Serious Allergies and Thailand Peanuts, Wheat, or whatever foods

Whilst like Scots i find it hard to buy into the above at all so I'll not bother even going there BUT the point ( even if it was a wind up) re the peanut allergy was an interesting one and one that I'm sure some people DO have to deal with -and in a life threatening manner to if they get it wrong I guess !

So, has anyone ever come across this subject raising it's head with friends etc as whilst I'm sure you might be able to learn / hand over a note in perfect Thai to get your condition across but I'm guessing that whilst there may be a lot of nodding and understanding and polite smiles offered in reality there may not be a whole lot of action taken back in the kitchen ( if any!) which seeing as how so many satay dishes etc are prepared in Thailand could depending on the person actually prove quite fatal ! However as it's never something one really hears about can we assume then that either I'm wrong and Thai people are VERY careful about such things if asked to be OR perhaps do people with nut allergies think ahead and just don't both visiting places like SE Asia at all perhaps ??? Any thoughts ?

[lonelywombat]

I am not sure if this is real or not. I did not object but wondered if you made the best choice of going to Phuket first

There is so much more info here on all Thai destinations but this one Pattaya in particular, has most detail.

Have you made your booking and if not how flexible are you?

Tell us what you like and why you picked Phuket.

Then we can give you some great experienced advise.

[stevehadders]

Again, on off chance its genuine: My friend cannot eat wheat (celiac - ie has to have gluton free), and he joined me on a trip about 2 years ago. To avoid translation issues he used a translator program on internet , printed + laminated it and brought it along. Touched down BKK, went to Hotel, and I told him - show it to the Reception - he did, they looked a while and sniggered (we all know those translators are not perfect), and they kindly wrote out for him in perfect Thai - which was perfect for our trips to C Mai, Phuket and Pattaya. Just an idea!
By the way, I was really surprised at the number of Thai dishes that had wheat in - I was just thinking bread etc so shouldnt be a problem ...not the case

[ceejay]

That's a pretty good idea, Steve Hadders, but if my life literally depended on it I would go to an English speaking doctor in Bangkok and ask him to write the letter for me, rather than relying on the reception staff in a hotel - no matter how well meaning.

[Neal]

Jumping in here for a moment, many, many people throughout the world have serious allergies to peanuts. I concur with the above and have to agree on a small sign in Thai about peanuts so they are very aware of your allergic problem to peanuts. Since it is NOT rare and quite common, I am sure a quick sign from a clinic is very smart and certainly not rare a rare thing to see.

[gaymandenmark]

Last time I was in Koh Samet with my ex-bf, we met two english girls, just arrived from London.
Talking about different subjects, they mentioned that one of them was serious allergic to peanuts, and asked how to tell the waiter/kitchen, and if we could help.
I asked if she did not have medicin against the allergic, if something went wrong.
She had of course, but it was better to avoid the peanuts.
My ex-bf wrote it down in thai in her not electronic notebook.
Even if it is of course better to have it from a doctor, I trust and trusted that he wrote it correctly.

Funny enough I met the girls again in the airport, when I was going back to my homecountry, they had a great holiday without problems, and asked me to thank xxx for his helpfulness.

[stevehadders]

I wholly agree with sentiments re clinic etc - in my friend's case it was non life threatening - it would have been uncomfortable for a few days if he had eaten a non gluton free product, as such we did what we did and it worked. I take the point, however, that peanut allergy can be fatal as such my advice was a tad irresponsible.

Incidentally, i have an allergy (quite common I believe) to kiwi fruit - so if u want to finish me off, you all now know how!

[ceejay]

Out of curiosity, I had a Google for allergy translation cards. Brits can get them from Allergy UK (Their cards include Thai language versions)
http://www.allergyuk.org/getting-help/translation-cards
Other countries have organisations producing similar cards.

The above is all great advice ( especially the printed cards) but going back to my question I just wonder has anyone come across the Thai reaction to bring told about such a nut allergy etc ie is it just accepted and accommodated accordingly or considered something strange and god forbid even ignored perhaps as I just find it hard to think of some of the places I eat in stopping what they are doing, wiping down their cooking bowls and utensils etc and ensuring that no trace of peanuts could be passed to the dinner with so much nut based ingredient being used in some Thai foods etc, or mYbe I'm just being unkind to Thai chefs ? And or maybe the people concerned are just careful to chose to eat in places where they can be fairly sure their requirements WILL be taken seriously?

Anyone have any experience of seeing an average Thai restaurants reaction to this situation arising maybe ? And I don't mean to suggest that Thais wouldn't take such things seriously as obviously for some people it could be life threatening but I just can't recall ever seeing or hearing anyone ever bring up whilst on my travels so wonder at the reaction they would receive?

[bruce_nyc]

A side comment about using any translation software --- like Google Translate, for example....

One trick I've figured out is:

Write it in very simple English grammar.
Translate into Thai.
Copy the resulting Thai, and
Paste the Thai back into the translator, and
Translate it BACK into English.

If it translates back into English and still says exactly what you intended, use it.
( That's about 50% of the time. )
If it doesn't translate back meaning exactly what you intended.... Start over.... rephrasing the initial English you're starting with.

[gaymandenmark]

Well NIrish Guy, it seemed to work for the girl I met on Samed, that is all I know.