57 replies to this topic

[Brit]

BTW... I love the Bangkok showers... and plan to market them in the UK !

[Legend]

i picked up yet another stomach bug in thailand, more antibiotics.
apparently its from dirty water.
people are quick to tell me dont have ice in your drinks.
i always assumed the ice was bought in by bars pre-packed.?
does anyone know if this is the case, or each bar makes there own from tap water.?

[kliome]

Most bars by pre packed ice, but pre packed from where???

The first time I ever came to Thailand I was with a girl and she was incredibly paranoid about getting sick, she always took teh ce out of her drinks, she used bottled water for cleaning her teeth and avoided eating food form street sellers. She feel sick 4 days into the trip, and I was fine.

It's just bad luck, and most people get a tummy bug to some degree when entering Thaialnd after being in a western society the previous 3 months or more. but in most cases it's very mild, and almost unnoticable. I usually just get a slight 24 upset stomach within the first couple of days and once I ride that out I'm fine. It all depends on when you were last there, and how used to being in that environment your body is.

If I rememebr right, Anthony, you were very cautious about where you ate and what you did, regarding your health, and I remember you avoiding the eating with us when we had street food (although I did see you tucking into the one of those dogy keebabs). I don't think you need to worry about the ice in particular. I always drink the ice, and always clean my teeth and wash with tap water.

I feel in the Mekong once while rafting and swallowed a couple of litres, that messed my stomach up for about 5 days, but I was fine again after that.

[Legend]

cheers kliome.
i didnt think it was the ice, after all everyone has it.and although i am careful with food, i wouldnt want to start avoiding ice as well.
but as you say, pre packed from where?
a normal bit of upset or poisoning will work its way out of the body, normally 5 days max.
but this bug stays in you, only antibiotics will shift it, i cant drink alcohol for a further 3 weeks....worth it though. :!:
another cause might be "faecal to oral contamination"........... any thoughts?

did you swim in the sea at all?

cought the same bug last year so would like to know whats cusing it. if its sex related........thats fair enough.! fly with the crows and all that.

[kliome]

Everyone seems to point the finger somewhere, but I never really know what to avoid, thankfully I haven't suffered too much.

One guy I know blames it on the eggs, another guy blames it on the brealfast buffets (probably has a point), I find the air cons mess me up. You might event have a good point with salad tossing. Do you use mouth wash after a session?

See how you get on in April, as you're returning quite soon after your Christmas trip you might find you get on better.

[freakslikeme69]

Everyone is always pointing at the water, food or other thing but you never see anyone pointing it at the massive amount of alcohol and the lack of sleep. It could never be that, or could it?

[koykaeng]

There are a two major factors in Thailand and the region that contribute to the much higher incidence of diarrheal diseases.

1. Contaminated or improperly prepared food & drinking water.
Contaminated food and drinking water is the major cause of diarrheal diseases. Food and drinking water contamination can happen at all stages of the food chain (described as `from-farm-to-table'). It needs to be ensured that contamination of food and drinking water with pathogens leading to diarrheal diseases is minimized in every process involved with the food practice (e.g. food production, food transportation, and food preparation). Source of drinking water and water used in the cooking process, clean cooking utilities, and sanitation in food preparing areas are very important factors need to be focused.
Thailands warm climate is ideal for rapid bacterial growth, particularly given refrigeration is not always common place.

2. Poor Personal Hygiene
Poor personal hygiene can lead to food contamination and diarrheal diseases. It is not only those who do the cooking or food preparing processes, but it is `everybody' who needs to have a good personal hygiene. Washing hands before cooking/consuming food, and washing hands every time after using restrooms are a basic personal hygiene which needs to be emphasized to everybody.

Most likely organisms to be responsible for causing these disease conditions are Shigella, Salmonella, E.coli & Camplybactor.

Cheers
Koykaeng

[kliome]

The last two months I was in Pattaya I stopped drinking and was oversleeping if anything, but I didn't siffer from any illnesses.

But Anthony seemed to drink' responsibly (compared to most in Pattaya), and he was always one fo the fist to bed and first to rise.

The bottom line seems to be that for people spending long periods living in the west it's incredibly difficult to avoid some form of tummy ache or diarrhea. I think you just have to ride it out and it's usually an uncomfortbale couple of days. If you have any form of diarreah for more than 10 days you need to start taking dihydration salts and stay off the alcohol. After 2 weeks you want to be seeing a doctor (and not one who works in a pharmacy)

[Recoil111]

The bottom line seems to be that for people spending long periods living in the west it's incredibly difficult to avoid some form of tummy ache or diarrhea. I think you just have to ride it out and it's usually an uncomfortbale couple of days.

Thats true! I always have a "Bangkok Belly" in the first week. But after this is over i am always fine till the end of the trip. But i get stomach problems again when i arrive at home. (I think thats part of the "Bangkok Blues" )

[Ric007]

In my personal opinion, sure you should be careful with what you eat and the ice in the drinks. However, it also could be just sensitive stomachs. Many people from Europe, USA or any other well developed countries who are used to eating in super clean restaurants get upset stomachs very easy, specially in thailand.
Also, the food is cooked with a lot of oil (not necessarily clean) and this also causes stomach upsets.

I have been going to Thailand since 1999 now 2-3 times a year andi i have never had stomach upset, unless caused by fucking spicy food, which i love. This could also be a reason for stomach upsets. I myself have travelled a lot and spent 15 years in south America where id say my stomach was strengthened. So for newbies to thailand, it could just be the over hygiene of the country that is at different standards than your home country.

Lots of alcohol and little sleep surely will have an effect in some sort as the body is tired and punished after every heavy long night out drinking.

[Legend]

started something there didnt i?
thankyou all for the replys,
pat was the closest.!
i can handle a bit of poisoning and the odd shits, all part of it.
but what i caught twice is not that, its a bacteria parasite that lives in your gut, caused by either dirty water or dirty sex.!
obviously, cant tell the doc about my holiday hobbies, so they blame the ice.
i just wanted to rule the ice bullshit once and for all, because if you are all having the ice, it aint that.

in response to pat,
i bought one of the jet hose arse washers from the hardware in pattaya, fitted it to my toilet. changed my life i tell you.! bit colder than in thailand, and raises a lot of questions from visitors, but i love it