Does a stall without a SAN sign mean it is not clean?

Not necessarily. Many street stalls have never applied. The sign is extra information; what you can see right then, such as heat, the vendor's hands and how raw food is kept, tells you more.

Is a busy stall really better than a quiet one?

It helps because food turns over quickly and does not sit for long. It does not guarantee hygiene, so check the other signs too.

Should I avoid raw or half-cooked dishes?

Thailand's Department of Health advises avoiding raw, half-cooked and fermented foods such as pickled crab or raw shrimp in fish sauce, especially in hot weather. If your stomach is sensitive, you are pregnant, or you are feeding young children or older people, choose dishes that are cooked through.

Thai street food safety: what to look at before you order

Thai street food is easy to enjoy once you know what to look at. There are five things: is the food really hot, does it turn over fast, are raw and cooked foods kept apart, does the vendor handle money and then food, and how is the ice kept. It takes a few seconds before you order and cuts the odds of an upset stomach a lot.

This is not about being afraid of street stalls. It is about choosing well. Everything here comes from the World Health Organization’s “Five keys to safer food” and the advice of Thailand’s Department of Health (Krom Anamai), which agree on almost every point.

Five things to check in five seconds before you order

Really hot, or only warm

Heat is the street eater’s best friend. WHO advises bringing soups and stews to a boil so they reach 70°C, keeping cooked food piping hot (above 60°C) while it waits to be served, and not leaving cooked food at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

In practice:

Food cooked to order, such as pad kra pao, fried rice, freshly blanched noodles or an omelette, has just been through high heat. It is the safest choice.
A curry pot on the stove with steam rising is still hot enough.
A tray of curry that is lukewarm with no steam could have been made at any hour. Be more careful.

The US CDC says much the same in its guidance for travellers: fully cooked food served hot is the safest.

Example: a curry tray at lunchtime

Say a rice-and-curry stall finishes its green curry at 06:30 and ladles it into a tray at the front, off the heat. You arrive at 11:30.

From 06:30 to 11:30 is 5 hours.
WHO’s limit for cooked food at room temperature is 2 hours, so it is 3 hours over.
Coconut-milk curries spoil especially easily; the head of the Department of Health has warned people to be careful with foods and desserts made with coconut milk for that reason.
Better options: order a stir-fry made fresh, or curry from a pot that is still bubbling on the stove.

On the vendor’s side, the Department of Health advises reheating cooked food that is on sale for a long time every 4 hours, and keeping it covered, at least 60 cm above the floor. A stall that does this where you can see it is a stall that cares.

Food that turns over

At a busy stall, trays and pots empty and get refilled often, so food does not sit for long. Timing helps too: go when the stall has just opened or at the lunch rush, and the food is usually fresher than in the late afternoon.

A crowd does not prove the stall is clean, though. It is one signal; check the others as well.

Raw and cooked apart

“Separate raw and cooked” is one of WHO’s five keys, because germs on raw meat, chicken and seafood move onto cooked food through hands, boards, knives or drips.

What you can see from the front of the stall:

Raw meat kept apart from cooked food and fresh vegetables, not stacked above them, with no juice dripping onto anything else.
A board or knife for cooked food that is not the one just used on raw meat.
Fresh side vegetables not sitting next to the raw-meat tray.

In hot weather the Department of Health advises avoiding raw, half-cooked and fermented foods such as pickled crab (pu dong) and raw shrimp in fish sauce (kung chae nam pla). If you do want them, know that the risk is higher than for a dish cooked through.

The vendor’s hands and the money

Money passes through many hands. A hand that has just taken cash and then picks up fresh herbs, basil or sliced grilled pork is an easy route for germs, because those foods will not be heated again.

Good signs:

Tongs, spoons or gloves for anything ready to eat.
One person takes money and another cooks, or the vendor washes hands before going back to the food.
A hand-washing point or water bucket at the stall.

If one pair of bare hands does everything, choose a dish that still goes through heat after it is handled.

Ice and drinking water

WHO counts ice as a raw material that can be contaminated, just like water. The Department of Health tells vendors to keep ice for consumption in a clean, covered, rust-free container at least 60 cm off the ground, to scoop it with a handled scoop rather than by hand, and never to chill food or drink bottles in ice that people will eat.

If you see bottles chilling in the same bin that ice is scooped from into glasses, or an ice bin sitting on the ground, ask for no ice or choose a factory-sealed drink. The next article in this series covers ice in detail.

Signs: from Clean Food Good Taste to SAN

Many people remember the Clean Food Good Taste sign from the Department of Health’s long-running “clean food, good taste” scheme. The department stopped certifying that sign on 30 September 2023 and replaced it with the SAN and SAN Plus standards. An old sign still hanging up tells you nothing about the stall today.

Sign	Status	Roughly means
Clean Food Good Taste	Not certified since 30 Sep 2023	Passed in the past; says nothing about now
SAN	Current	Owner and food handlers trained, self-assessed against the 2018 ministerial regulation on food premises, then certified by an official
SAN Plus	Current	A higher level than SAN, with extra criteria

A SAN sign is a good sign, but many street stalls have no sign at all. Treat the sign as extra information; what you see in front of you that day matters more. If you find a stall that is clearly unhygienic, you can report it to the Department of Health or the local district office.

Five seconds before you order: is it hot, is it fresh, are raw and cooked apart, does the money hand touch food, is the ice in a covered bin?

Common mistakes

Trusting the sign alone. No sign, old or new, tells you how many hours that curry tray has been sitting.
Thinking chili sauce kills germs. Chili, vinegar or lime do not make food that has sat too long safe.
A hot dish topped with unwashed greens. Side vegetables and fresh toppings are not heated. If the stall looks doubtful, ask for them to be left off.
Forgetting the ice. Choosing a hot dish carefully, then drinking ice scooped from a bin on the floor.
Leaving takeaway in the car. Food you carry home counts toward the same 2 hours, or 1 hour in very hot weather.

If you get severe diarrhoea, vomiting that will not stop, a high fever, blood in the stool or signs of dehydration, see a doctor. If you have a food allergy, read how to eat Thai food safely with a food allergy.

Sources

Ingredients and heat vary by kitchen and recipe. If you have a food allergy, ask before you order, every time.