Drinking the water in Pattaya

[kiwitones]

Hi all, we have not been to Pattaya for over 10 years. Is it still recommended to avoid the tap water?
I fell in love with the watermelon drink, but I think it was made with iced water from the tap as I ended up with diarrhea.

[Gaybutton]

I drink only bottled water. Restaurants serve only bottled water. I recommend sticking with bottled water.

The watermelon drink you refer to is known here as a "watermelon shake." If you want to order it in Thai, it's pronounced "tangmo pahn." Tangmo is the Thai word for watermelon.

It's quite rare for people to become ill from foods or drinks purchased from the vendors, but on occasion it does happen. I'm sorry it happened to you. When ordering from a vendor, check to see if everything is kept scrupulously clean. If there are any signs of negligence or carelessness, I wouldn't purchase from that particular vendor.

[christianpfc]

I have been drinking tap water everywhere in Thailand (and other countries in SE Asia) for years without ill effects.

I could not link my cases of diarrhea in Thailand (significantly more often than in Europe) to any food or drink.

Bottled water is a myth and a huge waste of resources, in fact I think bottled water should be banned worldwide.

[lukylok]

Not even poor thai drink water from the tap. The only place tap water is reputed safe is Bkk, and the taste and the smell are awful. There is FREE ( FREE Christian, FREE !) water in any eating place, wich come in huge containers and the ice so much used is not made from tap water either.

[Alex]

Not even poor thai drink water from the tap.

Doesn't make sense as generalization; some of Thailand's poor don't even have tap water, so it's a bit like saying they don't eat cake. I've been to villages where families collect rain water and use it for everything from bathing to cooking to drinking. I'm not sure if that's better than tap water.

I wouldn't drink tap water anywhere in the world, but on the other end of the spectrum, I know some idiots who are that fearful of Thailand's tap water that they use bottled water to brush their teeth... Funnily enough, they tend to get sick all the time, probably because they are too mollycoddled for the real world.

[mahjongguy]

I've been in Pattaya for 10 years, use the city water for showering, brushing my teeth. For drinking water I run the city water through a filter just to take out the faint taste of chlorine and bromine. I think the result tastes better than any bottled water I've tried.

I know people who've gotten sick from street vendor orange juice. Don't know anyone who was certain they got sick from tap water.

[windwalker]

For drinking water I run the city water through a filter just to take out the faint taste of chlorine and bromine. .

What type of filter?

[mahjongguy]

I bought the standard thing you find at Homeworks etc. Three chromed canisters welded together. The first has powdered charcoal, which is a mechanical filter, and definitely improves the taste. The second is powdered resin, which filters metals and salts. The third is a solid ceramic filter which can filter out most bacteria and some viruses.

It's mounted on the back wall of the house. I remove and scrub the ceramic filter a coupla times a year to maintain throughput. I replace the two powders about once a year, which is admittedly an awkward process.

So, about 6,000 baht for the device and a year's supply of material. Spend about 1,000 baht a year on refills. We typically use about 5 liters a day, filling bottles that we keep in the kitchen.