Sorry to be asking simple questions. <BR>Is Bankok on a par with Bali for food related disease's. <BR>i'e Will I be risking the runs for days or hepatitis if I eat at a street stall? <BR> <BR>thanks <BR> <BR>

Dave - <BR> <BR>I can't speak to Bali but I do have experience with some Bangkok stalls. <BR> <BR>We've never had a problem with street food there although I must say, we usually just snack at stalls and eat meals in restaurants. We generally try to follow the basic stall wisdom of only eating at vendors who seem to have a busy cart and high turnover of food. That way it doesn't sit around very long and is usually very fresh. <BR> <BR>I would advise making sure your vitamins are up to par. On our first trip in '99 I got terribly sick the last two days we were there. We thought it was some chicken I ate at a stall-come-restaurant but my husband was fine. <BR> <BR>Turns out, I heard on the news at home two weeks later that I had caught some kind of bad Thai flu that was "sweeping" <BR>through Thailand. At that point, I was just starting to get better so then we knew it wasn't food poisioning. You don't stay sick for two weeks on food poisioning. <BR> <BR>In any case, make sure your immune system is up to par while you're there and run yourself too hard. I notice that I have a tendency to get a cold or the flu if I "go too fast" while away. Make sure to get enough rest. <BR> <BR>Have a blast and drink/eat a Thai coconut for me! <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR

Me again. <BR> <BR>I meant "don't run yourself too hard" in above message. <BR> <BR

I found it eased my mind to carry a small cup with me. Often at the stalls, they had shared cups for juice and that just seemed a little too risky for me. Other than watching out as above, I never got sick, but you should watch out as the above poster mentioned. maybe the hot spices kill all the germs!

You should also try to avoid stalls that are very close to busy streets, since surveys showed a high lead content in much of the food. <BR> <BR>