Gippy Tummy

[Chuai-Duai]

This drives me mad. I’ve travelled widely all over the world and spent a lot of time in Egypt which is the origin of the term “Gippy Tummy” (Egyptian Tummy) and I’ve been fine. I’ve been to Mexico and avoided “Montezuma’s Revenge”. I’ve travelled in South America and been fine. Only in India did I get food poisoning. Then there’s Thailand…

…Every time I visit I’m ill within a matter of days. Forget Street Food that would lay me up for a week. I’m so careful but it always seems to happen. My Thai boyfriend is baffled but likes to blame chocolate which he regards as evil. Useless to point out that it doesn’t effect me in the UK and I don’t think the occasional KitKat from the 7-11 does me any harm.

I’m already under weight for my height but I actually lose weight during each visit to Thailand. As I spend two months a year in Thailand it takes the rest of the time to put the weight back on again.

I am a vegetarian so probably eat more fruit and salads than many but I follow all the rules about washing etc.

Any tips?

[gerefan2]

Same here. Drink LOTS and LOTS of water until you are sick of it!

[Nirish guy]

Unless of course it's the water that's causing the problem in the first place perhaps ! I "assume" you're not drinking it out of the tap etc ?

[Chuai-Duai]

Unless of course it's the water that's causing the problem in the first place perhaps ! I "assume" you're not drinking it out of the tap etc ?

Yes bottled water only. I've even tried different brands in case that makes any difference and I don't use the bottled water that the hotel provides either.

[FarangRuMak]

In olde London the local water pump killed thousands.
The cheap beer saved thousands.
Try a few steaks, KFC, sea bass, Prawns, a few beers, a gin or two, Samsong Rum, Yaa dong you know all the usual stuff that doesn't make us all sick and under-weight.

[Chuai-Duai]

As I find eating meat physically repellent your remedy is worse than the affliction. As for being underweight I should have made it clear that it’s more aesthetic than medical as my BMI is just within the normal range.

My less charitable friends call me “skinny”, I prefer “slim”. It's only in Thailand that I have a problem as I'm very fit otherwise.

[frequent]

As I find eating meat physically repellent ...

Do you wet the bed as well?

[Chuai-Duai]

Do you wet the bed as well?

I've no idea what that's meant to mean but I assume it's an attempt at humour. It's typical of the sort of stupid remark that seems all too common on this forum and is the reason I stopped visiting before and is the reason I will now do so again. I know you won't miss me as you are so obviously too stupid and self obsessed to care.

[poshglasgow]

I've no idea what that's meant to mean but I assume it's an attempt at humour. It's typical of the sort of stupid remark that seems all too common on this forum and is the reason I stopped visiting before and is the reason I will now do so again. I know you won't miss me as you are so obviously too stupid and self obsessed to care.

Could it be a problem with ice? I never have ice in any of my drinks, as I have seen some of the enclosures where bags of ice are filled to be delivered to bars etc and it entails enormous slabs of ice that are sitting on concrete being smashed up by guys clambering around it.

I once had dreadful food poisoning in Tunisia in the seventies and it was traced to the watermelon which, more often than not, was served to hotel guests after the meal. The kitchen staff were running the water melon under the kitchen tap before serving it to make it more appealing!!

[frequent]

Could it be a problem with ice? I never have ice in any of my drinks, as I have seen some of the enclosures where bags of ice are filled to be delivered to bars etc and it entails enormous slabs of ice that are sitting on concrete being smashed up by guys clambering around it.

I once had dreadful food poisoning in Tunisia in the seventies and it was traced to the watermelon which, more often than not, was served to hotel guests after the meal. The kitchen staff were running the water melon under the kitchen tap before serving it to make it more appealing!!

I think ice is fine but I'd never trust a salad prepared in a Thai kitchen. Having said that, I eat chopped fruit from the local fruit vendors every day with no ill effect. Interestingly many now wear plastic gloves