WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE....ALL THE BOARDS DID SHRINK

[BenCH]

I read in the paper once (so it must be true, huh?) that in Bangkok even the 5-star hotels have "no not drink tap water" signs at the bathroom water taps because the Bangkok water treatment plants use a higher level of chlorine than many other western countries, and the hotels fear that the higher level might cause upset stomachs.

Despite your newspaper reports I never saw such warning in any hotel (including The Peninsula, Shangri-la etc) I stayed at in Bangkok over the last 10 years. And I always use tap water for cleaning my teeth there without problems.

[TrongpaiExpat]

The only problem I have ever had was, the first time I visited, I got a nose infection - which may perhaps have come from shower water. I just assumed it would go away after a day or two, and I was very wrong. It took three courses of antibiotics to shift it in the end. Second visit, the same thing happened - but this time I went straight off to the local Pharmacy, got some cream, and it was gone in a couple of days. I think the moral of that story is if you get an infection in Thailand - cuts, noses, insect bites, whatever - get to the Pharmacist sooner rather than later.

By a nose infection I assume you mean rhino sinusitis? The hotel AC or the airplane air might be more to blame. No way of knowing or stopping people from making spurious conclusions. Here is the latest study on rhino sinusitis and treatment.

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_62196.html

If your more inclined to think like the locals then here is an excellent cure for everything, bird's nest beverages, quite expensive too, so it has to be good!

notthenation.com/pages/news/getnews.php?id=480

My hobby is keeping tropical fish, so I have all the water testing kits. The tap water where I am now is high on chlorine and chloramine, I don't see how much bacteria or parasites could live in it. I have to dechlorinate it for the fish. The kh (calcium hardness) is 4 to 6 ppm, my guess is that the water supply is being buffered with sodium. GH (general hardness is also in the 4 to 6 range. GH is a concern in that some of the elements could be iron, copper or the more dangerous heavy metals. I don't get dangerous reading on any heavy metals but there could be trace amounts, probably from old pipes rather than the water supply. Those water machines do work. I have tested the water from them and the kh is 0, ph 6.0-- that's pure water.

TE,

I think you are being a bit optimistic if you think that the water testing kits for tropical fish will give any more than a very basic indication of whether your water is fit to drink or not. Testing for chlorine, calcium, general hardness, pH, etc, will not show up the micro-organisms that cause giardia, amoebiasis, dysentry, etc - many of which can live in chlorinated water.

[TrongpaiExpat]

To clarify, I don't drink tap water but do used it for my fish after removing the chlorine. The RO water alone is not good for fish, depends on the species but they do need some KH/GH. I drink the RO water from the machine, it's so cheap it's hardly worth considering tap water.

I use both test chemical kits and some electronic testers for PH, KH, GH, NO3, NO4, but for the fish not me!

[thrillbill]

I imagine there are various factors how "dirty" the water is in parts of Thailand (pipes, holding tanks...) All I know is that the Thais don't even drink the tap water. I drink only from bottled water but it seems that one would have a chance with those bacteria microbes multiplying inside of you when you do use the tap water when brushing your teeth. I can't say that I have been deathly sick from using tap water for cleaning my teeth....but twice now while living in Thailand I have had a bacterial infection (name?) in one of my eyes and the doctor has said it was from me having the tap water on my fingers before handling my contact lenses. I have learned to give my hands a good washing before putting the lenses on, but they are wet from tap water. In all the 20 years I have worn my lenses, I never had a bacteria eye infection until I lived in Pattaya. -who knows?

[TrongpaiExpat]

I remember this episode of Showtime's Penn and Teller's 'Bullshit' on bottled water and tap water. I don't see this series for sale on Silom or the other bootleg dealers and Showtime is not on UBC or any of the other cable providers in Thailand that I know of, too bad.

www.sho.com/site/ptbs/prevepisodes.do?episodeid=s1/bw

[dave_tf-old]

I would think it might also make a difference whether you clean your teeth while they are still in your mouth, or remove them and put them in a glass.

The only time I've let down my guard was travelling around Issaan. I drank water from a bowl in a corn field from unknown origins. Thankfully, I had preceded the swig with a healthy dose of Issaan hootch and actually felt better after drinking the combo than before.

[ceejay]

By a nose infection I assume you mean rhino sinusitis? The hotel AC or the airplane air might be more to blame. No way of knowing or stopping people from making spurious conclusions. Here is the latest study on rhino sinusitis and treatment.

Thanks for the link - it's an interesting article, and useful to me.

[TrongpaiExpat]

By a nose infection I assume you mean rhino sinusitis? The hotel AC or the airplane air might be more to blame. No way of knowing or stopping people from making spurious conclusions. Here is the latest study on rhino sinusitis and treatment.

Thanks for the link - it's an interesting article, and useful to me.

If it gets really bad and you need to see a doctor Bumrungrad had a good ENT clinic, you generally get an appointment on the day you call.
www.bumrungrad.com/thailand-expat/Medical-Services/Overview.aspx

And for a few chuckles:
notthenation.com/pages/news/getnews.php?id=388

Those who have been there will get it.

[TrongpaiExpat]

I would think it might also make a difference whether you clean your teeth while they are still in your mouth, or remove them and put them in a glass.

Ha Ha Ha
Half of the Pattaya resident don't find that funny.

Not there yet, all teeth attached by the root and at no small expense and a lot of chair time at the dentist. I have had every dam procedure know to modern dentistry except implants.

But now that you mention it, I wonder what water they use when drilling, boring, scraping, probing and cutting me up?