Silly question about drinking water...

I've read in many guides and also here on that forum that a basic rule to avoid contamination by amibe microbia is to drink capsuled bottles of water, not from the tap. But so, what if you are served a breakfast with coffee, how do you know the water from the coffee comes from a capsuled bottle? Or do you never drink coffee?

Similar Threads:

• Drinking water machines
• silicon-NOT A SILLY QUESTION
• Drinking in Sunee Plaza
• WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE....ALL THE BOARDS DID SHRINK
• silly question 3 from flip

I've read in many guides and also here on that forum that a basic rule to avoid contamination by amibe microbia is to drink capsuled bottles of water, not from the tap. But so, what if you are served a breakfast with coffee, how do you know the water from the coffee comes from a capsuled bottle? Or do you never drink coffee?

Do not drink tap water in order to avoid stomach trouble. As always, where a lot of water is running, the water is usually fairly safe at least for locals, but not if you are not familiar with this.

You're safe with hot coffee or tea. Ice from supermarkets, mini markets is sold in sealed packages and made from drinking water. There are constantly small trucks rushing around selling large packages of ice for drinks and good knows. All theses are also made from drinking water.

I never ever hat any problems using tap water for cleaning my teeth but I always have some water running away at first.

Be careful with crushed ice. This is often unsafe due to lazy handling.

Bottled water is cheap and available everywhere.

If you are invited in a Thai house in smaller a village or so, make sure ALL your food is washed and cooked with bottled water only, Use bottled water for extra cleaning of spoon and fork. Don't be shy. Just tell your friends that you're having problems with your stomach and they will understand you. This is not unusual.

Before taking a shower or bath make sure that some litres of hot water is running away at first. Don’t breath for a moment. The problem is less if your hot water is not supplied from a central heater but directly made with an electrical boiler. Standing water in pipes and drain’s is breeding ground for listeria monocytogenus, commonly known as legionnaire’s disease.

[dab69]

first time in Pattaya I forgot and
brushed my teeth with tap water.
the taste of the water had me immediately running
to the minibar for a can of soda to gargle with.
I am certain it was a fecal taste,
but I would not know for sure.

from then on I never brush with anything but
bottled water.

I am certain it was a fecal taste,
but I would not know for sure.

Ask Homintern; he can tell you for sure.

Definitely use bottled water. While my Thai friends may rinse drinking glasses and dishes in tap water, they use bottled water for drinking. I try to avoid recently rinsed dishes (still wet), just to be on the safe side. In some Thai restaurants or street stands, you may see or be served "brown" water -- this does not mean it is bad, the Thai put a few tea leaves in it to make it brown - this is to show to their customers that the water has been boiled. When I made my first upcountry visit to a Thai village, I was served rainwater (collected in those huge containers that collect the rain water from the house gutters) - at that time I was a "newbie" to Thailand and, not wishing to offend, I drank it - no ill effects.

My bf, when he cooks, often uses tap water, which he boils and in the rice cooker -- so far, I have survived his cooking. However, I still use bottled water for most of my own cooking, especially if it is for pasta, soup, or sauces.

Definitely use bottled water. While my Thai friends may rinse drinking glasses and dishes in tap water, they use bottled water for drinking. I try to avoid recently rinsed dishes (still wet), just to be on the safe side. In some Thai restaurants or street stands, you may see or be served "brown" water -- this does not mean it is bad, the Thai put a few tea leaves in it to make it brown - this is to show to their customers that the water has been boiled. When I made my first upcountry visit to a Thai village, I was served rainwater (collected in those huge containers that collect the rain water from the house gutters) - at that time I was a "newbie" to Thailand and, not wishing to offend, I drank it - no ill effects.

My bf, when he cooks, often uses tap water, which he boils and in the rice cooker -- so far, I have survived his cooking.


However, I still use bottled water for most of my own cooking, especially if it is for pasta, soup, or sauces.

Well, as soon as tap water is heated up to boiling temperatures, it's safe.

You should try to avoid cooking, cleaning teeth etc. washing fruits or dishes with collected rain water by any means.

Don’t eat apples or any other fresh fruit without a proper prior washing with bottled water. Best is to peel any fresh fruits.

Growers of some fresh fruit, i.e. oranges, tangerines are using enormous amounts of pesticides and good know what else. Shrimps are usually grown in ponds and containing a hilarious cocktail of pharmaceuticals, i.e. antibiotics and many others.

My supervising darling is a young but very good Issan farmer. He or his family always takes care what and where we eat. He doesn’t have any problems checking kitchen or asking the staff precisely where they get there groceries from. He is always looking for organically grown products and would i.e. never ever eat any chicken or eggs if not free range. If he is not sure about the ingredients, he would not touch anything but change to another place. He knows exactly what he is doing. I've learned a lot from him.

Especially in villages make sure that bottled water is used with you. Rice or noodles are always properly cooked and therefore safe. Temperatures are not always rising really high while using a wok.

Have always some Imodium or so with you just in case. In Thailand it's cheap and available at any pharmacy.

BTW, some foreign people’s digestion system starts revolting after consuming Singha or Leo beer (same brewers as Singha). This is due to some enzymes develop during the brewing process. I like the taste of a cool Singha but cannot drink more than a small bottle. Several years ago it took some painful 14 days to find out about this. No problems with any other beer.

Take care, don’t spoil your holidays.

some say they use tap water just to brush their teeth, but most drs advise against that--the garbage that will make you sick is present in that water as well and is not visible to the eye and only needs a micro particle to make your gastro system very sick--I have known many friends that have become sick using tap water to brush their teeth or in the shower, as at home, they thought nothing of getting a bit of water in their mouths as it was only a small amount they thought.

Also to the use of immodium, it is not advised unless you are traveling on a bus or are somewhere where toilet facilities are not readily available. Ask any dr and the will tell you that immodium is a last resort medicine, not a first resort--it is an anti-motility drug which stops the cramps and contractions of the bowels, so yes, it will do an excellent job of stopping your diarrhea, but that is not what you want. When you have eaten something "bad" or contaminated in someway, vomiting and diarrhea is the body's way of ridding the body of the offending bacteria---while unpleasant, it helps you mend and get better and get the contamination out of your body--taking an anti-motility drug like immodium or stops the contractions of the bowels' efforts to rid your body of the bacteria--it's a nasty image, but when you take immodium a dr will tell you all that does is back up in your system all that "crap" that should be purged and delays healing.

jeffmars, do you normally get tummy problems abroad?

In thailand i get sick almost every time - (severe once - mild most times) but i also know many farangs who live there who never get sick. Guess it depends how robust your constitution is.

Just take some precautions and see how it goes. If you do need medical help there are some excellent hospitals/clinics and pharmacies available to help you at a fraction of the cost compared to Europe.

I just had a lovely month there and had only 1 days mild discomfort - maybe my stomach is getting acclimatised after numerous visits.

Hope you have an illness free trip

some say they use tap water just to brush their teeth, but most drs advise against that--the garbage that will make you sick is present in that water as well and is not visible to the eye and only needs a micro particle to make your gastro system very sick--I have known many friends that have become sick using tap water to brush their teeth or in the shower, as at home, they thought nothing of getting a bit of water in their mouths as it was only a small amount they thought.

Also to the use of immodium, it is not advised unless you are traveling on a bus or are somewhere where toilet facilities are not readily available. Ask any dr and the will tell you that immodium is a last resort medicine, not a first resort--it is an anti-motility drug which stops the cramps and contractions of the bowels, so yes, it will do an excellent job of stopping your diarrhea, but that is not what you want. When you have eaten something "bad" or contaminated in someway, vomiting and diarrhea is the body's way of ridding the body of the offending bacteria---while unpleasant, it helps you mend and get better and get the contamination out of your body--taking an anti-motility drug like immodium or stops the contractions of the bowels' efforts to rid your body of the bacteria--it's a nasty image, but when you take immodium a dr will tell you all that does is back up in your system all that "crap" that should be purged and delays healing.

Oh, yes. Regarding Imodium I agree in fully.

If diarrhea starts, Imodium or something similar can safe you from further unpleasent happenings while feeling the urgency of needing a toilet.... It's an acute medicine only and should be used with care.

What causes diarrhoea needs to be analysed individually step by step. It’s rather unlikely that a normal healthy person might get problems while using running tap water in urban areas that easily. But it is important to let some water run away at first.

Diarrhoea could come from many sources, like unclean food – or in mine and some friends cases, even from drinking Singha beer.

Several years ago it did some time for me to sort out what went wrong with my stomach while suffering similar troubles. After a week a consulted a good practitioner but he couldn’t’ find anything and gave me some effective medicine. A pharmacist who was running a small shop close to my previous neighbourhood mentioned beer Singha – and all my troubles went after two days. I mentioned this to some friends haveing occacionally similar problems - and after they swichted the beer brand, there problems where fading too.

Since than I got twice some kind of food poisoning due to cosuming food and using cutlery washed to rain water, traditionally stored in tanks next to the house. I am not having any problems during the past eight years - touch wood.

I didn't even consider brushing my teeth with bottled water so i will do that too... well, I have a rather weak stomach yes... but my main problem when I get out of my house (even when I stay in my own country France!) is constipation! lol I guess I will bring my own toilet with me! More seriously, I'm a little bit nervous on the health aspect as it's my very first trip outside Europe and also my first long plane trip! Just hope all will be fine as I will remain 16 days! But as you say it's easy to find good doctors and medicines, that should be OK. Besides I have 2 good Thai contacts in Bangkok and Pattaya so that should help too... Thanks for explaining all this anyway! Cheers from France