Food At Bus Terminals, Train Stations Found Below Safety Standards: Thailand

[theanimaster]

Funny how a news article about food safety goes from that, to high pressure and freezing cold water gun regulations.

I don't mind the cold water, but I ~DO~ mind those asshats that rub the powdered mush in your eyes and nose. I mean, really.

[blackthorn2005]

Hate to say it but food safety is not taught here. I went to a certain school being advertised here and the Thai chef instructor knew absolutely nothing about food safety. Raw chicken with uncooked vegetables and the such. Well, when i pointed out the situation i got a big fat "Never mind", i quickly dropped after i discovered he did not know a slicing knife from a filet knife.

Be grateful, you survived!

[Dekchaimong]

Quote: "Police have also been warned against aiming highpowered water guns at people's eyes or ears to avoid injury" What, so they are joining in this year too?

[Cheesekraft]

I had one of the best Thai food dishes ever at the train station... sigh

[qdinthailand]

... i quickly dropped after i discovered he did not know a slicing knife from a filet knife.

And you asked him that very question? Difference between slicing knife and filet knife? So if he doesn't understand either word - slicing, filet - he could easily not know the answer to your question. And you consider that being 'food stupid'? Or he used a slicing knife when he should have used a filet knife - left the filet knife sitting in the knife holder? He was just more comfortable using the wrong knife for the job!

Sorry, but I've seen some amazing things done with knives (on food) here. So what if they don't use what you consider 'the proper knife' on certain food, same as you would. They do the best they can with what they have. Most are very quick, very efficient with a knife, and if they could do it faster and better with one knife over another, I'm sure they would (if they had it).

Certainly not worth dropping the course over.

[Jim walker]

I just had lunch at a superb little pavement street restaurant the chicken was quite exquisite, the worst thing was her white sterile cloth for cleaning the seats and tables it was rather grey in colour and I am sure I saw it move itself

[rotary]

Ha Ha I have known this for years!

Edited April 11, 2012 by rotary

[Bobsufc]

...32 out of 81 samples showed Ecoli contamination, six contained the staphylococcus aureus bacteria, four showed salmonella and one had vibrio parahaemolyticus.

43/81 is 53%. Those are terrible odds.

...32 out of 81 samples showed Ecoli contamination, six contained the staphylococcus aureus bacteria, four showed salmonella and one had vibrio parahaemolyticus.

43/81 is 53%. Those are terrible odds.

Thats assuming that each sample had a different contaminant some may have had 2 or 3 types of bacteria LOl imagine eating that and going on a long bus trip lol

By the way

What is Vibrio parahaemolyticus?

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. V. parahaemolyticus naturally inhabits coastal waters in the United States and Canada and is present in higher concentrations during summer; it is a halophilic, or salt-requiring organism.

How the hell did that get in a bangkok Bus or train terminal?

[eddie61]

It is sad in a way.

The 3 girls who bared their breasts in Songkhran exuberation last year did more for tourism in Thailand than 1000's of bureaucrats.

It is a reflection of Thailand's problem: too many bureaucrats, with too much power, and too little brain. Thailand will remain poor as long as this Kleptobureaucracy remains in power.

Fire a civil servant and make Thailand a better place

[Headgame]

Must be my 67 year old cast iron intestinal system but after two years of almost daily eating of Thai street food, not a single instance of illness, upset stomach, diarrhea, etc. However my vision isn't what it used to be.

[osiboy]

_{so what action was taken against the food hygiene offenders ? or is it even an offence here ?}

[osiboy]

i wonder if TAT will be amazed at these miracle findings of thai hygiene ?

[easybullet3]

why was this limited to the Bus terminals? what about the rest of Thailand? what about the hundreds of thousands of street vendors across the country? !!

- and yes... AGREE.. if there is SOAP in the toilets, this would CUT problems down somewhat... (though we would hope that the vendors would actually USE the soap!!)

as always, EDUCATION STARTS AT SCHOOL!!! if basic hygiene was taught at school, it would save millions of hospital hours in the long run from food poisoning cases (from badly prepared/stored food and toilet bacteria).

[FOODLOVER]

... i quickly dropped after i discovered he did not know a slicing knife from a filet knife.

And you asked him that very question? Difference between slicing knife and filet knife? So if he doesn't understand either word - slicing, filet - he could easily not know the answer to your question. And you consider that being 'food stupid'? Or he used a slicing knife when he should have used a filet knife - left the filet knife sitting in the knife holder? He was just more comfortable using the wrong knife for the job!

Sorry, but I've seen some amazing things done with knives (on food) here. So what if they don't use what you consider 'the proper knife' on certain food, same as you would. They do the best they can with what they have. Most are very quick, very efficient with a knife, and if they could do it faster and better with one knife over another, I'm sure they would (if they had it).

Certainly not worth dropping the course over.

I did not ask any question, a slicing knife is not what he should have been using to filet a bony fish and should have not been taught to inexperienced students. A flexible boning knife would have been the proper knife to show the students proper technique. French school, french knives, if he picked up a jungle spear and magically filleted the fish i could give a rats but don't pick up a slicing knife and call it a filet. He spoke English and taught in English with Thai translation. Never been told a butchers steel was useless and should sharpen my knifes on the side of a mortar and pestle as well. Have many neat stories like this so decided to save a few hundred thousand baht.

[animatic]

Which would prompt the most obvious question, was there any soap in the toilets?

Very well spotted!!!

No need for soap. Everyone knows that you use the left hand to wipe your bum, and you eat with the right hand. Sheeesh.

But they COOK with BOTH...

[animatic]

Men who touch female revellers inappropriately or molest them will be arrested.

What about women who touch men?

What about men or women touching ladyboys?

They likely will get laid.

[h90]

...32 out of 81 samples showed Ecoli contamination, six contained the staphylococcus aureus bacteria, four showed salmonella and one had vibrio parahaemolyticus.

43/81 is 53%. Those are terrible odds.

No it is so good that I doubt it.

I would have guessed 80/81.

[tinsom]

BANGKOK: -- Most of the food sold at passenger terminals has been found to be below safety standards or even poisonous, Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said yesterday.

Citing a survey on food hygiene as part of a ministry campaign to ensure food safety during the fourday Songkran holiday, he said 32 out of 81 samples showed Ecoli contamination, six contained the staphylococcus aureus bacteria, four showed salmonella and one had vibrio parahaemolyticus.

He called on consumers to always purchase ice or drinking water packaged in containers with a Food and Drugs Administration stamp of safety. He also urged consumers to only use straws with plastic covers. The survey was conducted at three key bus terminals and a major train station.

Police have also been warned against aiming highpowered water guns at people's eyes or ears to avoid injury, and revellers are being told to not throw water at motorcyclists to avoid accidents. Revellers who cause a motorcycle to tip over by using highpowered water guns will face assault charges, which carries a twoyear imprisonment sentence and/or a fine of up to Bt4,000. People are also not allowed to mix ice cubes or crushed ice in the water used to throw at each other. Shops selling banned watergun brands as well as those made from water pipes will be subjected to fines.

Bangkok police chief Pol LtGeneral Winai Thongsong has warned partygoers from getting out of hand and also encouraged women to avoid dressing scantily or participating in provocative moves. Men who touch female revellers inappropriately or molest them will be arrested. The key areas of Songkran celebration - Khao San, Silom, Royal City Avenue and Suan Luang Ror 9 - will be under close police watch, he added.

Deputy police chief Pol MajGeneral Wichai Sangpraphai said, so far, there had been no intelligence reports of planned insurgent attacks over the fourday break.

A total of 105 areas in Bangkok will be under extra police security, along with all key bus terminals, train stations and both airports.

A joint operation centre run by the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has been set up to implement roadsafety measures under the "Seven Dangerous Days" campaign to keep road casualties at the minimum from April 1117.

Speed limit, driving discipline, safety helmet law and don'tdrivedrunk policies will be strictly implemented. In addition, all public transport systems are undergoing safety checks and equipment inspection.

Medics and emergency medical services along with rescue and fire units will be on standby round the clock for seven days.

why target bus and train stations its a problem every where

street vendors market stores

and basic hygiene is the problem

every where

and the thai,s generally dont really think its a problem

my tha g/f gets a bad stomach at least once a week

and her attitude is mai mee pun ha

this is normal

so education is the answer

BUT you are banging your head against a brick wall

only solutions for falangs is to cook it your self

[xthAi76s]

I guess no one here remembers, or saw, reports on all the food issues in the last few years in the U.S. Lots of Salmonella, E. Coli, Lysteria, etc. contamination in the food. And mad cow issues (spongiform encephalopathy).

Oh, but they conduct food handling courses! And have food inspection!

And you think its bad here? You should travel through Africa. And don't eat raw vegetable salad anywhere in South America.

BTW - having travelled for a few years through So. America and Africa, the middle east - I'm not afraid of the food stalls here in Thailand. Sort of like letting a kid eat dirt - builds up the immune system. LOL

The US is 5 or 6 times the size of Thailand, exports food -- other than rice -- all over the world and has agencies, rather transparent ones, reporting on any issues found.

Thailand has NO SUCH AGENCIES, so what you hear is a very small percentage of what actually happens here. Don't fool yourself into thinking that because you hear about things in the US ... that Thai food safety standars don't need to evolve. That's lazy logic.

[thaimat]

Love the photo of the two proud officers, looking like they just caught Osama Bin Laden, or as if it takes Sherlock Holmes to find tainted food in Thailand.

[xthAi76s]

... i quickly dropped after i discovered he did not know a slicing knife from a filet knife.

And you asked him that very question? Difference between slicing knife and filet knife? So if he doesn't understand either word - slicing, filet - he could easily not know the answer to your question. And you consider that being 'food stupid'? Or he used a slicing knife when he should have used a filet knife - left the filet knife sitting in the knife holder? He was just more comfortable using the wrong knife for the job!

Sorry, but I've seen some amazing things done with knives (on food) here. So what if they don't use what you consider 'the proper knife' on certain food, same as you would. They do the best they can with what they have. Most are very quick, very efficient with a knife, and if they could do it faster and better with one knife over another, I'm sure they would (if they had it).

Certainly not worth dropping the course over.

Do you always give everyone (irrespective of their nationality) the benefit of the doubt, or do you do it just for Thais? Just curious.

Also, are all things done equally well everywhere, or are some things done better than others?

Thanks

[jalansanitwong]

...below safety standards? how is that possible when there are no standards ?

they cook soi food in a filthy back laneway behind my place with soi dogs and cats sticking their mouths in the huge food bowls and bags of vegetables lying around everywhere. they then put the soi food bowls onto a trolley and wheel it up to the soi and sell it for 20 baht per bag.

during the floods they kept working and filthy yellowish klong water would splash against the bowls....you had to see it to believe it.

bus terminal food would be no different expecially up country.

[osiboy]

many times i have seen stall holders and food sellers using only one cloth for everything from cleaning tables to cleaning plates and wiping sweat from their bodies,..............in the UK i know anyone working in the food industry must have a "basic food hygiene cert" , so easy to implement and put into practice, will it ever happen here ?? mmmmmmmm,...... dont hold your breath , education education education !

[fred110]

Which would prompt the most obvious question, was there any soap in the toilets?

Very well spotted!!!

No need for soap. Everyone knows that you use the left hand to wipe your bum, and you eat with the right hand. Sheeesh.

The cooks use both hands! Whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger.

[atyclb]

"Deputy police chief Pol MajGeneral Wichai Sangpraphai said, so far, there had been no intelligence"

I disagree, there are pockets of intelligence.

[chatette]

Bangkok police chief Pol LtGeneral Winai Thongsong encouraged women to avoid dressing scantily or participating in provocative moves

I expect he'd also say it was the woman's fault if she weren't dressed in whatever way he considers not to be scanty if she were rapped or molested. Philistine.

[anterian]

"Speed limit, driving discipline, safety helmet law and don'tdrivedrunk policies will be strictly implemented." Yep and pigs will learn to fly!

[Yunla]

As other posters said, you get what you pay for.

Its not a national issue, or even regional issue. You can go to mid-priced restaurants in Bkk where staff are professionally trained and food is clean and healthy. Similarly you can go back to any other 'civilised' country for.ex. England and and eat at a cheap takeaway cafe & get almost religiously sick from it

There was a fried-food / kebab/ late-night takeaway at a converted terraced-house near my home in the UK, run by an English couple who were cutting overheads by catching stray dogs & cats off the street, butchering them in the upstairs bathroom and serving the meat grilled as beefburgers.They were eventually caught because a drunk guy waiting for his order to arrive just wandered drunkenly upstairs looking for the customer WC (which didn't exist) and found this bathroom with like blood allover the walls and bits of cats and dogs allover the floor. The couple's business was shutdown but they were not jailed.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Yunla

[LoZth]

There's a guy that lives at the back of my place that sells meatballs on a string just up the road.

When he finishes for the day he trundles back with his (meat)balls dangling on the stall, parks it and goes in his house.

These meatballs are left out overnight, no cover over them at all and there are a load of dogs live in the yard.

Nobody seems to think it's strange at all that they are left like that.

I can't seem to talk myself into buying some off him.

But then again, they will probably be ok in the wet season when the rain has been lashing down on them overnight for quite a few hours and rinses the dust and gunge off them,

What do you reckon?

[Jim walker]

There was a fried-food / kebab/ late-night takeaway at a converted terraced-house near my home in the UK, run by an English couple who were cutting overheads by catching stray dogs & cats off the street, butchering them in the upstairs bathroom and serving the meat grilled as beefburgers.They were eventually caught because a drunk guy waiting for his order to arrive just wandered drunkenly upstairs looking for the customer WC (which didn't exist) and found this bathroom with like blood allover the walls and bits of cats and dogs allover the floor. The couple's business was shutdown but they were not jailed.

And they had a catering licence to sell cooked food ?, I hope the drunk guy contacted trading standards right away, regarding urban myths