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| Health for Visitors to Thailand |
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Thailand presents few risks of infectious or water/insect borne diseases. Malaria is the most prominent risk, but only in certain areas of the south, near Koh Chang, along the Mekong river or in Kanchanaburi. The major centres of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui and Pattaya are all safe. A similar disease which is an increasing problem in Southeast Asia is dengue fever, displaying similar symptoms and carried by certain mosquito varieties that favour stagnant water. There is no effective preventative medication and although it usually isn’t fatal, it leave the immune system permanently weakened to a second, deadly, attack. Spraying stagnant water areas is the best prevention, along with mosquito spray and avoiding outdoor areas at dusk. Tap water is not potable in Thailand and water borne viruses are common. Bottled water is widely available and offered in all hotels rooms for free, which should be used for brushing teeth among other uses. Hepatitis is the most serious of the viruses in circulation and picked up from unhygienic circumstances. HIV is another significant risk to some, given the proliferation of prostitution. Although condom use is widespread among Thai people and the dangers of AIDS understood, many visitors still go home with STDs or HIV infection. | |
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