Don't let Thai poisoning case turn you off street food

I have only had severe food poisoning once in Thailand in nine tours of the kingdom. I've had the very rare bout of mild diarrhoea the next day. So all in all, I have had little to complain about in eating street food in Thailand.

I can only suspect that the source of  my severe case was from a foreigner owned restaurant in a northeastern city. I'd only had noodle soup in the late morning from a busy shophouse kitchen. I didn't eat again until early evening. I had a steak hamburger sandwich. I awoke the next morning at 7 when I was forced to flee to the toilet. I was stricken for the next four or five days.

I can recall having more incidents of food poisoning back home in Toronto, Canada. After a series of newspaper articles on some poor sanitary conditions found during covert investigations,  the local health department enacted a new inspection program that's been very effective.

Based on my experience and those of long time expats, including writer Richard Barrow in a blog report this week, I would say you have little to worry about unless you have a particularly weak tummy.

Barrow, a prolific writer on Thailand topics and a Thai speaker, writing on Thai-blogs.com, rounds up the latest Thai and English language news on the tragic death of a young New Zealand woman who died from, well, something she ate. There's nothing clearcut yet in terms of the source of the food poisoning that struck her and her two young friends, Barrow reports.

He also has some good tips about eating street food in Thailand in his article: Are Thai street food stalls really dangerous?

 

PHOTOS: Top, fried rice stand on Sukhumvit near soi 22, but no longer there recently. Above right, som tam, the only Isaan Thai street food that has defeated me because of the extreme chilli nature. Som tam is available everywhere and has been known to be a bit dodgy as a safe street food.

 

 

 

Comments

[Martyn]

1.

Rick, it's not often I eat off the street stalls in Thailand but whenever I have, I've never had a problem. Saying not often is probably a bit of an understatement because every trip to a Thai market normally involves buying a snack or two to take back home. The street food stalls have as a rule been in their same spot for years and stood the test of time. A stall with a queue is always a sign of quality food.

[Talen]

2.

Rick, I know a good Thai restaurant that did me in last week. I have to say though I have never gotten ill from any street food I've eaten and I've eaten tons!