Thai Restaurant Association: Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

[surangw]

spend a few thousand $ to vacation and then buy cheep food ? more of an adventure than a cost saving measure

[inutil]

Hogwash oil is refined waste oil. You find it in the sewers.

To make hogwash oil, one takes the floating oil from sewer water or from leftover food thrown out of restaurants and then refines it...

A-tian monopolized access to the sewers in front of the hotels and restaurants. If business was good, he could retrieve 5�6 buckets of oil. He normally got four buckets a day.

Every day, A-tian carried the buckets home with his bicycle. When he had enough to fill his pond (about four tons of oil,) he would refine the oil. On average, he could earn 150 yuan (about US$20) for every two buckets he took home...

So what's the usefulness of hogwash oil? An insider said, "Some people refine hogwash oil themselves. The better-looking hogwash oil can be sold to restaurants. The inferior, darker looking hogwash oil is sold for frying bread dough. The darkest oil is sold to the chemical industry as raw material.

Others sell raw hogwash oil directly to oil refineries as industrial raw material. There are people selling raw hogwash oil to pig farmers to feed pigs. Except for that sold to the refineries, the rest tends to flow into restaurants."

Hope this helps

[mauGR1]

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

( i prefer to cook my meals )

[Jeremy50]

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 .

How can that be? You must have a very weak stomach, and why are you still here when a western environment would probably suit you better?

I have been eating street food for 15 years and have never had food poisoning, or from any Thai restaurant. In fact the last time I got really sick was when I visited the UK last year. Seafood bought from a market.

My favorite Thai street food is BBQ chicken with somtam. Also, spring rolls with fried chillies, chicken livers, mussels, squid etc. I avoid all the deep fried stuff, as the oil is so old, and any processed meat such as those nasty pork balls. I also avoid pad thai, which is over sweet and greasy. The excessive use of sugar in Thai food is a problem, this is the main cancer risk as well as the toxic palm oil that is used time and time again.

[Number 3]

So in all. We have learned it's the luck of the draw

Some draw the short straw a lot ! Sorry for you.

Some draw it less. Good luck bestowed on you.

Some never draw the short straw. Let karma shine on you.

To discount those who draw it more than others or to question those who draw it less and how truthful they are being on an anonymous site .... Lmfao.

We all have our experiences and that is what it is. Sorry for anyone here sick with food poisoning. Devastating illness for a few days that one ! Don't I know!

[DrTuner]

spend a few thousand $ to vacation and then buy cheep food ? more of an adventure than a cost saving measure

Indeed. I always try to sample local fare, no matter what the price range. The curse of an aspiring foodie.

[BillyBobThai]

Turning Thailand into the next Singapore, will only happen in TAT's dreams.

[Jeremy50]

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.

Here is a Heads' Up for the Thai Restaurant Industry. The tourists aren't coming her to eat your daily sidewalk road kill. Be realistic for once. If you think the sidewalk food is cusing a lack of tourism I disagree. Most of the tourists, in my opinion, are looking for new young but legal bar girls and a decent price for a cold beer and a Soapy.

Oh well, 'new young but legal bar girls ' are obviously on your Christmas wish list. Did you put the word 'legal' in there just to 'OK' yourself with everybody? The last time I went to Cowboy, all the bars were empty, so I don't really agree with your assessment.

[Benmart]

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.

Visit Singapore and the hawkers food stalls. It may contest the first sentence.

[canuckistaner]

Wow, so much food poisoning, too bad but, I've eaten street food All over Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Of course, Singapore no longer has street food but back in the 70s it did. Very clean and never had any problems. Malaysia, still has street food and of course, you simply choose the places where lots of people are eating. If you come across a stall where nobody is eating or its always almost empty...same with any restaurant....stay away. However, most of the street food consists of stir fries and you cannot go wrong with that. You can watch them cooking your meal with high heat in a wok. The curried dishes can last quite a bit longer in the warm climate because the heavy spices and chilis tend to preserve the meats longer. However, I always have a good look at the food first and if I see many others eating the food, then it must be relatively safe. Spicy food may often give you the "runs" and you may think you have food poisoning but its the spices which you are not used to. Every time I land in Thailand or India, I get the "runs" for a short time...nothing too serious, simply because I haven't eaten any spicy food for a long time. One's tummy and digestive system has to get used to this.....however, it definitely is not food poisoning and after a short time, I can eat any spicy dish with no repercussions.

I had a major bout of food poisoning in a restaurant in Vancouver, which lasted 3 days and I was so sick I almost went to the hospital. This, in a place with a nice shiny, stainless steel kitchen and food hygiene and health inspections etc. The other major case was in New Delhi, India, also in a restaurant. I have never had food poisoning from street foods. However, avoid the street foods in India, the stuff not only looks bad but the hygiene is obviously poor..flies and ants crawling around and dirtly looking cooks. But just because some street food vendors look unsanitary, don't make the mistake of assuming that All are not worth trying.

In Vancouver, health standards are exceedingly high and street food Asian style would never be allowed. However, having worked in the food industry for many decades, I can tell you that much of our restaurant foods are totally devoid of flavour and nutrients and sterilized beyond sterile. You will never believe what you are getting and so I always yearn for Asian Street Foods. Sure, it looks a little unhygienic, the cook doesn't wear gloves when slicing meat, the meat is sitting on ice or melting ice, everything is in the open air...........Well, our sidewalk cafes and restaurants in Vancouver are in the open air and cars drive by spewing fumes......so whats the difference. Much of our foods are processed in some factory with all kinds of preservatives and chemicals..so whats the difference......Everything in the West looks cleaner and safer.........but do you know the additives used.........Monsanto's GMOs, modified corn starch , msg also, food colourings. What about Macdonalds....totally sterilized food and............did you see that video on youtube about the burger left outside for days or weeks and.........it seemed to last forever..........So what are we really eating...... with the high tech processed, super sterilized foods.

I thought Penang and KL food stalls to be very clean...raw meat and seafood on ice. However, I stay away from mussels, clams and oysters because they tend to be polluted all over the world, unless certified, and you won't get them certified clean in Asia. Even in Vancouver, Canada, we have to be careful when eating mussels, clams and oysters.....every so often people get poisoned. Also, since we, in the West are so obsessed with any kind of germs, hence our overbearing Health Department and Standards.......when we venture outside of our "cocoon" to visit not so sterile places like S.E. Asia or India or South America, many of us fall victim immediately to practically anything. Our immune systems are so weak...sort of like the poor natives of North America who succumbed to TB, measles and smallpox when the White man "immigrated" to the New World from Europe, back in the 1600s. Actually, a new study by doctors "hinted" that North Americans actually needed to be less paranoid about germs and get more exposure to them in order to enhance our immune system response..which has been getting lazy in recent years due to mass vaccinations and constant use of antiseptic soaps and cleaning every counter etc etc umpteen times a day with sprayed antiseptics. So, now we have Super Bugs or Mutated Germs which are resistant to antibiotics!

That post from a guy who said he gets food poisoning or sick once a month......48 times in 4 years.....he is either exaggerating or he has a chronically underperforming immune system.....in fact he had better return to a germ free environment before he expires.

There is nothing inherently wrong with street food if certain standards are upheld but the standards don't have to be First World. Most Asian street foods are prepared hot or a short time ago or heavily spiced........this minimizes bacteria count. Of course, I'm talking about Malaysia and Thailand specifically...not Laos or Cambodia. Vietnam..well the Pho was prepared hot but the sandwiches....hmmmmmm I took my chances but never got sick. Same with Cambodia. As for the Philippines, where have been hanging out for over a year.....all I can say is think twice before trying the street food or do so only if you are desperately hungy and sick of the fast foods places. Hygiene is of an unknown standard, the kind of meat is sometimes unverifiable, and the food looks horrible to being with. However, in all fairness, I have eaten street food several times without mishap. Yeah, I was desperately hungry because all they have here are fast food franchises and you get sick of eating KFC, Burger King, Macdonalds, Jollibees etc.......

[canuckistaner]

Correction concerning my previous post. Singapore does have street food, just no longer in the town center area where I used to hang around. I've been told by locals that its out of town several kms away. The last time I enjoyed street food in Singapore was in the 70s, when every evening around 6, car parks would come alive with outdoor food vendors. Just off Orchard road area and in Chinatown, but now no more.

[rainman333]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

it could be worse, in china, some street vendors use use "gutter oil" to cook with, which is basicaly oil made from the gutter ..

Please elaborate what you're talking about, oil made from the gutter?

Clearly we make have the ability to make oil from the gutter
Fabulous stuff ! Argh!!!!

see this link.... (or just google "china gutter oil")

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/28/you-may-never-eat-street-food-in-china-again-after-watching-this-video/

[rickirs]

President Taniwan Koonmongkon "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."

An inaccurate statement at best.

The incidence rates of cancer overall in Thailand are comparable to those in Asian countries but about half of those in Western countries. (ref. “Cancer Control in Thailand,” by Vanchai Vatanasapt, Supannee Sriamporn, and Patravoot Vatanasphat, 2001). Given that Asian countries have significant availability of unregulated street foods than found in Western countries, her theory seems to be questionable. The Cancer Control study found cancer risks related to Thai food consumption are 1) hepatocellular carcinoma carried by consumption of raw fish, 2) nasopharyngeal cancer comes from consumption of sea-salted fish , and 3) gastrointestinal, stomach and colorectal cancers from consumption of meat and fats. So it's not how food is prepared that is endemic to cancer but what is eaten. The Mahidol research does discuss various cancers in the Thai population but it makes not such connection that Koonmongkon implies with unhygenic street food.

One is left to suspect Koonmongkon has an ulterior motive behind her misleading statement.

[Thighlander]

Some of the street places have better sanitation knowledge than the restaurants. The refrigerator can be very dangerous. Street places buy every day. I hate the rats, that's for sure. I also avoid places that double as infant care facilities. Places that are "busy" will be a lot more likely to get my vote.

I really liked this lady from the North.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Thighlander

[iReason]

A common misconception about food poisoning;

Many who have flu-like symptoms or a "cold", believe it's just that.

These can be, and are, mild cases of FBI.

Unless it is severe food poisoning, one does not always vomit or have the "runs".

[iReason]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Some of the street places have better sanitation knowledge than the restaurants. The refrigerator can be very dangerous. Street places buy every day. I hate the rats, that's for sure. I also avoid places that double as infant care facilities. Places that are "busy" will be a lot more likely to get my vote.

I really liked this lady from the North.

Take a look at the water that pestle resides in. (in the photo)

The mask is most likely worn for her own health.

And gloves are pointless, unless regularly changed...

[Thai at Heart]

Can they just be satisfied with "cleaner streets"....

[Paulzed]

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.

Visit Singapore and the hawkers food stalls. It may contest the first sentence.

I am picking up what you are laying down, however, the post is about Thailand not Singapore, you cant compare the two, it is like trying to compare chalk and cheese to put it nicely.

Most Singaporeans are well educated, law abiding, productive and efficient people and the laws there are jealously enforced and harsh.

for example chewing gum is outlawed in Singapore, throwing rubbish on the floor is punished with a fine and the rattan.

[Cake Monster]

Many of the so-called safe / good Restaurants are as un-hygenic as the street food places.

Just take a look in the kitchen and see the mutt sitting on the food prep table while the " o ma " is cooking your food.

I use the " if the Thais eat there, its good enough for me principle "

Edited August 30, 2014 by Cake Monster

[IamNoone88]

Cleaner street food would attract more tourists? Or less taxi mafia scum and fare rip-offs - especially in Phuket, jet ski rip-offs, violence towards tourists, less political street violence and a general upturn in pleasantness and respect - would attract more tourists?

[oki]

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.

Of course production of quality food, hygienic standard and cleanness can be controlled and up-scaled.

Educate street vendors!

Educate restaurant staff and operators!

Educate people involved in this acivities!

Educate clients and customers!

We see street food all over the world, Hot-Dog stands, Hamburgers, Sausages, Pizza’s, Japanese food mobile, on food cars etc. and all of them are well organized, clean and on standard. (But what is standard?)

But the problem sits much deeper; uneducated and non food trained officials, corruption, and many other things may plays a big issue to organize this huge, multibillion dollar business, well.

See attached some pictures from the food a friend prepares for her daily street food activities!

Guarantee? You will have NO guarantee eating cleaner food in your favorite restaurant!

Bon Appetite!

Edited August 30, 2014 by oki

[Grindting]

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.

Visit Singapore and the hawkers food stalls. It may contest the first sentence.

I am picking up what you are laying down, however, the post is about Thailand not Singapore, you cant compare the two, it is like trying to compare chalk and cheese to put it nicely.

Most Singaporeans are well educated, law abiding, productive and efficient people and the laws there are jealously enforced and harsh.

for example chewing gum is outlawed in Singapore, throwing rubbish on the floor is punished with a fine and the rattan.

And so it should be. Look, too many people in society are dumb and need rules to follow or we end up back in the Middle Ages with people throwing their piss and shit buckets directly into the streets. See how disgusting china is with their lack of hygiene rules

I have no issue with people like myself chewing gum in the privacy of their own home or even in a dedicated 'gum zone' like cigarette smokers, where they can trash their gum easily. London's streets are paved with gum stuck to the floor and it's disgusting, people are just horrible sometimes and if there are no rules locals and foreigners alike will just spit their gum out directly onto the pavement with no consideration, someone will step into it and spend half an hour trying to get the cvnt off their shoe, or it'll be stuck into the pavement and we have to pay people money to remove it at a later date if ever.

Same as eating on the subway, in london they need to make and enforce this rule! Most cities even BKK don't allow eating and drinking on the system. Some groups of people on public busses in the UK leave their sandwich wrappers and KFC boxes on the seats, sometimes throwing the bones onto the floor. Why there is no fine for this is beyond me, people who do that to their own transport system are like animals and should be treated as such until they learn to behave, and by that I mean fines / community service (not lashings).

Although I wouldn't mind a law that says If you put your feet up on the adjacent seats on a train/bus you will have your knee caps smashed in with a hammer on a 3rd offence! It makes me furious seeing people disrespecting not only the seats which the network have to reupholster all the time due to damage by this, which makes them look shabby, but because someone else has to sit on it. It's so backwards and these people do not deserve to live in a civilised society. Provided the culprit doesn't look like a complete nutter I try to get people to take their feet off by pointing to the sign and saying that someone else has to sit there. Half the time if it's a foreigner like a Romanian they will do what I say, probably because they think they'll literally get in trouble, if it's a local Brit I can recall only once some kids moving, the rest usually ignore me or tell me to &lt;deleted&gt; off. Animal cvnts

[Grindting]

Cleaner street food would attract more tourists? Or less taxi mafia scum and fare rip-offs - especially in Phuket, jet ski rip-offs, violence towards tourists, less political street violence and a general upturn in pleasantness and respect - would attract more tourists?

I'm waiting for the day for them to announce that any tuktuk caught trying to rip off a tourist by saying that a certain monument or museum is closed and proceed to take them on a tour of jewellery stores etc will have his tuktuk crushed on his 2nd offence. First will be a slap on the wrist. And it doesn't matter if he leases the tuktuk or not, the business owner will need to be more careful about who he lets drive his tuktuks

[Sayonarax]

Matey who wipes down his cart with the same rag all day.

[DDbkh]

Most street food is consumed by Thais, even in popular 'tourist areas'; Thais expect very low prices for street food and that inevitably means that the vendors have to cut corners to make any money. They have to rent their patch, pay-off various protectors, buy food etc etc and still Thai people expect rock bottom prices.

If there was a tourist designated area where 'street food' cost more because it met some basic hygiene standards, the vendors would be accused of 'rip-off' prices. Until Thai people accept that better cleanliness and quality translates in to higher prices you cannot expect change from these largely unregulated entrepreneurs.

Any comparison with Singapore is irrelevant as it is less than half the size of Bangkok with half the population. It has been ruled by a single party authoritarian govt since independence in 1963, which has enforced very strict regulations on all walks of life - personal and public.

Thailand is, and hopefully always will be, different to that bland and incredibly expensive city state.

[thaiguzzi]

So what? All the good stuff in life is bad for you. And? ....

[YeaBiGgiEs]

Again as with anything in life, a person must use their own senses and logic when making ANY decision. Whether its street food or a restaurant makes no real difference though I thought at one point in time it did.

ONE THING I haven't read much at all or seen done anywhere is SANITATION. I had a culinary class in high-school and distinctly remember BLEACH being a rather good if not the best sanitizing agent.

I once mentioned to a small group of Thais that if ever in a natural disaster and in the need for drinking water a person can add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. Well I was laughed out of my soi with the Thais pointing to the warning label that you can't drink bleach.

Perhaps safe food handling/common sense should be taught in schools since a high percentage of Thais will ultimately wind up working somewhere in the food industry.

[attrayant]

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

This just in to our news desk: survey of one thousand people finds that 80% report experiencing gastrointestinal distress after eating street food. 200 people subsequently register their skepticism on the internet because they've never personally had a problem.

Film at 11.

Edited August 30, 2014 by attrayant

[canuckistaner]

Eventually, Thailand and practically every nation will have so many rules and regulations that the street food of old will no longer be allowed and the former vendors will be adopting new businesses. Every nation wants to "upgrade". And you know what that means. High tech, flashy, shiny, sterile, stainless steel, modern looking eateries serving packaged, processed, frozen, preserved, GMO infested, irradiated fruits and veges, etc etc. Its happenning in the First world and the third world tends to mimic the First because they think they are becoming modern and its an advancement in standards. You should see the Philippines.......totally Americanized food culture and obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease are the number one killers. The Worst food in Asia is in the Philippines. Imagine serving spaghetti, fried chicken, pizza and rice on the same plate........Yuck. And where can you find fruit and veges in the Philippines in a restaurant.....yeah, the token piece of lettuce or tomato or eggplant and thats about it.

The bottom line is, if you desire healthier and safer foods, LEARN TO COOK AND DO YOUR OWN FOOD SHOPPING. Thats what we do now...cooking is a nice hobby and is really quite easy. Home cooked foods taste much better than restaurant foods and you already know what you are eating.

After reading the article on Gutter Oil in China, I got really paranoid, so I'm not going to be buying any more fried street foods in the Philippines. Used to buy fried peanuts all the time and the oil looked ok, but just the same.......I feel sick just thinking about gutter oil.