Cleaner street food needed to draw tourists

You don’t want people going home with memories of dysentery.

If the Tourism Authority of Thailand wants to attract more foreigners by food tourism, measures must be taken to vastly improve the hygiene of street food, urged the president of the Thai Restaurant Association.

“We should prioritise food safety, eating only recently cooked or heated foods since bacteria can’t grow well in heated food,” said association President Taniwan Koonmongkon.

She believes more Thais are suffering from cancer due to their consumption of unhygienic food, pointing to research by Mahidol University about the prevalence of certain cancers among Thais in 2011.

Street food popular among Asian tourists include pad thai, moo ping (grilled pork), and fresh fruit, Bangkok Post reported.

According to Taniwan, the association has made past efforts to urge the Public Health Ministry to establish a food hygiene campaign among street food stalls but has yet to receive full cooperation.

Enforcement of the Public Health Act of 1992’s mandate for “quality and hygiene standards for street food” is poor, Bangkok Post reported.

An increase in Thailand’s competitiveness among other tourist hotspots can be achieved in the long-run only if the ministry seriously works with the relevant groups to promote food safety, Taniwan said.