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? :)

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

It is much better to understand how these bacteria are spread than to simply say use bottled water. For example do you realise that if you just bring water to the boil and then ingest it it still may not be safe to drink. The boiling time required differs with your altitude.For every 1000 ft above sea level add 1.5 minutes. If you are eating any thing make sure it is fresh before it is cooked.My first advice on going to LOS was "if you see all the Thai's eating there it is probably pretty good food,if you only see a few falang avoid it like the locals."Always have immodium ,Never had to use it....So far! Best to all you buggers,Phil :pukeleft:

while i do think that jeffmars worries a bit too much--I can see why he has not traveled very much. I would disagree that looking at where all the Thais are eating and eat there is the way to go. Most Thais from a very young age, eat all kinds of foods we would never eat and often build up a kind of immunity to the street bacteria, etc and their systems are used to it--also, it is a myth that Thais don't also get sick from eating bad food or drinking contaminated water--I read an interesting story recently on how most avg Thais also end up sick a number of times each year from bad food/water/etc but just accept it as way of life--they do not have the various options as to where to eat, etc--even with tried, true and tested cast iron stomachs, they still do have some bad bouts due to contaminated water and food. Also, as stated in an earlier posting, immodium is a medicine of last resort, not first resort, when struck with stomach ailments.

[Aunty]

Well I think if you follow the advice of the people here, Jeffmars, you won't go far wrong. If you do have a delicate stomach I would also avoid eating any street food that is cooked by the street vendors and only eat cooked food in the restaurants. If you're just visiting Bangkok and Pattaya the quality of the tap water there (which will have been chlorine treated) is likely to be not too bad. I brushed my teeth in the tap water of Bangkok and had no problems, although I wouldn't do that in a rural area or small town in Thailand where the water is unlikely to have been treated.

If you really are paranoid about it, or intend to travel into rural areas, you can always buy some water purification tablets in France and take these with you. They typically treat 1litre of water in around 30 minutes and kill off the bacteria and viruses.

http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/default ... 172&P=5273 (http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/default.aspx?T=4430&G=4172&P=5273)

http://www.prepare.co.nz/categories.asp?cID=12

http://www.pills2u.co.uk/ProductDetails ... uctID/3626 (http://www.pills2u.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/3626)

In general, I agree with the advice above. Here is what I do: I brush my teeth with tap water, never had a problem. I actually prefer street vendors to small restaurants for food freshness. If the street vendor's area looks clean and he has high turnover and lots of customers, the food is fresh, and unlikely to make you sick. I prefer this option to a small indoor restaurant that has no customers - how old is the food in there? I also always drink bottled water. I also have never had a problem with Beer Singha, so maybe my stomach is made of iron.

If the street vendor's area looks clean and he has high turnover and lots of customers, the food is fresh, and unlikely to make you sick.
Don't forget to factor in the dishwashing routine. The *food* may be hygenic, but that's of little concern if the plates and cutlery are unsanitary.

Apparently the appearance of the dishwater/rinse water can be deceiving, too -- in a positive way: Some vendors use tea water as a rinse, so the water is brown. They do that to show that the water was boiled before use. Not sure it's a rock solid guarantee of sanitary rinse water, but at least at some point the water was hot.

Yes, scubaski, I agree with avoiding small restaurants that have little turnover--there are many small, and even some large, restaurants, which in the low season have very few customers. As already with great competition for customers, their profit margin is thin--would anyone really believe that they readily throw out spoiled food, but wait for the next unsuspectiing customer who gets served that tasty dish--not to know until hours late, while horribley sick in their hotel room, that they ate something bad. Some restaurants cover bad meat in flavorful sauces, or add spices, even if not requested to hide or mask a bad piece of meat or fish!

Especially avoid seafood places--I had a good friend who ate at a seafood place around the corner from beach road near walking street, where they had the fish dead, packed in ice, on dsiplay outside in front of the restaurant, and you could pick your dish and it would be prepared for you. Well, if that fish goes bad before you unsuspectingly select it, do you think they just toss it--not at all--they can spray them with chemicals, etc that will make them continue to appear fresh long after they are spoiled--these restaurants care little or think little about repeat business and do not worry that you might never return to eat there again--they think about wanting your money now. Also, you will get nowhere in trying to prove that some restaurant made you sick.

There are seafood places that have the fish in tanks alive and you pick your meal--you are safer that way, but remember the amts of mercury and other crap that all fish have--espeically those caught in the polutted waters off Thailand--especially the scavenger, bottom feeders like shrimp, etc.

[bing]

All the above is good and worthy of hearing and taking to heart. Another thing you can do to help your health is to keep your hands clean with something like Purell Hand Sanitizer. It is a waterless way to clean your hands. I have noticed the local univeristy has installed a hand sanitizer dipenser in the cafeteria. When traveling aboard ships too, they have all started putting a hand sanitizer dispenser at the beginning of the food lines. The Purell product is offered in many sizes and can be slipped into your pocket or purse if you are so inclined. "A little dab will do ya", and may keep you on the beach a little longer without having to run to the bathroom.

Lomital is preferred over immodium. Less side effects. I definitely had to use it on this trip. Maybe it was from brushing my teeth with the tap water in my BFs apartment.

JakeNasty writes: Lomital is preferred over immodium. Less side effects. I definitely had to use it on this trip. Maybe it was from brushing my teeth with the tap water in my BFs apartment.


Actually, it is spelled Lomotil, and it is a prescription drug in most countries so not as easy to get as over-the-counter Immodium--but, just as with Immodium, it is a drug of last resort--see earlier postings about not wanting to contain all the "crap/contamination" your body is trying to get out of it.

From a website called US PHARMACIST:

Antidiarrheal agents:

Lomotil (atropine sulfate/diphenoxylate HCl) and Imodium (loperamide) may help resolve diarrhea and cramping. Serious adverse effects of Lomotil include anaphylaxis, pancreatitis, and toxic megacolon. It is contraindicated in treating diarrhea caused by enterotoxin-producing bacteria and in patients with obstructive jaundice or hypersensitivity to its two ingredients.

Adverse effects of Imodium include drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, and abdominal pain. Use of Imodium is contraindicated when constipation must be avoided.


So, it seems that that Lomotil actually has the most potential side effects--but taken under a dr's care, I am sure one would be fine.

[TrongpaiExpat]

Can you buy Lomotil in Thailand? I asked a few times and got the Mai mee and always get offered Lomotal.

I also from time to time take Acidophilus tabs, also never found anyplace in Thailand having this.

There's one pharmacy on Sukhumvit/soi39 that has something, I can't remember the name, it's 12 tabs in a yellow box, made in Italy, and is for balancing intestinal flora. Just walk in and tell the very nice man that works there that and he will know what your talking about.