Global Warming Makes Thai Food More Dangerous

Temperatures this year have been the highest for the past 50 years, with the average temperature increasing by one degree Celsius according to the Thai Meteorological Department Published on October 9, 2007

Chongkolnee Yusabye, director of the Meteorological Development Bureau, said that after monitoring the impact of global warming on Thailand for the past five years, the agency predicted that the impact of natural disasters would increase in future.

Chongkolnee was speaking at a seminar called “Life, shock, climate change: how to survive the impact of global warming”, held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Krungthep Turakij newspaper, which is part of the Nation Multimedia Group

She said the average temperature across the country had increased in both the winter and summer seasons.

The average temperature last November was the highest for 56 years, up by 1.7 degrees Celsius on the average temperature for winter. The average temperature last December increased from 24 degrees Celsius to 25 Celsius.

Between 1951 and 2007 the number of cool days - classified as below 16 degrees Celsius - has decreased particularly in Chiang Rai and Nakhon Sawan provinces. Information from a monitoring station in Chiang Rai province found that the number of cool days had decreased from 90 days in 1951 to 70 days in 2007.

Chongkolnee said that average summer temperatures had risen, especially in Tak province, where the average temperature was 43.7 degrees Celsius in 1983 and 44 Celsius last April. The number of hot days in the province increased from 16 to 25, the highest number for 54 years, over the same period.

The second hottest province was Phetchabun, where the average temperature rose from 41.7 Celsius in 1992 to 42.1 Celsius in 2007, and the number of hot days from 14 to 24.

The rising temperatures across the country have prompted health experts to warn the public against eating under-cooked food, which could cause severe diarrhea.

Dr Thirawat Hemachudha, a neurologist at Chulalongkorn University Hospital, said the Public Health Ministry should issue regulations to prevent restaurants from serving semi-cooked dishes like spicy raw meat salad.

Rising temperatures could affect the life cycle of E coli and V cholerae bacteria, particularly in half-cooked dishes. These parasites can cause severe diarrhea, Thirawat said.

“If the temperature increases by 0.5-1.5 degrees Celsius it can affect the nature of the parasite. It can reproduce more easily and thus come into contact with humans more frequently,” he said.

He said restaurant owners should take responsibility for treatment cost if customers suffered diarrhea after eating under-cooked dishes. But those who eat dishes that are traditionally served raw or semi-cooked had to bear the responsibility themselves.

– The Nation 2007-10-09

OK, I can see where food might spoil more quickly if the heat goes up, but just 1 degree Celsius? You and I both know that there have been people getting sick on raw and undercooked food in Thailand for as long as there have been people in Thailand. Let’s not blame the heat in a tropical country for illnesses that are really being caused by the lack of standard hygiene practices.

Typically it is only newcomers to Thailand that have serious problems with dishware, but locals can have these problems themselves as well. Any local Thai will be able to tell you which street stalls are and are not safe in the areas that they work and live. And the problems are often not from meat or seafood, but more from fruits and produce which have been washed in tap water.

I have eaten raw shrimp and larb many times at my in-laws in Tak and have suffered no ill effects. Typically any problems I have had are from street food in Bangkok and even though I can’t say for sure I believe it has almost always been from som tam (papaya salad) or fresh fruits.

I’m pretty sure many travelers to Thailand have had similar problems. Care to share any of your experiences? Or if you don’t get sick when in Thailand what do you do to avoid the dreaded Montezuma’s revenge?

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Health Care in Thailand

Because health is a part of everyone’s life including me so I have to talk about it inevitably. Of course not everyone can get away from being sick, especially when it’s time that your body lose vitality by the time moving forward or be used too much. And of course if it happens no one denies health care service for taking care of your body and rehabilitate to be as well as before.

From the past Thailand was known as the country for tourism only, but at the present so many things have changed. In recent years Thailand has become the one famous country in Asia and every year will have so many tourists fly from their own country to get medical care service in Thailand. From the current reported the amount of foreigners who come to Thailand for medical service up to 1.2 million people per year. And it seems like it will be getting more and more every year. What and why does it happen like that?

Efficiency and quality of Thailand’s medical care profession - This is the most important basic necessity or the key that can give the answer why Thailand became the famous country in medical care service. Now Thai medical profession is regarded as an advance just like in America, Canada or Europe. A lot of medical practitioners graduated or following ship from abroad. And most of them had an experience from foreign country so this can guarantee their proficiency. However I didn’t include the modernized medical instruments, hospital accreditation and all reward that guarantee the quality of that hospital yet.

Cost - This one almost as important as above because as far as the best medical care that you can get, but at the same time you have to pay like twice as much different from the other one that not too bad but for the price much lower…then of course you will pick the latter one…unless you’re a wealthy person. The cost for medical care service in Thailand is much lower than abroad, that’s why the foreigner would like to come to have so many things done here. Come on let’s think about this…you can go and have your boobs done and also have some money left for a nice vacation in Thailand too. How’s that?

I have my own experience…no no no…not with my boobs though. Last time me and Steve went to see the dentist here, we both have an appointment for cleaning only, but after everything done the bill comes up with $492…OMG!!! I was shocked at that time…let’s do this $492 x 34(baht) = 16,728 baht. How many times are you going to get to see the dentist in Thailand (for cleaning only I mean)? Good luck for us that Steve’s insurance covered for, but still we both had to pay $89 for something that his insurance didn’t cover. And I told him that last year I went to see the dentist for cleaning at Yanhee International hospital it costs me like 600 baht…still much cheaper than $89 though.

Expert system in a branch of each disease - Inform of the famous for treat and cure a disease is an importance too. Because not every hospital or every medical care service can have an expert in every disease, so this one the patient or their family will be the judge. And also depending on how many cases of patients that that doctor or hospital have an achievement for cure or treat the disease.

From my own experience in a medical field as a nurse in Thailand what I can tell is this: Bangkok General Hospital, Bumrungrad Hospital and Siriraj Hospital are famous for heart disease, BNH Hospital is famous for Spine surgery and Plastic surgery, Samitivej Hospital is famous for pediatric and women’s health department, Yanhee International Hospital and Phyathai Hospital are famous for beauty center etc. Anyway there’re just some from a hundred or more that I didn’t talk about yet and every hospital try to compete to be a number one in every disease. So it’s really hard to tell sometimes and like I said the answer for choosing which hospital that you’re going to use have to be you and your family will be the judge.

Others - Service excellent, marketing, commentator, type of the hospital like a public hospital or a private hospital, size like a big one or smaller one etc. All kinds and types of things that will have an effect on the decision for the customers. Because it means will be satisfied and worth the money that you have to pay for too.

And one more thing that you need to know when you’re going to use the medical service from that place is are you have an information enough? Because sometimes for something you can’t take it back…just my good intention!

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Bangkok Cost of Living

Thailand is like anywhere else, it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. If you plan on eating western food, sending your laundry out, having a maid and a nice 2 bedroom condo, a car, and partying then you will easily spend as much in Bangkok as you would anywhere else. If however you can economize a bit and blend in with the culture you can indeed live very cheaply in Bangkok and even more so in the provinces of Thailand.

Golf lived pretty well on just 16,000 baht a month when she was working in Bangkok although I think a farang (foreigner) would need a bit more to be comfortable. Based on my experiences and what I’ve been reading lately I would say that anything over 40,000 baht a month would make you quite comfortable in Bangkok. If you can add a bit to that and reach 60,000 baht a month you’ll be doing very well, especially by Thai standards. Keep in mind the Thai’s won’t make nearly what you do in most cases. Golf is a nurse and made just 16,000 baht a month. Compared to Western standards that is very low indeed. And you should easily more than double that working as an English teacher for as few as 20-25 hours a week.

Here are some guidelines to current living expenses in Bangkok, mostly taken from forums about and for English teachers.

Housing: A studio or one bedroom condo can be had for as little as 8000 baht a month if you are willing to do some searching and live a bit away from the BTS. The closer to the BTS you get the higher the rents become. 15,000-20,000 baht a month will get you a very nice place indeed. If you’re one of the lucky one’s here in Thailand on an expat package then the sky’s the limit. Condo’s around the Silom/Sukhumvit area can go as high as 250,000 baht per month and include fitness centers, pools, daily maid service, on site restaurants and room service and amazing views of Bangkok.

Utilities: Water is a nominal charge and shouldn’t run you more than a couple hundred baht a month and may even be included in the rent. Electricity is a different matter. If you like it cool and plan on running the A/C non-stop then you’ll pay up to 3000 baht a month.

Cable TV is available through UBS and costs 1500 baht a month which includes 25 channels including BBC news, CNN, ESPN, Star sports, several football feeds, the History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and at least four movie channels, among others.

Broadband internet can be had in the built up areas of Bangkok and will run you a bit over 1000 baht a month. Alternatively you can get dial-up access for 400 baht a month with the pre-paid internet cards or use the internet cafes which typically charge about ½ baht per minute.

Cell Phone: Cell phone rates are pretty darn reasonable and the rechargeable SIM cards in Thailand are a good value. You can easily pick up a used cell phone for a couple thousand baht at MBK (or even less) and the SIM cards can be recharged with a prepaid card from any 7-11. Or if possible you can buy just the SIM card for like 200 baht and you’re on your way. This only works with unlocked phones from AT&T or T-Mobile for U.S. based people.

Food: Food is very reasonable in Bangkok and Thailand, especially if you adopt a Thai diet. If you are really on a budget you can very likely get by on 5000-6000 baht a month for food living in Bangkok and even less in the provinces. Any of the open air restaurants (of which there are thousands) will get you lunch or dinner for less than 50 baht. On the other hand there are restaurants where you can easily spend in excess of 1500 baht for dinner as well. Some of the great deals I like are iced coffee for just 10 baht, fresh pineapple for 10 baht, grilled sausages (I like the spicy ones) 20 baht for two, fried chicken for 15-20 baht a piece and roti with banana for 15-25 baht.

Transportation: Transport is also very reasonable in Bangkok. If you can take the BTS to your destination expect to pay anywhere from 10-40 baht for the ride, same goes for the subway. Busses and ferries are a wonderful deal ranging anywhere from 8 baht to 25 baht again depending on the length of your trip. Taxi’s will run you about 120 baht for a trip all the way across town. Shorter trips of 15-30 minutes shouldn’t cost more than 60-70 baht. I haven’t yet gotten up the courage to try riding on the back of a motorcycle, but they are also very cheap….I think Golf told me just 6 or 8 baht.

Entertainment: This is another category that can run very high depending on your tastes. If you’re a party animal and butterfly expect to spend upwards of 10,000 baht a month clubbing. I’ve actually spent that in one night already. On the other hand if you’re moderate and go out just weekends without getting completely looped or availing yourself of the horizontal entertainment you can keep this within reason. Say 2000-4000 baht a month for a moderate party lifestyle. Cigarettes are just 40 baht a pack and a large Singha or Leo beer can be had for 60-80 baht at bars and half that from the supermarket.

I think that pretty much covers it. If you add up my numbers you’ll find that 40,000 baht a month is quite sufficient for a pretty good lifestyle in Bangkok. Anything above that is gravy and will make your life correspondingly more comfortable. Let me know if I skipped anything or missed anything or if you know where to find good bargains on anything within Bangkok.

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Sawasdee khrap from Thailand Musings

Thailand – A country in southeast Asia that lies west of Cambodia and Laos, north of Malaysia and east of Myanmar. Thailand is also affectionately known as the Land of Smiles or LOS. Prior to 1939 Thailand was known as Siam and has also been known as the Kingdom of Thailand. The country is predominately Buddhist with 95% of Thais being Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. This helps to contribute to the Thai’s being a very hospitable and generous people. When you come to Thailand you’ll find that many of it’s people will welcome you quite warmly. Add to this the sub-tropical weather and the abundance of wonderful foods and you’ll understand why Thailand has been dubbed the Land of Smiles.

Musing - to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.

 

So, now you understand where I came up with the name for this blog. It will come from my own thoughts and opinions of Thailand and all things Thai. From the people and culture, to foods, places like Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the islands to the politics and religion of Thailand to sports like Muay Thai to nightlife, travel and hotels to working in Thailand and anything else Thai related you can think of. If it is connected to Thailand you’ll eventually find it here.

Since this is my own musings on Thailand and it is such a broad subject area there’s no telling what you might find here on any given day, so please feel free to sign up for the feed, there’s no telling what you’ll learn!

My name is Steve and I first visited Thailand in 1997. Since then I’ve been a regular visitor and have even married into the culture last year. My wife’s name is Golf and she is a Thai citizen, you may find her as a guest blogger from time to time, but she is a bit shy right now so it will require some coaxing. Right now we are living in the U.S., but as you can imagine we travel back to Thailand frequently so she can keep in touch with family and friends.

Future plans include a move to Thailand and then I can report first hand. Until that time I’ll be posting from my own memories and experiences as well as current events from news stories, travel reviews, current events and any other topic that can be researched through a combination of the internet and Golf and her friends. If you have something you are interested in and I haven’t written about it or haven’t answered questions you have then write to me and let me know. I am always happy to answer questions either personally through email or by a new post.

So now a warm welcome to all who visit Thailand Musings. Sawasdee khrap!

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