LAchica

Hi all-

Two weeks until our first Thailand trip. Ya! A few more minor questions for the veterans..

1. Re: food. I read about water safety, and not to eat food that hasn't been cooked/peeled but what about things like iced tea, papaya salad/other thai salads,fruit smoothies? Are these OK?

2.We've booked Tong for a day and plan to do some shopping. We are looking for handcrafts/Thai arts. Thoughts on good, inexpensive places?

Thanks-
LAchica

Guenmai

I just try to stay away from drinking tap water...although I do brush my teeth in it and I have drunk it before...As for ice and all of that...when I'm out...as in away from my apartment or hotel room in Thailand, I just eat and drink...at restaurants... and don't worry about it much...although I know the ice could have been made from regular tap water. Of course I've had some stomach upset, but that's pretty normal. I'm more concerned about dirty eating utensils and glasses than about water and food. My mom never drinks out of a glass without using a straw no matter where she is...at home in the States or overseas...as she nearly died of a bateria acquired when she was younger that she got from the rim of a glass. So, I tend to take my individually wrapped straws with me as I've seen straws in various countries that I've traveled to washed out and reused. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

As for shopping, you can go to Naryaphand... everything Thai...there's the big one across the street from the old World Trade Center Mall which has been renamed to Central World Plaza... at Chitlom skytrain station...or... there's another branch of Naryaphand which I prefer,although smaller, that's in the Amarin Plaza(small shopping center which I prefer)also at the Chitlom skytrain station. That one can be accessed directly from the sky train area...there's a ramp that leads right inside. Why this mall is never mentioned on this forum by anyone, but me, I don't know. I've been going in there for years. There's a lot of Thai stuff in there, it's not crowded, it's inside... air-conditioned, and the prices are right and folks are willing to bargain. There are some nice shops with ready-made Thai clothing in it and those folks will bargain,too. And there are lots of fabric stores...I love the one that's called Come Thai which is on the third(?) floor. It's been there for two decades and there are piles of already-cut pieces of Thai-style textiles that can be used for things like table runners or cut to make placemats,etc... You just have to go through all of the stuff. The last time I was in Come Thai...which was Dec/Jan, Nong, the owner, had started bringing in French/Provencal types of fabrics which was a bit strange since before it was Thai textiles...so now there's a mixture of stuff. You just need a little imagination and vision and you'll make out like a bandit with the pieces of fabric. Happy Travels!

Girlspytravel

Straws washed out and reused...oh my god! That's not something I've seen, and would definitely not want to!

LA-I wouldn't worry too much about the food/drink thing in BKK, just use your common sense. I eat out on the streets of BKK all the time-the best food, IMO IS out on the streets-you just have to go to those vendors where everybody else is going-and not eat food that is been sitting out in the sun without refrigeration. But I regularly eat nice huge ice cold slices of papaya and watermelon, cut up and put in a bag, for about 10 baht that I buy out on the street-very refreshing-you should not deny yourself that if you want it.

In the hotels/restaurants-you really shouldn't have anything to worry about. I ate my way through Chinatown's street vendors this past January, squid on a stick, etc., no problems whatsoever-very tasty.

As to water, I would stick to the bottled water, to be on the safe side.

rhkkmk

this is a long tale here on fodors...we all have different views about eating...

our view is an extremely conservative one and one based on the issue of any sickness, even just one little bit, is not welcome during our vacation...

so for that reason we do not take any ice period, except perhaps in the 5 star hotel in water glasses...never in a regular restaurant and certainly NEVER from a street vendor...

always bottled water too...why do the hotels all give you bottled water in your rooms??? and why is there no ice machine on hotel room floors?? think about it...

we also stay away from most buffets...how long has the food set there...how long was it sitting in the kitchen before being put out on tables for the customers...??

we eat mostly freshly cooked food and fruits that we have peeled...

we would not eat sushi, raw shellfish and the like in thailand...

as i said we take the very conservative approach and it has paid off in 9 trips to thailand with not one sickness, save eating some hors d'oeuvres on a flight---let the guard down...

Kathie

You are getting a full variety of opinions here. I drink only bottled water, and brush my teeth with bottled water. I will take machine made ice (cylindrical with a hole) but never crushed ice. The machine made ice is made commercially from purified water. I would not eat cut fruit in bags as I traveled with someone who was sick for days after that. I also don't eat from street vendors. Many of the illnesses you want to prevent are spread by the oral-fecal route (Hepatitis A, typhoid as well as non-specific bacterial GI upsets) and the best prevention is meticulous handwashing by the people handing your food. While there is no guarantee that the staff in the sit-down restaurant were meticulous hand-washers, you increase the chances if there are handwashing facilities (which, obviously, there are not at street venders). I also want to be able to wash my hands before eating. That's another simple precautioin that can prevent many GI upsets (as well colds, etc.)

I do eat salads and cut fruits from trusted restaurants and hotels (I've been traveling to SE Asia yearly for over 20 years, so I have my favorites).

My rule is anything I'm in doubt about, I don't eat. I've only got three weeks, I don't want to spend any part of it being sick.

eurotraveller

My boyfriend is ultra paranoid about contamination. Because of his precautions I was ultra careful during our trip this past Feb. I ended up with a stomach flu for about 30 hours any way! I had brought antibiotics for just such an incident so it knocked it right out.

Due to the replies by guenmai and girlspytravel, I plan on indulging in the street vendor food on my solo trip this November. Thanks for the comments, ladies!

I won't drink any beverages with ice, however!

Pika

Hi! Don't miss the weekend market at Chatucak. Can get very hot and crowded but an experience not to be missed. Chiangmai may be a better place for handicrafts if you have time.

rhkkmk

i forgot to say that we have no salad of any kind....i know we miss out on some good things but we can have all the salads we want at home anytime...

Craig

Bob - wouldn't the soft shell crab salad at Biscotti would be an exception? That's probably not one you could get at home...

Gpanda

We've eaten salad many times at variuos restaurants and never had the slightest problem. OIn fact, Pomelo salad is one of Beth's favorites and she does not have the cast iron stomach of a Panda.

Guenmai

Yeah, Gpanda...I've eaten salad too and had no problems... I also eat lettuce-type salads all of the time. I try to be careful as much as possible, but not go overboard. Plus, one can take all the caution in the world and still get sick. The hotels/restaurants probably basically get their food supplies from the same big warehouses anyway. So, when it comes to things like lettuce and the like I don't see why it might be any safer to eat it in a 5-star than in a 2-3 star place for example. You can only wash a lettuce leaf so much. There's still probably some bacteria on it after washing. I know some people who will only eat salads, for example, in 4-5-star places instead of say 2-3 star places. And as for food in general, when I was in BK for three weeks in Dec/Jan, I saw some pretty disgusting food practices that turned my stomach...so I kind of look at it as pretty much a crap shot. What was really the most disgusting was other travelers/shoppers and touching food. I was in Paragon one day at the bakery in there and watched a man blow his nose on a kleenex and then with the kleenex still in his hand, walk around and pinch several pastries. Also, at breakfast one morning at a buffet, I watched a man remove the linen napkin that was on the bread to protect it and put his nasty hands on the bread to hold it and slice off a piece of bread. This was in the restaurant at my apartment building. I only ate the buffet breakfast about twice since I had a full kitchen and usually fixed my own breakfast. I saw stuff like that the whole three weeks...I was out and about a lot and very observant. Happy Travels!

LAchica

Yuck Guenmai! Folks are a bit daft, eh?

I have certainly received the spectrum of responses. Good advice throughout though, as always.

Guenmai

Yep...they are beyond daft...LAchica....that's why I don't get too crazy about what I eat or don't eat because the bottom line is that whatever I eat, I don't know how the food was handled before it got to me. Happy Travels!

Kathie

I also eat salads at selected places. The issue is really whether they use purified water to wash the greens. At 4* and 5* hotels, they typically will tell you that purified water has been used to wash the greens. I also eat some of the wonderful Thai salads... I'm looking forward to a banana flower salad... yum!

A friend of mine got VERY ill from eating a fresh sliced tomato at a retaurant in Bali.

rhkkmk

just a short note craig....i don't eat it but the boss does, strangely....

orgy7

Lol, I love this topic especially when it refers to fruits and vegetables. I was a produce clerk for 9 years and know what really happens to your veggies when it gets to your home, dumpy restaurant or 5 star hotel. anyway I can say that the 10 baht cut fruit is good and actually there is the advantage that you can see the color of the flesh and get a visual indicator of wether the product is fresh or not, typically the darker the more ripe it is. The papaya and pineapple should have a bright color. Rose apples are another juicy choice and this fruit tends to "hold up' well. I think it's best to buy your fruit from these stands in the early afternoon when they start rolling out.

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PeteI

Also don't forget TOPS markets, they have very nice fresh fruit and in the case of Pomelo they peal it for you. This time of year Rambutan (the hairy red fruit is good) also mangosteen the darkpurple fruit with the white edible insides.
Drink bottled water or soft drinks but don't panic out on the ice or brushing your teath. Depending on how you eat at home many have a problem at least once when you go to Thailand unless you live a sterile life which isn't any fun. Try the food. Thai restaurants in the US do not do it justice. There is a nice restaurant just inside Soi 14 Sukhumvit (Asoke sky train stop) many foreigners eat there and she has a hugh menu of not and not hot food (hot meaning spicy) It's an outdoor restaurant but very enjoyable in the early evening.

Have fun!