Coeliac And Thailand

[Beeroklaunch]

Hi guys and gals

I’ve recently been confirmed as having coeliac disease.
I have apparently been borderline but after colonoscopy etc they confirmed with a letter which said I’ve had it for 13 years!!!!

Anyway now I have to completely change my lifestyle and dietary habits which affects holidays too. I have family and don’t want to spoil their holidays etc

Does anyone know if Thailand would cater for my dietary needs?

Thanks all

[shtu]

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

[RichFN2]

We went in August, and my mates wife had quite a hard time being coeliac. Although she does suffer really badly with it and also has a several other allergies, she is also vegan limited her options.

From memory several sauces such as soy sauce contain wheat and needed to be avoided, all the curries were safe along with pad Thai and tamarind based dishes.

The main popular dish to avoid that springs to mind is pad kra pao (meat & holy basil-stir-fry) which is a shame as its fantastic.

Tom yum is another safe bet, avoiding egg noodles and soy sauce still gives you lots of options.

As above watch the chilies!

[pteron]

shtu said:

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

I'm the opposite - fed up with the barely noticeable tourist chili levels I had to learn how to ask for properly spicy in Thai. My favourite meal was when my Thai guide tapped out of a dish I was happily munching

[rasto]

My wife is coeliac, she's very sensitive to any kind of contamination so we have to be very careful. I can't help with Thailand, but your biggest issue is going to be language difficulties in getting anyone selling or serving food to you to understand that it can't contain wheat etc.

Your best bet is to do lots of research beforehand, find places that have reviews you can trust - this is what I end up doing when we go anywhere so that I have a list of places that might be safe. We had an amazing time in Florence this year because there are lots of places that cater for gluten free there and she wasn't ill at all as a result.

[Griffith4ever]

pteron said:

shtu said:

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

I'm the opposite - fed up with the barely noticeable tourist chili levels I had to learn how to ask for properly spicy in Thai. My favourite meal was when my Thai guide tapped out of a dish I was happily munching

Same , we always ask for Nam Pla Prik on the side :-)

[Cheib]

My wife is gluten intolerant…I realise that is a long way from Coeliac. She does eat a gluten free diet though, we didn’t have problems with Gluten Free food. I would say though that if you’re eating street food etc not sure I’d be happy with cross contamination

[pteron]

Griffith4ever said:

pteron said:

shtu said:

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

I'm the opposite - fed up with the barely noticeable tourist chili levels I had to learn how to ask for properly spicy in Thai. My favourite meal was when my Thai guide tapped out of a dish I was happily munching

Same , we always ask for Nam Pla Prik on the side :-)

Ped ped maaaa is the phrase you want (Ped is pronounced closer to Pet)

[Griffith4ever]

pteron said:

Griffith4ever said:

pteron said:

shtu said:

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

I'm the opposite - fed up with the barely noticeable tourist chili levels I had to learn how to ask for properly spicy in Thai. My favourite meal was when my Thai guide tapped out of a dish I was happily munching

Same , we always ask for Nam Pla Prik on the side :-)

Ped ped maaaa is the phrase you want (Ped is pronounced closer to Pet)

Spicy spicey more?

BTW - Prik nam pla is the way I've always said it but nam pla prik is also good apparently! - poured the whole bowl on my rice once, then had to get up fast in the middle of the night. I found my body's limit :-p

[pteron]

Griffith4ever said:

pteron said:

Griffith4ever said:

pteron said:

shtu said:

I think you'll be fine.

Most places like hotels and restaurants will have a wide enough range of food, and the Thai diet isn't particularly big on pasta. About the only sort of thing you might need to watch for is any tempura stuff, ie, the batter.

Avoid the same things you would here and I'm sure you'll have no problem, and you certainly won't starve.


Edit - Chillies. The Thais love spicy food, especially up north, but also know us foreigners aren't up to it. If that's a factor, just ask for any dish to be "not spicy" and they'll lay off the chillies. I have been known to ask for "tourist spicy" which usually gets a laugh and a medium-spicy dish.

Edited by shtu on Wednesday 31st December 18:39

I'm the opposite - fed up with the barely noticeable tourist chili levels I had to learn how to ask for properly spicy in Thai. My favourite meal was when my Thai guide tapped out of a dish I was happily munching

Same , we always ask for Nam Pla Prik on the side :-)

Ped ped maaaa is the phrase you want (Ped is pronounced closer to Pet)

Spicy spicey more?

BTW - Prik nam pla is the way I've always said it but nam pla prik is also good apparently! - poured the whole bowl on my rice once, then had to get up fast in the middle of the night. I found my body's limit :-p

They always said it was 'prik nam pla' to me - 'chili sauce fish'

I was told that in Thai you say a word twice to make it "more". So ped is spicy, ped ped is really spicy and maaa means 'I like'.

Or words to that effect. It does the trick after they laugh at my terrible pronunciation.

[Griffith4ever]

pteron said:

They always said it was 'prik nam pla' to me - 'chili sauce fish'

I was told that in Thai you say a word twice to make it "more". So ped is spicy, ped ped is really spicy and maaa means 'I like'.

Or words to that effect. It does the trick after they laugh at my terrible pronunciation.

Ahh, that explains "same same" ! :-)

[pteron]

Griffith4ever said:

pteron said:

They always said it was 'prik nam pla' to me - 'chili sauce fish'

I was told that in Thai you say a word twice to make it "more". So ped is spicy, ped ped is really spicy and maaa means 'I like'.

Or words to that effect. It does the trick after they laugh at my terrible pronunciation.

Ahh, that explains "same same" ! :-)

[GT4P]

If that’s the Same Same on Koh Lanta it was good 15 years ago but went downhill over the years and beach use to be lovely and quiet apart from outside Pimalai

[K77 CTR]

On the coeliac uk website they have printable cards in loads of different languages to be able to show when ordering.

[pteron]

GT4P said:

If that s the Same Same on Koh Lanta it was good 15 years ago but went downhill over the years and beach use to be lovely and quiet apart from outside Pimalai

Yes on Lanta, I first went 15 years ago, when this pic was taken. I dropped in a couple fo years ago and was very disappointed, it'd become a right dump.