Drinking water and Ice in restaurants (in drinks)

[wibblewobbleboy]

Hi all,

Coming across with my kids next week (ages are 19 and 20) and staying for 11 days in Jontiem.

Normally holiday in Europe or the USA.

I have a couple of questions.

Is the tap water drink able? also my kids kids like to have iced drinks (beer is my drink) and I was wondering if it is safe to have ice from restaurants.

Regards

Dave

[Yahooka]

Tap water is not recomended to drink,but the ice from bars and resturants is fine.

[alocacoc]

Since i got sick from Ice-cubes in a drink, i avoid ice.

[wibblewobbleboy]

All,

Thank you for the info.

Kids will have to have cold bottled drinks then.

I take it water from bottles is ok to drink (not like they used to have in Saudi where they would reseal bottles after putting tap water in them)

Dave

[digbeth]

I wouldn't drink the tap water anywhere, even in Bangkok; though the water authority keeps assuring that they are fine to drink, pipe burst too often in this city and many people pump their tap water from the mains, causing low pressure that allows contamination when there are leaks or repairs.

And in buildings sometime the water is stored in unclean tanks or concrete wells, so no, no drinking from the taps unless you have water filters.

When I first got to Thailand, it is hard to not stop yourself from taking your glass to the tap, but having a few taste of the tap water will condition you quickly to not do that...

As for ice depends on the restaurants really, there are unhygienic ice out there too, the FDA does random spot check of ice and they have found things from bacteria and heavy metals to formaldehyde

but if you worry about ice, you will have to take in consideration other things too, like the water they use to wash the glass, dishes, cutlery....

[brewsterbudgen]

Ice cubes or with holes through it is fine.

[steven100]

Never drink tap water .. You can buy sealed bottled water everywhere. Ice cubes are considered fine from upmarket hotels, street restaurants and bars ... don't take from the street bars or cheap charlie bars.

[marmaduke]

I believe I have gotten sick from ice cubes on occasion. I try to avoid ice in most Thai restaurants, unless they are highly successful. Ice cubes may be made from

bottled water or tap water in Thailand. The chain restaurants such as Sizzler, Black Canyon, Coffe Club, S & P Coffee, I can trust. Beware the low budget Thai restaurants, especially the ones along the sides of the road, that have a more temporary set up.

[kdrayong]

Ice cubes or with holes through it is fine.

May I ask why? What is the difference?

[brewsterbudgen]

Ice cubes or with holes through it is fine.

May I ask why? What is the difference?

I've always understood that ice with "holes" is hygienely produced whereas "mushy" ice or whole blocks are not.

But it now seems it's a myth!

http://tastythailand.com/is-ice-in-drinks-in-thailand-safe-yes-it-is/

[Nice Boyd]

8 years coming here, living 6 months a year, always brush my teeth with tap water and always use the Ice in drinks, Never been sick,also never had an vaccine or injection except tetanus shot

[SoiBiker]

Ice is fine. Tap water is probably ok to, but avoiding it is so easy that you may as well not take the risk.

[uksomchai]

Since i got sick from Ice-cubes in a drink, i avoid ice.

I'm just curious as to how you know for sure it was the ice that made you ill unless all you had was the ice that day ?

[alocacoc]

Since i got sick from Ice-cubes in a drink, i avoid ice.

I'm just curious as to how you know for sure it was the ice that made you ill unless all you had was the ice that day ?

Thats a legitimate question. I went to a KFC branch with my girlfriend. She had a meal and i drunk only a coke, with ice in it. She drunk also a coke or a fanta. About 1 or 1 1/2 hours later we begun both to feel bad which leads in diarrhea and vomit. My last meal was about 12 hours before. So i'm pretty sure it was the ice. I told this to a friend of mine. He explained me, most likely KFC would use their own ice machines in the branch. If they not get cleaned regularly, it can cause such issues. It sound plausible to me.

[Basil B]

I have never had any issue that I would put down to the water, but as already said OK for brushing teeth and washing, most bars and restaurants buy in their ice in bags or have it delivered from reputable souses.

Bottled water ids cheap and If you are staying in a hotel you will probably find you get a couple of bottles of drinking water free every day.

[craigt3365]

It's doubtful you'll get sick from tap water. But, it does happen and the water quality here is dodgy. Extremely easy to get bottled water. Brushing your teeth is fine. Most ice comes from factories using filtered water, but how those filters are maintained could be questionable. Pretty rare to get sick from water, but easy to avoid, especially on a short trip.

[Walter Travolta]

Brushed teeth with tap water and drank bottled water - never had a problem. One thing I will say though is that I know someone who became sick from using the reverse osmosis filler uppers on the soi.

[curtklay]

I have never had any issue that I would put down to the water, but as already said OK for brushing teeth and washing, most bars and restaurants buy in their ice in bags or have it delivered from reputable souses.

Bottled water ids cheap and If you are staying in a hotel you will probably find you get a couple of bottles of drinking water free every day.

I wouldn't buy ice from souses, reputable or not.

(sorry, I couldn't resist.)

[richard_smith237]

Tap Water - I brush my teeth with it... but I don't drink it. Bottled water to drink is cheap and can be found everywhere.

Ice - I've never had an issue with Ice anywhere in Thailand, its always fine.

Perhaps some are getting a little dehydrated and mistakenly attributing their 'little bout of the trots' to some dodgy ice when in reality, headache and diarrhoea are typical symptoms of dehydration.

All of my family (Parents, Sisters with their kids) have all visited Thailand a few times - Ice in a drink has never been a concern.

But...... Whats your salad washed in ?

[steven100]

Ice cubes or with holes through it is fine.

May I ask why? What is the difference?

That's because the they drill out the bad water if there's any in the cube.

[onemorechang]

Don't drink the tap water,

ok for brush your teeth.

Ice is fine.

Think most issues come from washing the glass and using a dish cloth or drying towel on them. not the ice. that's just my opinion.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Since i got sick from Ice-cubes in a drink, i avoid ice.

I'm just curious as to how you know for sure it was the ice that made you ill unless all you had was the ice that day ?

Thats a legitimate question. I went to a KFC branch with my girlfriend. She had a meal and i drunk only a coke, with ice in it. She drunk also a coke or a fanta. About 1 or 1 1/2 hours later we begun both to feel bad which leads in diarrhea and vomit. My last meal was about 12 hours before. So i'm pretty sure it was the ice. I told this to a friend of mine. He explained me, most likely KFC would use their own ice machines in the branch. If they not get cleaned regularly, it can cause such issues. It sound plausible to me.

So you got sick once - from maybe ice because it could also have been a virus.

[overherebc]

Google Giardia. ☺

[alocacoc]

So you got sick once - from maybe ice because it could also have been a virus.

Nah, my GF got sick within the same hour. How is the probability that this happen from a virus? 0.2%? So, 99.98% it was from the ice.

[canarysun]

Hello Viewers!

As much as i love to rip into some of our Thai Visa viewers ( especially the ones that take the forum so incredibly seriously....)

I do have to mention again that after 4 years of drinking water from water machines ( in the soi ) and from various large containers of " buying water on the cheap " in the end i paid the price.It made me very ill and have a problem with my Liver because of drinking this water.I am currently in the UK ( what a dreadful place it is may i add....) but my Doctor ( a bloody nice bloke ) did say that if i had continued to drink from water as pure as the Mekong River then i would be " Brown Bread " ( dead ) by now.

My advice would be to ONLY drink purified drinking water from the bottles and don't risk anything else at all.

I shall eventually be returning back to Thailand sometime in the future.

Canary Sun x

[Acharn]

I think you've gotten the answers you need, but I can't resist the temptation to toss in my opinion. I live up-country, in Nakhon Sawan, but I lived in Bangkok for more than twenty years. The tap water is as safe to drink as the tap water in your home country. Same with the ice. Forty years ago Bangkok was safe, but the rest of the country was risky. Bottled water is often less safe than the tap water. I never drink it except when my niece is around to notice. Used to have to worry about my wife, but she passed away. I've lived in places in Thailand where the water was definitely not safe, but I've been here a long time and I think my immune system has become stronger for it. Your mileage may vary.

[stoli]

Stay away from the tap water, but the ice is fine anywhere. You will see the ice trucks all over town delivering their product to every bar, even the little places set up on the beach. The millions of ice chests you will see everywhere are filled with bags of ice for their customers. For a Thai, it is cheaper and more efficient to buy ice than make it. I do use a small amount of tap water to rinse after I brush my teeth, and then spit it out. I do not swallow. (No pun intended).

[IAMHERE]

I'm told to wash hands for at least 15 - 20 seconds to kill germs. I brush my teeth for almost two minutes with toothpaste (soap?), should kill most all germs that may be in the tap water. I drink the bottled water and agree with the round ice with the hole in it even if it is a myth.

[bazza40]

Getting a bacterial, viral or parasitic infection in one's thirties or forties is probably survivable. In the seventies and eighties, it could be fatal. So I'm ultra careful. I get the reverse osmosis water, then boil it. And make ice from the boiled water.

The good thing about boiling is it destroys everything biological. So giardia or cryptosporidia are zapped, which a lot of water treatment plants don't do. Also, chlorine and chloramines are boiled off - these compounds are suspected of contributing to cancer incidence.

I'm sure there are people on this forum who have consumed tap water and ice without ill effect. To them I say you are making the assumption tap water treatment plants in Thailand are going to operate with 100% efficiency, and that's a fairly dangerous assumption.

[craigt3365]

Hello Viewers!

As much as i love to rip into some of our Thai Visa viewers ( especially the ones that take the forum so incredibly seriously....)

I do have to mention again that after 4 years of drinking water from water machines ( in the soi ) and from various large containers of " buying water on the cheap " in the end i paid the price.It made me very ill and have a problem with my Liver because of drinking this water.I am currently in the UK ( what a dreadful place it is may i add....) but my Doctor ( a bloody nice bloke ) did say that if i had continued to drink from water as pure as the Mekong River then i would be " Brown Bread " ( dead ) by now.

My advice would be to ONLY drink purified drinking water from the bottles and don't risk anything else at all.

I shall eventually be returning back to Thailand sometime in the future.

Canary Sun x

I was wondering what was happening to you! Miss your posts about Thai rail travel.

Sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, too many just don't care and do drink out of these machines. It's been widely reported these machines are not serviced properly. Probably worse getting your water from them than just drinking right out of the tap.

Anyway. Best of luck. Wish you a speedy recovery.