My Friend Is Coming To Thailand But She Has A Severe Allergy To Shellfish

[ThailandNeil]

Any survival tips? Ive learnt thai for no shellfish so far!.....

[smokie36]

Errm....pork and chicken dishes are good.

Steamed whole fish yum yum.

Bout it for me.

Oh and plenty rice.....!

[CWMcMurray]

Don't order/ eat shellfish ?

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[arthurwait]

Does this include fish and oyster sauce ?

[Payboy]

For the really persistent ones, I suggest taser or mace.

[MidoriApple]

Interesting... shellfish...

Shellfish in Thailand...

Apart from Seafood dishes, we often use some as ingredient in Thai cooking such as Dried Shrimp กุ้งแห้ง, Thai Anchovy ปลาร้า,

the black crab...even in Thai word, I really have no idea how to call it.

These above are normally used in many Thai dish... Dried Shrimp, we use always in Somtam (Thai Spicy Salad) and also Phad Thai.

And sometimes we also grind it to use for thickening Thai curry soups...

Sorry... I am not good at Thai Cooking...cannot say all the facts...

And I am also wondering one thing... the shimp paste which is the basic of many kind of Thai dishes, is it considered to be shellfish or not?

Also the Shimp oil (มันกุ้ง) whick we often use...

Ohlala..never thought before that we Thai use so much of the shellfish things.

To answer this question, IMO

Should avoid eating Thai Cooking which you cannot see obviously what kind of ingredients that Thai dish made of..

Credit: picture from http://thaidriedshrimp.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-post.html

Hope this can help...

(Sorry, I know my English is quite poor.....just want to help..)

[maturebrit]

a serious lack of forethought. ... why go to a place where shellfish are a considerable part of the diet... ok plenty of pork and chicken but if additives contain shellfish or similar you could end up hospitalised.... tip... make sure you are medically insured

[Mosha]

Depends how bad the allergy is. I can't eat crustacea, and certain shellfish. I can eat curries made with the pastes, even though they are made with dried shrimp. Check what your friend can and can not eat.

[AyG]

Eating Thai food will be a minefield if the allergy is severe. I'd suggest sticking to places that provide popular food such as burgers, pizzas, Japanese - or cooking for oneself. Plenty of choice available, if not particularly healthy.

[FWIW]

If severe (life threatening) then I would go vegitarian (Jay?). I believe there are ways to find/tell places that are Jay - a sign? Not familar off hand, but sure some one will know. You can also ask some places to cook food in that style..

[lemoncake]

just stick to foreign foods if its a worry.

KFC, McDonalds, Burger KIng if on a tight budget and into junk food

[canman]

It will be a mine field eating in Thailand and avoiding shell fish. It may well be impossible to avoide some sort of shell fish contamination if you eat local. Make sure she has an epipen and someone with her that knows how to use it.

[tingtongfarang]

i have a similar allergy to all seafood, Its not that i dont like it...it just does,nt like me,

its not life threatening but around 15 minutes after eating any seafood it all comes back up and my stomach is empty...i dont get cramps or any other effects just projectile vomiting,

My best friend who is a doctor and knows my previous life claims it came from eating it too much and my body developed an intolerance.

Strange thing is fresh water fish such as snakehead dont have the same effect but shrimps and shellfish do, Its got to the stage where i feel nausea sitting at a table with others eating seafood.

[carlspencer]

i also have an allergy to sea foods. Different types of foods produce different reactions, sometimes I get itchy rashes on the skin, on other occasions sporadic sneezing, while on some occasions, both sneezing and rashes. The obvious answer is just avoid seafood altogether if the allergy is severe. If she is coming for a short stay then maybe you could just stick to the fast food franchises. Are there any restaurants you frequent? If you are on good terms with the owners then it will become easier to explain them the issue.

Edited April 17, 2013 by carlspencer

[ThailandNeil]

She was fine! We just had to say no seafood and then point and pretend to die all the time! They seemed to get the message! !!

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[sheena36]

Hi Neil,

I'll be travelling very soon with my boyfriend around Asia, I think we are planning on doing some form of point and die technique too. I just wanted to know if your friend was able to eat much of the local cuisine or did she have to stick to western food?

I want to help him out as much as possible but I also want to have some good grub myself! It would be good if we could eat in the same places at least some of the time!

[ThailandNeil]

Hi, yes she ate local food! But only in places that looked good I.e. street food would be too much of a risk. Look places up on TripAdvisor too.

Good luck! Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of Thai food!

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[wooloomooloo]

I think we are planning on doing some form of point and die technique too.

This is in no way fool proof and most waitresses will just consider you another ding dong falang in the restaurant.

How about getting someone who speaks Thai to write a short message on a card and laminating it, pointing out exactly what the problem is.

Edited June 23, 2013 by wooloomooloo

[joeaverage]

2 words -- epi pen

[ThailandNeil]

2 words... already got one. Crap thats 3 words..

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[TommyTucker]

Are people aware that epi-pens must be kept below 25 degrees and they have a short shelf life, upto 6 months. There is now a brand new type of pen available called "jext" that does not need to be kept below 25 degrees and is valid for a year. It is also a very good idea to carry an antihistamine with you at all times, ie liquid piriton and a 5ml syringe.

[justben]

the black crab...even in Thai word, I really have no idea how to call it.

เป็นคนไทยรึเปล่าเนี่ย เขาเรียกว่าปูดอง คุณมาจากประเทศอะไรหรือ