India. How does Thai street food compare in terms of health and hygiene?

No, not at all. Full of Salt, Sugar and Glutamate.

[brewsterbudgen]

5 hours ago, UWEB said:

No, not at all. Full of Salt, Sugar and Glutamate.

Yes, Thai food is usually full of unhealthy sugar and sodium.  Best to only eat it occasionally.

[UWEB]

8 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

correct just go to McDonalds for a salad shaker!..or grab a nice healthy cheeseburger or pizza from the western menu!

May be just cooking yourself?

[bob smith]

It's luck of the draw.

 

Some places are clean, others aren't.

 

bob.

[Keep Right]

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2018/06/27/food-poisoning-in-thailand-its-a-real-danger-to-thais-and-a-menace-to-western-foreigners/

 

The thaiexaminer says that food poisoning is a real danger and includes a story of a foreigner that died from filthy, polluted street food.

[Everyman]

1 hour ago, bob smith said:

It's luck of the draw.

 

Some places are clean, others aren't.

 

bob.

 

It’s not random. I eat street food ALOT and if I just picked a random place and hoped for the best I would be sick every week.

 

As I’ve said, you pick a place with many other Thai customers. 

[Robert Paulson]

Must compare thai street food with current diet. It’s all relative. I propose someone eating cheese, milk, bread, pasta, cake etc. all the crap fat foreigners eat, the Thai diet is far superior. What’s in it. Some vegetables. Some rice or noodles. Some herbs. Most of it is not processed. The oils aren’t great though. 

[Bangkok Black]

About a month ago, I was out with the Mrs. in Bangkok on one of our scooters, and the Mrs said she wanted some noodles. So we stopped, and she had a bowl. I wasn't hungry, so I was sitting. One of the two women at the stall was clearing away the tables as they were closing soon. 

She was wiping the tables and chairs with a cloth which, shall we say, didn't look very new.

Then used the same cloth to dry the cutlery the other woman had just washed. 

 

The other day in town (Prachin Buri), I was sitting in the local big c food court at lunch time.

Outside, there's a small stall selling those meatballs on  sticks with the dipping sauce.

From where I was seated I could see the stall from the rear. A young man and woman are working the stall.

I just happened to look out the window and saw the young man sneeze near the uncooked meatballs.

He then had a "sneezing fit" and sneezed a few times .H e wiped his nose with his hand, then carried on cooking and serving.

I then told my Mrs and told her never to eat from that stall.

 

He could have used the toilets in big c to clean his hands butno, just carried on.

 

[3NUMBAS]

That’s why they hav cutlery sterilisers in eateries

[save the frogs]

21 hours ago, Bangkok Black said:

I then told my Mrs and told her never to eat from that stall.

 

He could have used the toilets in big c to clean his hands butno, just carried on.

yes but anyone preparing food anywehere can not clean their hands.

[ChaiyaTH]

Well if you want to know with Thai food in general: Too much pesticides, too much MSG, too much burned on grilled food, bad air from the grilling / frying, re-using cheap and not exactly the most healthy cooking oils. This is even worse in cambodia and laos (up to 3x as much as the max limits in EU).

 

Worrying about like hygiene itself is the least of worries, if talking about this you should be more worried about the dirty ice they often use that gives people <deleted>ters a few times a week. Or by not cleaning their dinnerware properly while rats dance on it each night.

[ChaiyaTH]

26 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

yes but anyone preparing food anywehere can not clean their hands.

Yeah it's that hard to have some clean water on the spot as well as some sanitizing alcohol... Real excuse. Or using gloves.

[save the frogs]

12 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Yeah it's that hard to have some clean water on the spot as well as some sanitizing alcohol... Real excuse. Or using gloves.

people are lazy and dont care?

i spotted a great street food option.

it's scallops on the grill still in the shell. so they only touch the shells with their hands and no deep frying in unhealthy oils. 

 

[KhunLA]

Healthy ... simply choose wisely.  Cooked fresh and hot in front of you, if not take away.

 

Also ... What is street food ?  To me, that's a push cart on the street or walkway, or same at a night market.  Not a brick & mortar building with running water, as that's simply a restaurant.  Ma/pa, family owned small shophouse...still a restaurant.   If a permanent 'stall' at a market, also having running water, then that's a restaurant also.

 

Hygiene, so far, so good, and been ill 2X in TH, from food, and from nice, popular restaurants.  Strangely, the same amount of time, ~25 yr span, ill from food in USA, also 2X, and from restaurants. 

[jas007]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Healthy ... simply choose wisely.  Cooked fresh and hot in front of you, if not take away.

 

Also ... What is street food ?  To me, that's a push cart on the street or walkway, or same at a night market.  Not a brick & mortar building with running water, as that's simply a restaurant.  Ma/pa, family owned small shophouse...still a restaurant.   If a permanent 'stall' at a market, also having running water, then that's a restaurant also.

 

Hygiene, so far, so good, and been ill 2X in TH, from food, and from nice, popular restaurants.  Strangely, the same amount of time, ~25 yr span, ill from food in USA, also 2X, and from restaurants. 

For what it's worth, every single time I've gotten food poisoning in Thailand, it hasn't been from street food, it's been from a restaurant. And even that hasn't happened too many times.