Thai Lingo Info About Getting Sick - From People Not Rain Drops

[robblok]

I've tried to explain to some Thai friends that the weather doesn't really make you sick, but catching it from someone else, usually to no avail. But just the other day, a farang friend mentioned that he got sick due to the change in weather. And he told me about some other farang friends who got the same. Maybe it's just some folks who believe this stuff.

Weather changes can do it to you if you are already low in your defenses it might just tip the scale. You have plenty of germs and stuff yourself but your imune system keeps you from getting sick if its low cold weather could just be the last little kick so its more then fantasy.

Yes,it can make a virus worse ,............if that's what your trying to say , but weather cannot "give" anyone a virus

Of course the weather cant give you a virus but it might just lower your defences / imune system enough for a virus that is already there to take over and make you sick.

[Thai at Heart]

I've tried to explain to some Thai friends that the weather doesn't really make you sick, but catching it from someone else, usually to no avail. But just the other day, a farang friend mentioned that he got sick due to the change in weather. And he told me about some other farang friends who got the same. Maybe it's just some folks who believe this stuff.

Weather changes can do it to you if you are already low in your defenses it might just tip the scale. You have plenty of germs and stuff yourself but your imune system keeps you from getting sick if its low cold weather could just be the last little kick so its more then fantasy.

Yes,it can make a virus worse ,............if that's what your trying to say , but weather cannot "give" anyone a virus

My take on the "weather change" bringing a cold, is that basically it means that a huge amount of dusty low hanging cold air from China just descended upon me and it contains enough pollution and dust to kill just about any living organism on contact. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

[RonaldoMT]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

[farang2002]

They're just "showering" you with affection!

[robblok]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

[LotusBoy]

I am just sick of my Thai in-laws......and people called Roland lol...

[tingtongteesood]

I bet they don't wash their hands either. Glad people wai sometimes so I don't have to shake hands....

[steve C]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

Yep, Roland you can be a member of, if you don't like it here go back to where you belong, come from etc brigade. Not a bad effort for your first post, sooooo ORIGINAL. Actually you could be named as THE MINISTER for it's OK to be coughed and sneezed on, robbed, beaten up, ripped off and anything else the Thai's care to do foriegners and get away with .

[masuk]

What?, the rain doesn't make you sick? Come on.

My neighbour wears a face mask when cooking, so the heat of the cooker does not turn her skin brown.....

In Indonesia, most folk won't go near a fan in case the air gets into the body. Buses with no air con. get really hot! Fans are off and windows closed - more moving air.

A lot of these myths could be dispelled all over Asia, if the ever-running soapies ran a few short, sharp facts in the breaks.

[Commander Tamson]

What?, the rain doesn't make you sick? Come on.

That's why I left Scotland - I was so damned SICK of the rain

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[Ubonquest]

I was in Ubon last June. I had food poisoning, I knew it for sure, and was sick for three days. One lady said "what food poisoning? there is no such thing. It's the weather".

[loong]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

And why don't you clear off and post on another forum where everyone just posts about how wonderful their life in Thailand is?

[jacko45k]

I was expecting this thread to end up discussing some of the less savoury habits.

Her mother touches food and doesn't eat it, does my head in to see things mauled and put back.

I once made the missus make me a new separate lot of rice after I saw her mother mauling the pot full before dinner.

(She picked some out, took a bite, and put the remnants back)

I am so picky.....

[xen]

This belief about getting sick from the rain goes to explain why when we were building MIL's house her brother did not want rain water tanks but wanted ground water from the well as the main source of water. He kept on saying rain is no good and rain water tanks were never installed. Now i understand .( Falung suboo ).

[allan michaud]

My mother in law freaks out if I am out in the lightest drizzle, but she has bucket showers in January in temperatures lower than 10 C. How is it raindrops will make me sick when body shocking icy buckets won't make her sick?

It is also forbidden to have anything sweet when you have a cold, but it is OK to have the chickens rummaging through the pots and pans in the outdoor kitchen, an crapping all over the counters.

Agreed, my wife's family are equally stupid and are convinced that rain will make you sick. They are slowly picking things up though as our 9 year old learns things at school and brings those ideas home, but it's a slow process. They absolutely will not ever listen to anything I say as I am just a stupid farang. I despair at the total lack of education in this country. Same with basic hygiene, no idea whatsoever. Rinsing your hands in cold tap water does not kill bacteria. Some basic education programs on TV could help so much but I guess when there are dumb soap operas as an alternative no one will be interested as they already 'know' rain is dangerous.

[willyumiii]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

Thanks for the constructive comment Roland!

I'm sure most of us have never heard the " Go home" solution before!

I guess it works well for any problem a non Thai native may have!

Thanks again for the well thought out and informative comment!

Choke Dee!

( summary: illness does not come from rain or virus in Thailand. It comes from reading posts on TV )

[Bluetongue]

My mother in law is getting very old. She doesn't really wash herself properly (at Songkran if the weather is nice the wife gives her a good scrubdown with soap an all) and her mouth is completely destroyed inside from betel nut. I would make allowances but I cant eat from any bowl she has been in or any food she has mauled. Sick kids are not allowed to have cold or icy drinks hmm probably makes sense.

[Commander Tamson]

Here's something that bugs me: splintered bone, gristle, ligament, inedible fat etc in chicken dishes! How easy is it to take the meat from a cooked chicken carcass? But oh no, the whole thing has to be chopped up with an <deleted> great machete! But don't ask them to change - just get blank stares! Stupid farangs!

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[infinity11]

Does the rain really/actually make thais and others sick?

[loong]

I believe that the previous posters who have mentioned that the rain and cooler weather results in a weaker immune system are right.

The Thais see that more people get sick during the rainy cold periods and so naturally conclude that it is the rain that causes the sickness.

Nothing to do with slicing raw meat and salad vegetables with the same knife on the same board.

Nothing to do with not washing hands after using the toilet.

Nothing to do with sharing food, using your fingers or the same spoon. Even if you have your own spoon, saliva on your spoon is then mixed in with the food next time you dip in.

Nothing to do with Shared drinking cups, after all, you are drinking water so that automatically cleans the cup.

Nothing to do with Drinking water collected from the roof. Lots of bird and lizard shit that has been deposited on the roof washes into the collection vessel. Just for good measure a few dead lizards etc that have drowned in it.

Nothing to do with the nice lady that cooks your food who removes her finger from her nose just long enough to place your food on your plate.

Nothing to do with your plate being washed in cold water that has not been changed for god knows how long.

The list goes on, but no worries, it is the rain that causes sickness!

[osiboy]

a few years back my wife had a beauty salon and employed some help , ....one day she brought her son into work with her , when i asked why she said "because hab cough , cannot go sacool " , oh , i said, so you bring him to work so all the customers can catch his cough instead ? , no pombem she said . her son proceeded to cough all day ,..... by the morning the wife and i were also sick and so were all of our regular customers from that day , we closed the shop for 4 days and disinfected it , probably lost around 7k.. .......MAAAAN they are so thick it's unreal !

But it doesn't say much for you and your misses either, allowing her to stay there all day with her sick son.

You knew the consequences but didn't send her home immediately. Why would that be???

it would be because there were appointments to keep , and as thais don't believe you get a cold from person -person it would make no difference , ok ?

[DrTuner]

When it rains, it's generally colder. My wife has the wonderful habit of turning the AC to max on the first night we go holiday somewhere. If there's even one virus or germ floating around, my frozen to death immune system won't bother and the usual result is a common cold for a couple of days.

It's not a complete myth. The source and vectors of the infection probably have zero to do with raining, though.

[socksy01]

Is it just me or, does it appear that a lot of Thai's compete to see who has the loudest sneeze in decibels?

[DrTuner]

Is it just me or, does it appear that a lot of Thai's compete to see who has the loudest sneeze in decibels?

No, it's not just you. I swear I can see their tonsil extend out by a feet when they let it rip.

Must be a cultural thing, same as speaking with volume exceeding 130dB. I guess at the rice field you had make light conversation with the next fellow, 1km away. The volume didn't go down when it changed to 1m. I've considered getting a compressed air can with a horn and blast it to my MIL's ear when she starts, but I doubt that wouldn't even start to compete with the sound pressure she makes.

[Trotto]

Sir,

Sick of all these farangs complaining about their life in Thailand.

Why dont you just go back where you belong and be happy there.

Yours,

Roland

Good first post, 555!!!

[Trotto]

When it rains, it's generally colder. My wife has the wonderful habit of turning the AC to max on the first night we go holiday somewhere. If there's even one virus or germ floating around, my frozen to death immune system won't bother and the usual result is a common cold for a couple of days.

It's not a complete myth. The source and vectors of the infection probably have zero to do with raining, though.

Maybe the AC hasn't been cleaned in thirty years. That may be what is making you sick, not the cold.

[Trotto]

Does the rain really/actually make thais and others sick?

Many folks all together inside a small space to escape the rains will pass sickness along. Thus the association of rain with sickness.

[Trotto]

I think I ought to go now.

[MilesofSmiles]

Korean Fan Death!

(Really, google it. I lived some Koreans for a while and they took it pretty seriously)

[DrTuner]

When it rains, it's generally colder. My wife has the wonderful habit of turning the AC to max on the first night we go holiday somewhere. If there's even one virus or germ floating around, my frozen to death immune system won't bother and the usual result is a common cold for a couple of days.

It's not a complete myth. The source and vectors of the infection probably have zero to do with raining, though.

Maybe the AC hasn't been cleaned in thirty years. That may be what is making you sick, not the cold.

One possibility, yes. Although this happens in Isaan as well, without AC when the temp drops to around 15 degrees C in the night. In there the source of infection is clear, there's always at least one local coughing all over the place.