Forum: travel.stackexchange.com
Tags: <health><thailand>
Title: What immunisations, if any, are required / recommended for Thailand?
Question: A member of my family is headed to Thailand shortly (and I'm considering it as well, haha) and wondering what immunisations are required / recommended for that area?

Answers:
sents: text: According to the CDC , they recommend MMR, DPT, polio, Hep A/B, Typhoid and Japanese encephalitis
text: Also Malaria meds are recommended.
text: That being said, I've lived in SE Asia and travelled around with only MMR, DPT, polio and the Heps.
text: A lot of people swear by Malaria meds, but every time I take them, I feel horrible and can't really do anything
text: so I generally skip them.
text: I would strongly recommend Japanese encephalitis though, it is currently rated at endemic and is seen even in Bangkok.
text: Hep
text: A/B are rated at a low threat in Thailand, but they are generally good immunizations anyway.
text: MMR, DPT, polio are considered standard for international travel, and are highly recommended.
text: Typhoid is rated as a threat in rural areas.
text: I'm not sure of the rates in cities.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/85/Beaker
score: 11
sents: text: According to the Thailand entry on the Finnish site rokote.fi, These vaccines are recommended for everyone :
text: Hepatitis A DPT / DTwP MMR
text: These are recommended for some, based on a risk estimate (preferably conducted with a health professional): Hepatitis B Japanese encephalitis (but see also Ginamin's answer !)
text: Cholera Typhoid Preventive malaria medicine is also recommended for parts of the country (green in this not very detailed map ).
text: Seems like Bangkok and the coastal areas most frequented by tourists are not in the higher-risk zone though.
text: The site cites this source for their vaccine information: Matkailijan terveysopas 2009, a publication by the National Institute for Health and Welfare
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/583/Jonik
score: 9
sents: text: Nothing, really, unless you mean to stay in the jungles for a while.
text: And yes of course you want mosquito repellent because skitos are never any fun.
text: Your biggest health concerns have to do with heat, hydration, food and traffic accidents.
text: If you drink 2 liters at home, you need 3 liters in Thailand (assuming of course a temperate climate where you are from).
text: You also need to drink electrolytes regularly.
text: Good sunscreen.
text: Don't laugh, this is not your typical "hey, I got sunburned", mess around with that
text: and you could spend the rest of the holidays in a really bad condition.
text: For the food, keep in mind that tap water is not drinkable.
text: Actually it's not drinkable in most of southern Asia, so buy bottled water only.
text: You don't want to drink anything with crushed ice but ice cubes are usually fine.
text: Thai food tends to be very spicy and you are likely to get mild diarrhea (which brings you back to the hydration issue - Diarrhea causes a loss of water & electrolytes).
text: Other than that, of course you have all kinds of diseases, but not more than in other civilized countries.
text: Hygiene standards are rather decent in most places.
text: And traffic accidents.
text: It's not a disease, but it's still an epidemic and as a tourist you are far more likely to suffer significant health problems from the poor driving standards than you are to catch any major disease in Thailand.
text: (By the way, people are supposed to drive on the left, here.
text: Let's be fair, that's also a reason why tourists have a lot of accidents).
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/1201/Sylverdrag
score: 8
sents: text: Found this from the World Health Organisation : Yellow Fever Country requirement: a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.
text: Yellow fever vaccine recommendation:
text: no Malaria Malaria:
text: Malaria risk exists throughout the year in rural, especially forested and hilly, areas of the whole country, mainly towards the international borders, including the southernmost provinces.
text: There is no risk in cities (e.g. Bangkok, Chiang Mai city, Pattaya), Samui island and the main tourist resorts of Phuket island.
text: However, there is a risk in some other areas and islands.
text: P. falciparum resistant to chloroquine and sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine reported.
text: Resistance to mefloquine and to quinine reported from areas near the borders with Cambodia and Myanmar.
text: Human P. knowlesi infection reported.
text: Recommended prevention in risk areas:
text: Mosquito bite prevention only; Recommended prevention in areasnear Cambodia and Myanmar borders: Mosquito bite prevention plus atovaquone–proguanil, doxycycline or mefloquine chemoprophylaxis (select according to reported resistance pattern)
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/101/Mark Mayo
score: 2
sents: text: If you come from:
text: Angola Argentina Benin Bolivia BrazilBurknan Faso
text: Burundi Cameron Central Africa ChadColumbia Congo Cote d'Ivoire Ecuador Equatorial GuinEthiopia French-Guiana Gabon Gambia GhanaGuinea Guyana Guinea Bissau Kenya LiberiaMali Mauritania Niger Negeria PanamaPeru Paraguay Rwanda Senegal Sao Tome & PrincipeSierra Leone
text: Somalia Sudan Suriname
text: TanzaniaTogo Trinida & Tobago
text: Uganda Venezuela Zaire, you need an evidence of vaccination for yellow fever ( Thailand immigration ) in order to be allower to enter the country.
text: Risk of malaria is really low and malaria pills has bad side effects.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/6533/Sebastien
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
MMR, DPT, polio, Hep A/B, Typhoid (rated as a threat in rural areas) and Japanese encephalitis (currently rated at endemic) are recommended by the CDC. Malaria meds are recommended, and  a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.
A number of vaccinations are recommended for travel to Thailand, however, none are obligatory, unless you are a traveller from a list of countries where yellow fever is required. Malaria medication is also recommended.