Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists
By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- You don’t want people going home with memories of dysentery.

If the Tourism Authority of Thailand wants to attract more foreigners by food tourism, measures must be taken to vastly improve the hygiene of street food, urged the president of the Thai Restaurant Association.

“We should prioritise food safety, eating only recently cooked or heated foods since bacteria can’t grow well in heated food,” said association President Taniwan Koonmongkon.

She believes more Thais are suffering from cancer due to their consumption of unhygienic food, pointing to research by Mahidol University about the prevalence of certain cancers among Thais in 2011.

Street food popular among Asian tourists include pad thai, moo ping (grilled pork), and fresh fruit, Bangkok Post reported.
According to Taniwan, the association has made past efforts to urge the Public Health Ministry to establish a food hygiene campaign among street food stalls but has yet to receive full cooperation.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co//2014/08/29/cleaner-street-food-needed-draw-tourists


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2014-08-29

Thai Restaurant Association? Sounds like competitors trying to stir up problems by making street food more expensive or less available to get rid of their low cost competitors.

Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

There is no such thing as clean street food, it is prepared and cooked in a uncontrolled environment, with many variables involved, road dust, vehicle exhausts, stray animals hanging around.

So no one can guarantee cleaner street food unless it is removed from the street.

It’s not only that they don’t periodically re-heat the food to standard levels to prevent Food Born Illness,

It’s what they ALL put in it.

Without naming brands, what they all use are the synthesized bouillon cubes (the lazy cook’s “stock”)

And what they all call, “chicken powduuuur” which, consists of 71% MSG, White Sugar and Salt.

The remaining percentage is primarily chemical compounds and “flavorings”.

You have all seen the green container.

And then it’s always a few tablespoons of white refined sugar for good measure…

And rest assured, they use the same additives in their restaurants as well.

Falang restaurants also, if the (western) chef doesn’t put a stop to it...

The food doesn't just have to be cleaner, the tourists actually have to believe it's cleaner. Right now most of them think it's dodgy as heck (rightly or wrongly). Perception is the key.

Most tourists never get anywhere near a street food vendor unless they are taken there by a thai speaker.

You just need to look at the stall and the person selling the food if the stall is filthy and the seller has a filthy black apron on and holding a manky cloth in their hand and wiping a dirty chopping board with the soiled cloth then I don’t buy regardless how hungry I am, because I just know the conditions how the food will have been prepared and stored in

I'd just like to see less fried stuff and a ban on MSG.

It’s not only that they don’t periodically re-heat the food to standard levels to prevent Food Born Illness,

It’s what they ALL put in it.

Without naming brands, what they all use are the synthesized bouillon cubes (the lazy cook’s “stock”)

And what they all call, “chicken powduuuur” which, consists of 71% MSG, White Sugar and Salt.

The remaining percentage is primarily chemical compounds and “flavorings”.

You have all seen the green container.

And then it’s always a few tablespoons of white refined sugar for good measure…

And rest assured, they use the same additives in their restaurants as well.

Falang restaurants also, if the (western) chef doesn’t put a stop to it...

What you describe is still the best in it....just the cheapest meat.....example chicken that died and were meant for crocodile farms.

Bad hygiene.

Very old palm oil

washing the dishes in dirty water.

A lot rats in the places around which sometimes come in contact with the food.

Spraying insect spray direct on the food

etc etc

Will they stop washing the dishes , spoons and forks

in the gutter,that would be a start.

regards Worgeordie

Tourist general confidence does need to be restored and indeed street food if excessive in chili for fun to see tourists burning with, that has to be corrected plus general hygiene with much better cleaning ingredients.....not only water.

Turning Thailand as the next Singapore themselves so proud within 65 years to be out from third world status to have reached what they say first class country status is going to take time but Thailand will be losing its originality many did enjoyed up to status now by being careful and acting responsibly.

Most tourists never get anywhere near a street food vendor unless they are taken there by a thai speaker.

??? bbq chicken was the first thing I tried on the street on my first trip here decades ago.

Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

does that include the high quality tourists, who will replace all the others by year's end, according to the gospel of TAT?

That would mean to start printing asap Michelin Street Food Guides and Reviews with a star system...I can just see the couple in their evening finery sitting down on the plastic chair ordering som tam a la mode, while simultaneously getting belched at by a huge, black diesel cloud from the orange bus. This just won't do, the TAT won't stand for it!

Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

does that include the high quality tourists, who will replace all the others by year's end, according to the gospel of TAT?

That would mean to start printing asap Michelin Street Food Guides and Reviews with a star system...I can just see the couple in their evening finery sitting down on the plastic chair ordering som tam a la mode, while simultaneously getting belched at by a huge, black diesel cloud from the orange bus. This just won't do, the TAT won't stand for it!

som tam a la mode....Classic

Cleaner street food begins with basic education in food hygiene. Fully supportive of such an initiative, but it will take a generation!

Cut Monsanto out of the food chain, would help!

Most tourists never get anywhere near a street food vendor unless they are taken there by a thai speaker.

Really? If true, why do you suppose this is?

thats if you can see the street food through all the flies, every time you approach them the food is covered in a swarm of black flies then they wipe their nose and pick up the food in their bare hands and ask you to buy it, sorry but I am not interested in sh*tting for a week on end just to make them happy. The good ones actually have their food under cover and use tongs/gloves and have a clean work area plus cook the food constantly, thats where all the thais go to eat.

Tourist general confidence does need to be restored and indeed street food if excessive in chili for fun to see tourists burning with, that has to be corrected plus general hygiene with much better cleaning ingredients.....not only water.

Turning Thailand as the next Singapore themselves so proud within 65 years to be out from third world status to have reached what they say first class country status is going to take time but Thailand will be losing its originality many did enjoyed up to status now by being careful and acting responsibly.

Well people are different for me and my old parents the food doesn't contain too much chili....and we don't eat in restaurants in tourist areas anymore because no one makes the food spicy...no matter what you tell.

thats if you can see the street food through all the flies, every time you approach them the food is covered in a swarm of black flies then they wipe their nose and pick up the food in their bare hands and ask you to buy it, sorry but I am not interested in sh*tting for a week on end just to make them happy. The good ones actually have their food under cover and use tongs/gloves and have a clean work area plus cook the food constantly, thats where all the thais go to eat.

well some spray the flies (on the food) with insect spray....

Always makes me laugh listening to the old geeZers on here panicking whenever Thailand appears to do anything to progress itself.. "It's going to be clean and sterile like Singapore at this rate!".

Don't worry fellas there is still Cambodia and Myanmar for you to enjoy your 20,000 baht a month budget lifestyle

Funny article. Didn't know there was a Thai Restaurant Association..., I bit of an oxymoron in this country. Have her call me..., I know how to solve this problem. Easy.

These are comments by someone trying to keep up membership with their clients (some about to cancel) saying "We can't get people through our doors but the street vendors outside with tin tables & plastic stools are packed - it's not fair". Darling it's about price, price-value, and the reality of a city filled with food options. Leave the street and there exists a large % of family restaurants..., reasonably priced, excellent food fare, serving downstairs and living upstairs. I love that about this part of the world.

I've consumed street food en mass for over 20 years and never had a problem. Not one time.

They could do worse than to start with clean streets. I went off st food when a falang restaurant owner told me they bought up all his old (filthy) cooking oil that should have been chucked and carried on using it, he said this is widespread. Deep fried muck in palm oil that's seen better days is not good, cleanliness might be the least of the problem

Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

There is no such thing as clean street food, it is prepared and cooked in a uncontrolled environment, with many variables involved, road dust, vehicle exhausts, stray animals hanging around.

So no one can guarantee cleaner street food unless it is removed from the street.

A refrigerator might help! Chicken and pork left sitting in 40 degrees doesn't take long to become a toxic mess.

Funny article. Didn't know there was a Thai Restaurant Association..., I bit of an oxymoron in this country. Have her call me..., I know how to solve this problem. Easy.

These are comments by someone trying to keep up membership with their clients (some about to cancel) saying "We can't get people through our doors but the street vendors outside with tin tables & plastic stools are packed - it's not fair". Darling it's about price, price-value, and the reality of a city filled with food options. Leave the street and there exists a large % of family restaurants..., reasonably priced, excellent food fare, serving downstairs and living upstairs. I love that about this part of the world.

I've consumed street food en mass for over 20 years and never had a problem. Not one time.

Been here for 4 years. I have been sick 48 times. Yep once a month I get belted. Not just from street food but also from "good expensive" restaraunts .

Funny article. Didn't know there was a Thai Restaurant Association..., I bit of an oxymoron in this country. Have her call me..., I know how to solve this problem. Easy.

These are comments by someone trying to keep up membership with their clients (some about to cancel) saying "We can't get people through our doors but the street vendors outside with tin tables & plastic stools are packed - it's not fair". Darling it's about price, price-value, and the reality of a city filled with food options. Leave the street and there exists a large % of family restaurants..., reasonably priced, excellent food fare, serving downstairs and living upstairs. I love that about this part of the world.

I've consumed street food en mass for over 20 years and never had a problem. Not one time.

Been here for 4 years. I have been sick 48 times. Yep once a month I get belted. Not just from street food but also from "good expensive" restaraunts .

Do not have any ice in anything!

Funny article. Didn't know there was a Thai Restaurant Association..., I bit of an oxymoron in this country. Have her call me..., I know how to solve this problem. Easy.

These are comments by someone trying to keep up membership with their clients (some about to cancel) saying "We can't get people through our doors but the street vendors outside with tin tables & plastic stools are packed - it's not fair". Darling it's about price, price-value, and the reality of a city filled with food options. Leave the street and there exists a large % of family restaurants..., reasonably priced, excellent food fare, serving downstairs and living upstairs. I love that about this part of the world.

I've consumed street food en mass for over 20 years and never had a problem. Not one time.

Been here for 4 years. I have been sick 48 times. Yep once a month I get belted. Not just from street food but also from "good expensive" restaraunts .

Wow, either you have a very weak system or you don't learn very fast.

I have eaten street food for most of my meals over the last 6 years and only had food poisoning ONCE.... half the number of times I have been poisoned in Canada. I have my favourite locations, I look at the people cooking (are they healthy), look at the way they treat the food etc. (i.e. do they have a heap of meat out on the BBQ waiting to be cooked but sitting their raw (in the juices) (not hanging from hooks in a shelter)...... my cook to order person keeps hers in a cooler. If meat is slaughtered same day as it is cooked - there should be more time til it goes bad.

In the west we have a lot of rules about food - and all it has done is create more massive cases of foodborne illnesses (listeria and maple leaf packaging etc.).

Most tourists never get anywhere near a street food vendor unless they are taken there by a thai speaker.

??? bbq chicken was the first thing I tried on the street on my first trip here decades ago.

did you buy it yourself?

Most tourists don't wander into real street food in Thailand. Its great food and I came to love it, but most tourists spend their time in hotels and restaurants. I can say I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen a foreigner queuing for his bag of somtaam or ba mee nam.

Funny article. Didn't know there was a Thai Restaurant Association..., I bit of an oxymoron in this country. Have her call me..., I know how to solve this problem. Easy.

These are comments by someone trying to keep up membership with their clients (some about to cancel) saying "We can't get people through our doors but the street vendors outside with tin tables & plastic stools are packed - it's not fair". Darling it's about price, price-value, and the reality of a city filled with food options. Leave the street and there exists a large % of family restaurants..., reasonably priced, excellent food fare, serving downstairs and living upstairs. I love that about this part of the world.

I've consumed street food en mass for over 20 years and never had a problem. Not one time.

Been here for 4 years. I have been sick 48 times. Yep once a month I get belted. Not just from street food but also from "good expensive" restaraunts .

Most people learn from experience after they made the same mistake 2-3 times.

With 48 times you are a slow learner.

If the Thai street food doesn't kill you, McD, pizza Hut and KFc certainly will.