Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
the "No Idea" pub on sukhumvit 22, it has closed now, was opposite a row of evening food hawkers adjoining a piece of waste ground separated from the pavement by a tall sheet of corrugated iron that had a rudimentary door cut into it.

sitting in the upstairs balcony of the pub one frequently saw the food sellers scurrying through this door to squat down in the waste ground, relieve themselves and then pick grass and leaves to wipe themselves, then quickly return to their duties preparing food to serve the customers at the tables they set up on the pavement.

with no hand washing facilities available one could only imagine the toxic cocktail of bacteria, viruses, and other rectal detritus that was transferred from their hands first to the cutlery and food and then subsequently into the mouths of the unsuspecting diners.
Hepatitis A is endemic in this country and one only requires a tiny speck of faecal matter in order to become infected. The thing is, most Thai will have been infected in their youth and been asymptomatic but once recovered they have a lifetime immunity. Most Westerners do not and infection in adulthood, particularly for the aged, is more virulent. There is no treatment other than abstinence from alcohol and fatty foods, and for most folk full liver function is not recovered until after, say, 3-4 months.

Something to bear in mind when you eat in Thailand, particularly if you haven’t had your full Hep A and B jabs.

The average punter might bear this in mind when they eat off the streets.