Are Bangkok Street Vendors Safe?

[HalfSquat]

Hello,

I've been reading up on my Thailand and Bangkok guide books and they all speak highly of the street food stalls that serve up dishes for a few quid.

I'm really excited to try the food from them as I love the Thai food that is served here in England.

But I've been reading a few posts here and now I'm starting to get put off what with the high fat content, fake chicken and poor hygiene.

So what do the locals say? Would you eat from them or are they like the street hot dog vendors we get here on Friday and Saturday nights selling dog meat sausages to unsuspecting drunks?

In the books it says the fresh meat and veg is piled up and cooked before your eyes to order - this sounds quite healthy to me. Is it really like this? How can I spot fake chicken? Which stalls or areas should I avoid? How much should I expect to pay for a safe, healthy(ish) Thai meal like a green curry with chicken or beef and rice or noodles or a rad na or a massaman or similar?

Thanks.

[Nignoy]

Fake chicken has 4 legs, pointed nose, and a long tail

[sbk]

while it is usually cooked fresh in front of you, it is unrefrigerated and piled up in front of the exhaust of a few thousand cars. I haven't eaten off the street in years tbh. And as a newbie from the US, your stomach will not be able to handle the bacteria of street food --I would wait until you've adapted to the climate, the food and the bacteria before you start eating off the street.

There are numerous little tiny restaurants serving rad na, pat thai, mussaman etc without having to resort to a cart on the street.

[chiliwasabi]

Don't get too worried eating from street vendors HalfSquat. Real chicken is pretty easy to find - it looks kind of chickeny and has chicken bones Sure there is a lot of fat in some of the street food (fired chicken skin anyone?) but there is also plenty of healthy food just use common sense. At least on the street you have the benefit of seeing what is going in the food more often than in a restaurant.

Price wise, for a few squid you will get a full 3 course meal for 2 not just one dish.

[chiliwasabi]

as a newbie from the US, your stomach will not be able to handle the bacteria of street food -

The OP is from the UK not the US so is probably used to dodgy food

[majorpacman]

Just visted thailand BKK april to may 2009 Checked the ingredient before you order, or checked out where the local eats. Be aware like the reply posts above mention, you might get a food poison and go the hospital for an IV. It really did happened to some of my family members. Other then that, have a good eat....man, love'em thai noodles.Checked out thai noodle style "thai boat noodle" freaking awesome.

BTW, i hate thai mosquitoes! I get terrible rashes around my feet after they bite me.

Edited July 14, 2009 by majorpacman

[sbk]

as a newbie from the US, your stomach will not be able to handle the bacteria of street food -

The OP is from the UK not the US so is probably used to dodgy food

missed that, just saw hotdog vendor and assumed from the US.

Ok, I rephrase, as a newbie from the UK....

[britmaveric]

Some of the best thai food in thailand is sold from the carts. Highly recommend it!!!!

[endure]

[sbk]

doubt the guy I met who got dysentery from eating on the street thought so

[schmutzie]

I recommend it - I eat it as a preference because I like the informality and speed of the street vendors. And the food is fine, sometimes really good even. I've never had any probs and I don't think that's down to luck, but then I don't eat meats (but the non-meaty stuff usually is cross-cooked with meat bits anyway).

My point is that compared with India which absolutely nuked my stomach for a good 12 months before I felt some minor recovery (I think I'll always carry a bit of India around!) Thailand is - IMHO - very safe when it comes to street food. It's just good business sense.

At least you can survey what you're exposing yourself too - not some closed-off kitchen in a restaurant with whatnot infesting it...

[DP25]

Some of the best thai food in thailand is sold from the carts. Highly recommend it!!!!

Agreed 100%. Give some of it a try OP, you'll be fine.

I'm not sure what all this 'fake' chicken is about, I never see any of it in any of the dishes I order.

[midasthailand]

As safe as anywhere else in the world eating from street stalls that have the same rag that they use to clean the tables as they do to clean the plates. I have never had any trouble after eating from a street stall.

[cdnvic]

I've eaten off carts all over Thailand and the only time I've ever gotten sick was from a "western breakfast" at an English owned restaurant in Patong. At a street cart you can see the food being cooked in front of you, view the hygene standards, and make an informed choice. As for a kitchen you can't see, who knows what is going on back there?

[ignis]

For me years ago [nothing much has changed today]

I was shocked to see the street vendors with the fresh chicken in large plastic bags on the back of pickup trucks.... you still see fresh meat being transported on open pickup trucks, as well as plenty of stall selling fresh meat sitting out in the sun on tables...

Like wise if you go to any supermarket as soon as the open most of the meat is still frozen, at the end of the day what has not sold is then re frozen and taken out for the next day... You buy the meat that has been frozen how knows how many times and take home and pop it in the freezer..

Joints of meat and chicken are cut up by the same person on the same board with the same knife.... if you ask for minced beef, then you will almost always get a bit of minced pork or chicken in your bag as that was what was in the mince machine before.

It is a way of life here, myself never had a problem when I have eaten from Street Vendors, as long as you not a UK Health Inspector your fine..

Best to always eat from vendors that have plenty of customers, same goes for restaurants

[britmaveric]

Got food poisoning from a bad hot dog in family mart.

Edited July 15, 2009 by britmaveric

[Geekfreaklover]

The Bangkok Post (English daily newspaper) published a survey on the amounts of bacteria found at different eating establishments around Bangkok.

Surprisingly the food carts topped the table with the least bacteria. The food is often pipping hot - high temprature kills bacteria.

The worst for bacterium being the food courts in the large shopping malls. The food sits around all day at a temprature warm enough to breed bacteria, but not hot enough to kill it.

Fear not the food carts. You gotta love Kow car moo and kow man gai.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Geekfreaklover

[Carib]

It is the fastest and easiest way to lose weight IF you catch a bug, never happened to me though..

[Absingjul]

I don't think I've died a single time from eating street food.

Just make sure the used paint bucket they are washing the dishes in is fairly clean.

[Insight]

Take the sarcastic comments with a pinch of salt; gut-rot is a common problem with people making the move here and although it can happen anywhere, common sense would dictate the likelihood of it occurring increases when eating in less hygienic areas, such as street food vendors.

If you're prepared to take an admittedly small risk spending the next day within no more than 30 seconds radius of a usable toilet, give it a go.

[j0hnga1t]

I LOVE thai street food.  I had some fried rice from a street vendor....aroy mak mak .  The pre-made food is awesome.  When I started dating my now financee, we would eat at street vendors all the time.  We've eating in Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Pak Chong, Hua-Hin, Phuket...it's all good, seven trips in total and I never got sick.  I'm from the US also.  I love the sausages with the glass noodles, served with cabbage and chiles...YUMMMMM.  I'm going back at the end of August and I CAN'T WAIT

[RAZZELL]

Use common sense.

A good indication is if the stall is busy...the food is good

I know a few Thai's who walk (Yes walk! ) a few sois to get to a particular vendor.

RAZZ

[norwayeagle]

Fake chicken has 4 legs, pointed nose, and a long tail

.They'r quite good if well done.

[junkofdavid2]

I eat street food every now and then...

As an "insurance", I also eat yogurt with 3 types of probiotic bacteria.

Moreover, I am vaccinated for typhoid, diptheria, cholera, etc.

Turns out that the cholera vaccine (or is it the typhoid one) also protects you against up to 70% of the types of food poisoning.

So far, the only food poisoning bout I can remember was right after eating in a prestigious Japanese restaurant chain with numerous branches in Bangkok. The salmon sashimi tasted like it was going bad; but I'm not normally a fish eater so I wasn't sure about good from bad, and I assumed that because it was a "highly reputed" restaurant, it was okay to eat and I just wasn't "educated" enough with fish to assess. The restaurant chain starts with the letter "F".

That was also before the vaccinations, by the way.

.

Edited July 15, 2009 by junkofdavid2

[Benjie]

True story, the 3 times I've had any sort of food bug or poisoning here have all been from Western food restaurants.

Choose the busiest cart around and you should be fine.

[Gary A]

After eating at a popular farang bar and having a decent tasting poor boy sandwich, I got VERY sick. It took two days to get over it. It was an unusual type of being sick. It started out with severe shakes and progressed from there. Since it was the only thing I had to eat that day, there was no doubt where it came from. I wish I had eaten at one of the street stalls. Since 1991, I can't ever remember being sick from a busy street stall. Just make sure the stall is busy and eat only food that is hot and is cooked there. I fondly remember one old lady who had duck soup as her speciality. She started cooking very early in the morning and it was ready to eat by about 10 AM. If you got there much after 1 PM you were out of luck. When her pot was empty, she packed up and went home.

[Curt1591]

We have take out from this lady, probably every other week.

The last time I got food poisoning, was from KFC!

[HalfSquat]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like opinion is divided on this issue.

Will just have to take my chances. I eat the odd doner here in London and have been lucky so far so fingers crossed.

[Emster23]

I much prefer street food: it is all right out there for you to watch. Had Thai gf who said "who knows what happens in a kitchen you can't see? Drop food on floor, etc" (she'd worked at one in Koh Samuii).

Just eyeball the person who makes it: they probably eat it too (one would guess). I figure few times I have gotten sick (lived here 8 years) was probably due to regular resturant, not the stalls. Like man says, frequent the ones the locals do: they don't enjoy getting sick anymore than you do (excepting eating som tam...).

[erikr_]

If it is papaya the mrs insist on female cook, for bbq chicken and pork male