Food Safety

The advice to avoid street food is both very common and mostly wrong. A busy stall cooking to order over high heat in front of you is often safer than a quiet restaurant serving something that has been sitting in a warmer since lunchtime.

What to look for

• A queue. High turnover means fresh ingredients and nothing standing around. The single best signal there is.
• Cooked in front of you and served immediately.
• Thai customers. Locals know which stall gave someone a bad night.
• Money handled separately from food, or hands washed between.

What to be careful with

• Pre-cooked dishes sitting at room temperature, especially with coconut milk or seafood
• Raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly in the hot months
• Raw-meat dishes such as traditional larb — a genuine parasite risk
• Cut fruit that has been out for hours; fruit cut in front of you is fine
• Buffets late in the service

Chilli, and if you overdo it

Thai spicy is a different scale. Mai phet means "not spicy" and will still be warmer than you expect; mai phet loey means "not spicy at all". Rice or something dairy helps afterwards — water does not, it just spreads it around.

If you do get ill: rehydration sachets, rest and plain food. See a doctor for fever, blood, severe pain or anything lasting beyond two or three days — and sooner for a child or an older adult. In this climate the dehydration is the real danger, not the bug.