“Can I drink tap water in Thailand?”
“Can I drink bottled water in Thailand?”
“Is the water in Thailand safe to drink”
“Should I worry if I get 1 milliliter of Thai tap water in my eye, and immediately take myself to hospital in a mad unbridled panic?”
Coming up, we’ve answered all those questions and more. Expect references to bottle-sipping, teeth-brushing, pipe-cleaning, ice-eating, water-fountaining, and other unusual verbs.
Today, Traveless are introducing you to the tap water in Thailand. Bring a bottle and come join the party!
Can I Drink Tap Water in Thailand?
You shouldn’t drink any of the tap water in any part of Thailand. The only exception is in Bangkok, where the vast majority of water passes guidelines and standards from the World Health Organization.
Scientific paper: Evaluation on the Quality of Bangkok Tap Water with Other Drinking Purpose Water. Source
As you know, not every nation in the world offers drinkable tap water. That’s because some tap water contains harmful bacteria and viruses, and can therefore be bad for your precious little tum-tum.
(and tap water can also be harmful if it contains chemicals or heavy metals).
That said, most people (locals and travelers) don’t trust the tap water in Bangkok, and most people don’t drink the tap water in Bangkok. The water quality can vary massively throughout the city—and some people claim that, although the water is clean, the pipes it travels through might not be.
I’m pretty careless when it comes to tap water, and even I don’t drink tap water in Bangkok.
Similarly, the tap water in Pattaya is also unsafe to drink.
No matter where you are in Thailand, you shouldn’t drink tap water. That’s the best way to be safe. Easy!
Can You Drink Tap Water in Thailand if You Boil It?
In Bangkok you can drink tap water if you boil it.
Bangkok’s water is largely safe to drink… and if it does get contaminated, it’ll only be contaminated with bacteria. When you boil the water, you kill this bacteria, and you therefore make the water safe to drink.
Across the rest of Thailand, the tap water might be contaminated with heavy metals (like manganese, lead, arsenic, chromium and copper). And boiling the water won’t eliminate these metals. So unless you’re in Bangkok, boiled tap water in Thailand might not be safe to drink.
That said, lots of people (including me) do still drink boiled water in Thailand. I prefer to drink bottled water, but I’ll sometimes drink boiled water if I don’t have any other option (ie, if I’m too lazy to go to a shop). I also use boiled tap water in Thailand to make tea and coffee, though I know some hyper-cautious people think that’s dangerous.
In summary, drinking some boiled water in Thailand isn’t going to harm you in the long term. But try not to make a habit of it, cos you don’t want a body full of metal, like some mad thirsty cyborg.
(And also remember that I’m not a doctor).
Other Ways to Make Tap Water Safe to Drink in Thailand
So, in short, none of the above are perfect solutions. Your best options are therefore water fountains, water dispensers, and good ol’ reliable bottled water.
… and we’ve covered all of those options next…
Water Fountains and Water Dispensers in Thailand
Throughout Thailand, you’ll find many water dispensers in hotels and restaurants and gyms and hostels and other indoor venues.
They’re the same types of water dispensers you’ve seen all over the world, or in your home country. You might call them water coolers. You know the ones I mean, I don’t know why I’m still describing this in depth. I’ll stop now.
These water dispensers in Thailand serve up safe-to-drink water. I use them, locals use them, other tourists use them, everyone uses them. They are one of the best options for drinking water in Thailand.
… and because you can use them to top up your refillable water bottle*, they’ll save you some money. Bottled water in Thailand is cheap, but not buying bottled water is even cheaper.
*if you don’t have a good refillable water bottle, you should get one. They’re convenient, they’re good for the environment, and they mean you have easier access to drinking water.
Buy a refillable water bottle, you doofus. Just make sure you get a BPA-free one, so you’re not harming yourself with nasty chemicals.
Here’s the one I recommend, it includes a filter too.
But get this—there’s also another type of water dispenser you can find in Thailand:
In many of the bigger towns and cities in Thailand, you’ll also find on-street water dispensers. These on-street water dispensers (as pictured below) have a big space where you can put a (big or small) bottle. You place your bottle in the hole, you insert some money, you press a button, and you get some thirst-quenching water to slurp on.
by tinabasgen (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
You can insert 500-ml bottles, 10-liter bottles, and everything in between. You could probably even squeeze a 20-liter bottle in there, but I’ve never personally done it. Filling a 1-liter bottle costs 1 baht (less than 0.03 USD).
These dispensers are much more common than most tourists realize. You might have even wandered by some without realizing. But once you spot one, you’ll spot them all. They’re everywhere.
But it’s not all good news: in a 2016 nationwide study, “40% of the[se] machines dispense[d] water which fail[ed] to meet acceptable water-quality standards.”
That said, I drink this water, locals drink this water, and all locals say this water is safe to drink. I haven’t scientifically tested it myself, but I always drink it, and I’ve never had any problems.
My main advice is: if you see other people using the machine, use the machine. If you’re a panicky person who doesn’t trust the world, just drink bottled water from shops instead.
And that brings us to…
Is Bottled Water Safe in Thailand?
Yes, bottled water is definitely safe in Thailand.
Locals drink the bottled water, tourists drink the bottled water, everyone drinks the bottled water.
You’ll find bottled water everywhere. You’ll find it in supermarkets, in small stores, in cafes, in restaurants, at street food stalls. Sometimes, you’ll even find people on the street selling pretty much nothing but water.
In short, you’ll never be far from water. Unless you’re like, in the middle of a hike.
Some of the most popular water brands in Thailand are Nestle, 7 Select (which you get from 7/11), Crystal, and Singha. But don’t worry about which brands you do or don’t buy; just buy water. Water is water.
Bottled water in Thailand is stupidly cheap. You’ll usually pay around 15 baht (that’s 0.40 USD) for a 1.5-liter bottle, and somewhere around 10 baht (that’s around 0.30 USD) for a 0.5-liter bottle. But many stores also sell big multipacks, which work out even cheaper.
Is It Safe to Have Ice in My Drinks in Thailand?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
The general advice I’ve always heard is that there’s a specific type of ice that’s safe in Thailand. If the ice is cylindrical, and tube-like, with a hole in it, it’s safe to drink.
If it doesn’t fit that description above, it probably isn’t safe to drink. Simple enough to follow and remember.
Now I know what you’re thinking: ‘but why?’ Well, that’s because this tube-like ice is commercially made in places where the standards are monitored and regulated. And the non-cylindrical ice might just be made by some guy who has a big freezer (and a big appetite for selling ice for profit).
If the ice doesn’t look safe to you, tell your drink-giver that you don’t want ice. If you get a drink that has ice in it, but you can’t see if it’s safe or not, just scoop it out and throw it away somewhere.
Another thing you might want to consider is salad and fruit. Often, if you go to a restaurant or a street food place, you’ll see fruits and vegetables laid out, and covered in ice. This ice (obviously) is used to keep the fruits and vegetables cool.
But the problem is, you don’t know whether this ice is safe or not.
You can have a look, to see if it’s the ice with holes in it. If it is, it’s safe to eat the fruits and vegetables. But cos ice melts (science!), you might not be able to tell. In that case, my advice is just eat the fruits and vegetables anyway. Yep, I’m less cautious than some people, but I’m also aware that food sellers don’t want to poison their customers. Cos they wouldn’t get much repeat business if they kept doing that.
What About Those Jugs of Water That Restaurants Have?
Some Thai restaurants have jugs of water, which you can slurp on while you eat.
Some jugs sit on the table, some sit where the cutlery is, some sit in various other places in the restaurants.
Wherever the jugs are located, they always seem to be filled with water from water dispensers. So, it’s impossible to say for certain, but they should always be safe to drink. As I feel like I keep saying, I always drink this water, and I always see local people drinking this water.
So, in summary, it should be fine, and I always drink it without hesitation.
Can I Brush My Teeth with Tap Water in Thailand?
Yes, you can. Please stop being ridiculous.
Some people will tell you that you should use bottled water to brush your teeth in Thailand, but those people are almost literally insane.
When you brush your teeth, do you accidentally swallow endless liters of water? No.
So you’re absolutely fine to brush your teeth with tap water in Thailand.
Can I Wash My Face with Tap Water in Thailand?
Yes. Stop worrying.
Your face is not going to secretly drink Thai tap water while you have your eyes closed.
Presumably, you have control over your own mouth. So you should be absolutely fine.
Can I Shower with Tap Water in Thailand?
Yes.
What are you going to do instead? Get a 7/11 worker to pour some bottled water on your head in the parking lot of the store?
What Are the Health Risks of Drinking Contaminated Tap Water?
Usually, if you drink bad tap water, you’ll wind up with diarrhea, stomach cramps, or doing a whole load of vomiting. They’re the main symptoms, but you might also experience fevers, coughing, and body aches.
Germs you can accidentally drink include legionella, campylobacter, norovirus, e.coli, enterovirus, salmonella, and even hepatitis A*. Here’s much more information, from people who have way more idea what they’re talking about than I do.
*I’m not saying you can necessarily get all of these in Thailand. But you can get them all from drinking tap water.
Drinking bad tap water can be especially dangerous for young people, old people, anyone with a bad immune system, anyone who’s already ill, or anyone who’s undergoing any type of serious medical treatment. So be careful.
What Should I Do in Thailand if I Get Sick?
Luckily, you’ll find pharmacies everywhere in Thailand.
And you don’t need a prescription to get medication from these pharmacies. Instead, you walk into a pharmacy, you tell the pharmacist your symptoms, and the pharmacist will give you some medication. You can get some surprisingly-strong stuff without any note from a doctor.
(…. and if you’re from a cautious country, you might be surprised by how liberal and unregulated this all is).
Be explicit about your specific symptoms. Don’t be embarrassed to tell the pharmacist you have diarrhea or whatever, cos then you probably won’t get your diarrhea fixed.
Some of the medications I’ve used for similar problems in Thailand include loperamide and erfuzide. Erfuzide seems to be a Thai alternative to enterofuryl (which always works like a miracle treatment for me, whenever I have a stomach bug or diarrhea or whatever). If you’ve had a lot of vomiting or diarrhea, you should also get some rehydration sachets.
One word of warning though: if you’re given antibiotics (such as enterofuryl), don’t use them unless you’re feeling super sick. Thai pharmacists love throwing antibiotics around—but if you use them too often, the bacteria and microbes can become immune to them. So only use them if you really need to use them.
Before You Go
So, now you know. You shouldn’t drink tap water in Thailand.
But you’ll find safe (and affordable!) bottled water everywhere. And there are lots of water dispensers both indoors and outdoors in Thailand (though some particularly-paranoid people don’t trust the outdoor ones).
For more fret-worthy advice on traveling in Thailand, here are our guides on whether Bangkok is safe, and whether Pattaya is safe (spoiler alert: they both are. Stop worrying).
Thanks for reading, thanks for choosing Travelness, and thanks again for coming back in the future. Enjoy Thailand!
