PHUKET: The provincial health chief is investigating claims an Australian couple were sick for over a year after eating <i>pad Thai</i> in Phuket, but says it's cooked at high temperature and unlikely to be the cause.
Dr Thanit Sermkaew was responding on Wednesday to reports about an Australian couple's claim they were infected by a parasite in 2017 from pad Thai they consumed at a Phuket food court.
"Pad Thai is a local and popular food. People regularly eat it and do not suffer such problems because pad Thai is cooked at extremely high heat and diseases cannot survive it," he said.
The couple, who run a good health and wellbeing business online, complained of having fever and cold sores and being bloated and ill for more than a year. They said they would never return to Thailand.
The Disease Control Department and the Phuket health office had asked local hospitals if they had any information about the Australian couple falling ill, Dr Thanit said.
They were also seeking information from Australia, and ensuring strict enforcement of food hygiene measures, he said.
Kongsak Khupongsakorn, president of the Thailand Southern Hotel Association, said the report affected the country's image, and the strict enforcement of health measures at restaurants and for street food would be helpful.