Water

Never drink water out of the tap!  Chiang Mai City water is chlorinated and fluoridated, but bringing it to a rolling boil for one full minute is necessary before drinking. Bottled water is considered safe. Some people have no problem brushing their teeth with tap water, but bottled water is always preferable! Always washing hands before eating ‘finger food’ is also a good way to stay healthy!

Food and water are safe at most restaurants in Chiang Mai. However, you may want to be a little more cautious about what you eat and where you buy it while you are new here and your stomach is not accustomed to Chiang Mai bacteria.  The food you are served will probably be fresher where more customers buy because there will be a faster turnover in selling it. Be especially careful during the hot season about eating prepared foods bought after the heat of the day. Watch out for dishes with seafood and coconut cream in them because these begin to spoil most quickly. Notice whether the food is prepared and/or sold beside roadways. If these are kept uncovered, more pollutants will end up on them.

You may want to be a little careful about raw, unpeeled vegetables at first while your stomach is adjusting.  It is wise to rinse vegetables and unpeeled fruits with bottled water as a permanent habit because of pesticide use.  Many people simply rinse their vegetables in ordinary tap water and have no difficulties. If you want to be more cautious, you can soak leafy vegetables, etc. About chilli peppers, be forewarned that the littlest ones are the hottest. Watch out for the little green ones; they’re the most concentrated and can look suspiciously like green beans.  If you end up with a burning mouth, eating more rice, yogurt or drinking milk will help the most. Drinking other liquids simply spreads the chilli oil around. Thai food has a great reputation as an international cuisine. Having given these cautions, we hope you enjoy it! (FYI-small tips for bills over 400 Baht are appreciated- all staff will receive a share after work!)  

What’s Around to Eat?

Tired of the few Thai dishes you are acquainted with but still cannot read the menu? Listed below are a few common Thai dishes and their Thai names. Here is a pronunciation guide for saying the tones correctly:

None of these dishes are spicy; you can buy them in many places around the town:
 

These are somewhat spicy:

After a while you can learn to recognize the visual cues for who is serving what (i.e. white chicken on rice is sold where you see the cooked chickens hanging in a glass case). In the meantime, if you ask for a particular dish by name, the vendors you ask will either get it for you or point you in the right direction where you can find it or tell you, “no, go somewhere else”. You can get all these foods “to go”. Just say “klaap bâan,” and the vendor will know you want to take it out and will wrap it or put it in bags for you.