Drinking Water

Water, we can not live long without it. It quenches our thirst, keeps us clean, is a source of food, and is used in the generation of energy.


The Thai word for water is nam (pronounced like the last syllable of Vietnam). The word for thirsty and hungry is the same, hue. If you are thirsty, you would say hue nam. Its customary when someone enters your home to give them a glass of water.

One thing that you do not want to do is to drink water straight out of the tap. Most native Thai's don't engage in that practice. That water that flows so freely out of the spout is carrying passengers. Yes, plain old tap water is not so plain in Thailand, it is also chock full of those wonderfully painful bowel and belly emptying micro-organisms. Imbibe them and while they take a ride around in you, you'll be earning frequent squatting miles on the porcelain express.


Drinking at Home



Okay, so you can't drink straight from the tap, what is a thirsty Thai or falang to do? There are three ways to get clean and safe drinking water at your home. Some people boil the water prior to drinking it. They will keep a a half a dozen or so bottles of boiled water in the refrigerator. Its a cheap way to do it, although you need to remember to keep supply refreshed. You don't want to be thirsty and have to wait ten minutes for the water to boil and then cool it. For people on a budget, this is probably the most common solution.


Middle and upper class Thai's may install a water filtration system. This is convenient, as you can drink straight out of the tap. The up front cost are the highest for this solution. Just remember if you are staying someplace with a filtration system, that all the faucets may not be filtered. If your host has installed the filtration system only on the kitchen faucet, you will sorely regret quenching your midnight thirst with a glass of water from the bathroom faucet.

Another option for clean drinking water is to have a water service deliver water to your home. This is the option we chose we didn't want the hassle of boiling water, but as renters we couldn't justify investing in a water filtration system. We have a water cooler in our kitchen, and the service delivers 18.9 liter bottles every week. We go through four or five bottles a week. The cost is pretty affordable.


Having a water cooler is nice for a few reasons. It cools the water, which is nice, because our refrigerator here doesn't have a water dispenser. The water cooler also reminds me a bit of my office daze. Jacob and I will be standing around the water cooler chatting soccer, cartoons, or the environmental merits of a flatulent powered combustion engine when one of us spots the boss. Jacob will usually glance up at his mom before saying in that slightly too loud voice something on the lines of "Okay then dad. I'll have that TPS report on your desk by 8:00 a.m. sharp." I don't think she is fooled, but she hasn't fired us yet.



Water Out & About

Virtually every restaurant that I've been too has served bottled and not tap water. The charge is usually fairly small, between five and twenty baht. The bottles are usually brought table side and set on a tray with a bucket of ice. The servers generally open the bottle in front of you. This can help to allay worries that an entrepreneurial Thai might have refilled a used bottle from the tap.

Some people are concerned about the water used in making ice. For the most part, I think this is not an issue. Certainly it is possible that a vendor might make ice out of tap water and expose the drinker to unwanted micro-organisms as the ice melts. I usually have ice with my drinks and have never had an issue with it here in Thailand. I don't know if its because I've never had "bad" ice, or that the amount was small enough that it didn't affect me.

The key is to be aware. If the water tastes funny or smells, don't drink it.

Incidentally, I thought I had a bad experience with ice once in Boston , but fortunately it was just "poison". While visiting my friend Tracy, I drank a coke with ice. It had a funny taste, and I thought maybe there was something wrong with the ice. I said something to Tracy, who got a horrified look on her face. She ran over to the cupboard and pulled out one of the glasses, which she kept rightside up. There was a film of pesticide in the bottom of the glass from the recent spraying that she had. Fortunately, I did not consume very much pesticide and did not become ill.