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In many parts of the world, you don’t have to worry much when you drink water from the tap. Unfortunately, Southeast Asia is not one of those places.
Throughout our culinary travels in Southeast Asia, we were concerned about the availability of safe drinking water.
Whether in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, or Vietnam, access to potable water was a priority.
That said, we have been fortunate not to have fallen ill or become sick from the drinking water.
In this article we shed light on how to drink water safely, particularly around food situations.
Be sure to check out our 15 helpful tips for safely drinking water in Southeast Asia.
Can You Drink Tap Water In Southeast Asia?
Is it safe to drink tap water in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and other countries in Southeast Asia?
As a general rule, it’s not safe though Singapore is the only exception.
Poorly maintained water infrastructure, harmful bacteria, and heavy metals can compromise the quality of the tap water.
That said, you can still enjoy your culinary travels in Southeast Asia by keeping these tips in mind.
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Tips to Keep in Mind for Savvy and Healthy Food Travelers
1. Check Whether The Locals Drink Tap Water
When it comes to drinking water in Southeast Asia, always check with the locals.
Whether you’re in a hotel, guest house, or an apartment, find out if residents are drinking tap water.
If the locals don’t drink tap water, then neither should you.
Ask them to tell you the best place to find either bottled water or filtered water.
One thing to keep in mind is that tap water quality varies between rural and urban areas.
Find out if the locals drink tap water or bottled water. And be sure to follow their advice for finding safe drinking water.
2. Find Filtered Water Or Bottled Water At Your Accommodation
The water quality in Southeast Asia is generally not potable.
Depending on the type of accommodation you choose for your stay, the availability of potable, filtered, or bottled water will vary.
If you’re staying in a guesthouse or hotel, you’ll generally be given either one or two ½ liter bottles of complimentary mineral or purified water bottle(s) per day.
Once you’ve finished this bottled water, you can purchase additional bottles, but this can quickly add up and become expensive.
If your accommodations has a fitness studio or gym, check to see if they provide filtered water onsite.
Ask before you work out, as you may need to purchase bottled water in advance.
3. Use Water Filters
Concerned about the environmental impact, we used our GRAYL water bottles to filter our personal drinking water.
Other alternative options we tried for purifying water were LifeStraw bottles and a Steripen.
While they worked, we did not find them as convenient as GRAYL water bottles.
We also weren’t persuaded by Steripen, which required a battery and didn’t work for us.
With GRAYL, water from virtually any source can be purified against viruses, chemicals, and heavy metals with just one press in under 15 seconds.
The GRAYL bottles are also ultralight and don’t require batteries. We used the bottles in two unexpected ways – drinking coffee and keeping fit.
Rosemary would filter water using her GRAYL bottle and then boil it to make coffee.
We also used our GRAYL water bottles to stay hydrated during runs.
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4. Purchase Bottled Water From Local Supermarkets
Purchasing bottled or filtered water from your accommodation can become expensive.
Save money by heading to the nearest convenience store, which are quite common in the region.
Bottled water is highly accessible throughout Southeast Asia.
You’ll be able to find bottled drinking water in a range of international brands and sizes of plastic bottles.
Expect to pay anywhere from $0.20 cents for 500ml of bottled water or up to $1.00 for 6 liters.
If you’re choosing an international brand of bottled water, be prepared to pay a little more.
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5. Drink Like A Locals At Home
On our culinary explorations around Southeast Asia, we stayed with locals and in local neighborhoods.
This made it easy to observe how residents made use of filtered water services.
In countries like Cambodia and the Philippines, our hosts received regular deliveries of filtered water.
The water would be delivered in huge plastic bottles containing 30 liters or more of filtered water.
This water would be used for a range of activities, from cooking, brushing teeth, or staying hydrated.
In Cambodia, filtered water delivered in these huge bottles was the preferred source of potable water.
On the other hand, in Hanoi, Vietnam, boiling water was usually enough to make it drinkable.
In the kitchen of our Vietnamese host was a pitcher of water cooling off right next to the kettle.
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6. Stay Hydrated With Water At Restaurants
With the exception of Cambodia, restaurants and food stalls across the region offer free tap water, which is known as “service water.”
Service water is filtered, clean water, and safe to drink. It’s available for free, you simply ask for it from servers or serve it yourself.
Many of the little restaurants or street vendors in countries like Malaysia and Laos will usually have a small space with cups on shelves reserved for safe drinking water.
This is typically self-service. You take a cup that is placed upside down (indicating it is clean) from the shelf, as well as a short straw from a nearby cup.
Next to the cups is a bucket of ice for you to use to fill your glass.
Then take your cup with the ice back to your table, where you will find a pitcher of room temperature water that is safe to drink.
Be aware that in some places in Thailand, you may have to pay extra for the ice.
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7. Purchase Water In Cambodia’s Restaurants
In Cambodia, service water isn’t available.
You have to order your water and buy whatever brand of bottled water the restaurant has available.
Prices are on the higher side due to the use of the US dollar as the unofficial second currency.
Bottled water starts at $0.50 cents for a small (500ml) bottle of water.
Interestingly, you will find branded mineral water coming from France or Italy, such as Evian, Badoit, or San Pellegrino, which we found a nice surprise.
Expect to pay a higher price for this type of water, usually around $1.50 for a small bottle of water (500 ml).
8. Enjoy Light Tea In Vietnam And Thailand
Drinking tap water in Thailand is not advisable.
Thankfully, in Vietnam and parts of Thailand, the water is sometimes replaced by a light tea called tra da in Vietnamese.
Tra da is a tea that is diluted with lots of water.
While the tea gives the water some taste, our recommendation is to be cautious of the cups.
In many cases, the used cups are not washed but instead put back on the rack upside down to be used again.
The hygiene levels in Vietnam can be particularly questionable.
Whenever possible, we recommend sticking with a straw to drink the light tea.
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9. Choose Sparkling Soda Water
In restaurants or food stalls, consider trying “soda water” or sparkling water, sometimes also called gasified water.
Soda water comes in a glass bottle instead of a plastic bottle, making it better for the environment.
Plus, the bubbles are a nice change from flat water, adding a bit of sparkle to your drink.
The price of this sparkling bottled water is equivalent to a regular bottle of purified or mineral water.
Expect to pay between $0.25 cents and $0.50 cents for a small bottle of water (500 ml).
10. Discover Public Reverse Osmosis Machines in Thailand
Tap water in Thailand is not suitable for drinking and does not meet international standards.
Improper water drainage across the country pollutes surface water, making the water not safe to drink.
During our trip to Thailand, we stayed at short-term apartment rentals. These apartments were not set up with a filtered water delivery system.
That’s when we discovered the public option, the reverse osmosis machines.
Along the streets are machines about the size of a vending machine, which are popular among Thai people for refilling bottles of water.
Through the process of reverse osmosis, these public water dispensers produce purified, filtered water widely used by locals.
At the inexpensive cost of 1 Thai Baht (about $0.03 cents), you can refill your 1-liter bottle.
We would typically buy two large 6-liter plastic bottles and refill them regularly at a reverse osmosis machine for about 11 Thai Bhat (about $0.31 cents).
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11. Be Careful Using Ice
On our trip, we would see ice trucks delivering ice to the local restaurants early in the morning.
The ice cubes at these restaurants are safe to use as they are made of purified water.
Look for a cylindrical shape in the ice cubes. This shows that they have been made in a factory and are safe to add to your drinks.
That said, if you are not comfortable or have any doubts about the ice cubes, feel free to ask the restaurant owners.
12. Be Sensible When Brushing Teeth
If you’re planning to brush your teeth with tap water, be sensible.
Never swallow the water. If you’re concerned about using water from the tap for brushing your teeth, use filtered or treated water instead,
If you’re prone to a sensitive stomach, this may be the best approach.
We never had any issues personally when brushing our teeth with tap water.
13. Get Travel Insurance With Health Provisions
Even if you don’t have a sensitive stomach, it’s sensible to get travel insurance before your trip to cover any unexpected health issues.
Any good travel insurance should cover medical expenses, meaning that you can seek medical treatment if you’re abroad.
This includes everything from paying for medical treatment and ambulance fees through to medical evacuation.
We have up-to-date travel insurance and recommend finding the best value for the coverage that you need.
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14. Reducing Your Plastic Bottle Usage And Recycle
Unfortunately, there is a significant environmental impact from purchasing plastic bottles of water.
Sadly, we didn’t see any overt promotion of recycling in countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and others we visited.
One of the benefits of investing in filtered water bottles is that it’s a more sustainable option.
You’ll reduce the amount of plastic waste you generate while staying safe and healthy.
If you are staying in a country for a few weeks, choose to get filtered water delivered to your place of residence.
You will not only reduce your plastic waste consumption you’ll also have 24/7 access to safe-to-drink water.
15. Be Sensible With Food
When it comes to the water supply across Southeast Asia, you need to consider its impact on your eating habits as much as your drinking habits.
You want to avoid accidentally consuming contaminated water in your food. Avoid fruit or vegetables that have been pre-cut or pre-washed.
Instead, choose fruits where you need to remove the skin to reduce any risk of contamination.
If you have access to a kitchen, be wary of cut-up produce or fresh salads, which can be risky.
At street food stalls or local restaurants, choose dishes that are hot to reduce the potential risk of germs in the food.
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In the comments below, please share with us how you stay safe with the drinking water on your travels.
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Claire is co-founder of Authentic Food Quest and a lover of simple and exquisite cuisine. Since 2015, with her partner, Rosemary, she has been traveling the world as a digital nomad, creating content about local food experiences.
Her advice from visiting 45 countries and more than 240 food cities has been featured in Lonely Planet, Business Insider, Honest Cooking, Food Insider, and Huffington Post. She has also co-authored three books, including one in collaboration with Costa Brava Tourism.
An ex-mechanical engineer, Claire is responsible for SEO, keeping the website running, and the fun food & travel videos on YouTube.
When Claire is not eating, she can be found running or cycling. Find out more about Authentic Food Quest
Great tips and precautions.
Thank you!
I’m always surprised when some mates drink the tap water from an expense standpoint.
Great tips. I alway am worried about getting sick when I travel. There is nothing worse than not being able to go out and enjoy yourself because you are sick in bed. Thank you so much for the ideas. I will be using them for sure.
You are most welcome Amber. Happy to help provide tips to make your travels memorable. What countries are you planning to visit? Cheers.
Such an informative article you had posted. Your article will help us in drinking safe water.thanks for sharing this tips with us.keep posting like this.good wishes for you.. 🙂
You are most welcome Kathy. So glad you enjoyed the article and all the tips. Indeed drinking safely is important on your travels. Thanks for stopping by.
It sure was nice that you said bottled water is easily accessible in Southeast Asia and that they can easily be found in any convenient store. Apparently, that is the reason why my sister’s classmate, who is currently staying with us, prefers to drink bottled water. I guess it is very normal to drink it from where she came from. Anyway, I am okay with providing what she needs since she seems serious about it. I will order a few bottled water if that will take the load off her chest.
Thanks Dino. You might want to consider using less bottles of water and and instead choose a GRAYL water filtration bottle 🙂
I had a friend that traveled around Southeast Asia, and even the smallest slip-up caused her to get ill. This is very important information to keep in mind. Thanks for sharing!
That’s too bad to hear Heather, about your friend. Glad the tips are helpful and feel free to share with other travelers to the region. Cheers 🙂
I’m thinking of getting a water purifier bottle. I always buy bottled water when I travel but I feel so bad because many places don’t even have the option to recycle. I was very impressed with the public water distributors in Thailand!
You are right Lydia, the reverse osmosis machines in Thailand are quite convenient. We use them a lot and also like having our GRAYL water bottle with us for those “just in case we run out of water” moments. Do check out GRAYL for your next water bottle. Cheers.
One thing I think you should also mention is to be sure to brush your teeth only with bottled or filtered water. It was Africa, but that was the thing that did me in. I was brushing my teeth with the tap thinking it didn’t matter since I was only spitting it out. A month of an infection later, I was definitely regretting that decision.
Oh wow, that sounds like a horrible situation in Africa. I wonder if there was more to the water in the countries you visited. One of our first tips is to ask “the locals and do what the locals do”. In every situation and country, we always asked about the safety of the water to drink, cook and brush our teeth. Asking the locals goes a long way….and having a GRAYL water bottle offers peace of mind as well. Cheers.
This is great! I do South East Asia frequently (not enough as I’d like to), and didn’t know about the filter option. Thanks for sharing and check out my posts on Travel-Break.net!
Happy to help share information about the water situation in Southeast Asia. Check out GRAYL for your next trip. You’ll be much happier and safer 🙂 Thanks Stephanie for stopping by.
Great tips, it looks a bit complicated finding clean water in each country. I think Grayl solves all these problems and is good for the environment too. I will definitely keep it in mind.
Glad you like the article, Chrysoula. Traveling with a light-weight purifying bottle water like GRAYL, makes all the difference. Thanks for your comments.
Posts like this are so important. I forgot all about drinking water in Africa and got violently sick. I’ve definitely learnt my lesson now!! I think it’s brilliant hostels give you bottled water each day – I will make sure I save this post for when I visit Asia
So sad to hear about your situation when traveling through Africa. Get yourself a GRAYL water bottle for your next travels and you’ll be much safer. While the hotels give you one or two bottles a day. It’s really not enough. Having a GRAYL water bottle allows you to filter more water throughout the day. Thanks Maddy for your comments.
Those are some great tips!! It’s really important to drink clean water!!
These are great tips! I do not like to drink tap water, I always like to get bottled water.
If you can, instead of buying bottled water, try filtering your water with a GRAYL. Safe and better for the environment. Cheers.
Great tips. I always end up spending a fortune on water. I need to get one of the filter bottles to try and save some money. At the moment I am in Peru and am spending a fortune on bottled water and feel so bad for the environment too!!
Hope you are enjoying Peru, Clare. When we were there, we also had to be careful about the water. I wish we had shared this article prior to your trip. When you get a chance, do get yourself a GRAYL bottle for safety and peace of mind for your next trip. Cheers.
Having a filtered water bottle is a life saver! Thanks for all the tips!
You are most welcome Sadie. One cannot take chances when traveling to hot and humid places. GRAYL offers protection and peace of mind. Thanks for your comments.
What a thorough post! As a water addict, this is something I think about a lot while traveling, and never got such a full answer as this. I’ve never heard of Grayl water bottles but they seem like a great addition to my future packing lists.
So glad you found the article really helpful. Like you we drink a lot of water and keeping safe and healthy is key. Check out GRAYL for your next trip. Easy to use and lightweight to carry. Can’t go wrong. Thanks for your comments Lillie.
Some great tips, we’re always paranoid about water quality even when visiting Europe. We may stick to drinking only beer although this option could end badly!
That’s funny…lol. Get a GRAYL bottle for your next trip and you’ll be much safer and also have more options than beer 🙂 Thanks for your comments.
Great point about the cups in Vietnam being reused. We’re big fans of using a water filter. Better to be safe than sorry.
We were surprised to see the cups being reused in Vietnam. Having GRAYL water bottles that purify and filter water are handy. Agree, better to be safe than sorry. Thanks Debra.
I”m a hiker and I use mini Sawyer filtration system – it’s tiny and absolutely perfect for any kind of travel where there is no access to purified/safe water. It’s definitely cheaper than buying bottled water around!
Thanks for the post!
Thanks Ioanna, good to know about Sawyer. We’ve not heard of it, but it sounds like our GRAYL water bottles. Agree, definitively better for the environment. Cheers.
Clean drinking water is so important when you travel. You have to keep hydrated, especially in tropical heat. On our last trip to Thailand, we got “gotten” in Railay. It wasn’t just us, but from our informal survey, about half the people who visited when we where there had the same feeling. We felt we were being careful but, as they say – something was in the water.
So sorry to hear that you had “issues” from the water in Thailand on your last trip. With GRAYL, we have not been sick at all. Something for you to consider on your next trip 🙂 Cheers.
Excellent tips! Who would like to be sick on the road, right? We needed to have precautions especially when we were in Asia. At least, the water isn’t too expensive and most of the places tolerated us having our own bottles of water on the go. This bottle of water seems brilliant!
Thanks so much Nat and indeed, no fun in being sick on the road. While the water in Southeast Asia is cheap, the issue is the waste with the bottles. Do check out GRAYL for your next trip. Cheers.
I am from the Philippines and i agree with you. We use to buy alkaline water from water stations here for safety. Thank you for your tips, we can use it when we travel soon.
You are most welcome Ruth. Happy to hear that you also use alkaline water from water stations in the Philippines. Having a water bottle that filters and purifies makes a huge difference and helps keep you safe 🙂
It is better safe than sorry. I should consider this from now on whenever we travel. Thanks for enlightening us.
Glad you enjoyed the article. You can’t a chance especially when traveling to Southeast Asia. Cheers.
This is great information to know, as I know where ever I go I definitely am always scared of drinking water that is not from bottled water. I also hate just plain water, and since I love soda I love that idea of soda water.
There is no need to be scared about the drinking water on your travels. If you travel with a lightweight bottle like Grayl you can feel safe about the drinking water 🙂 The soda water is indeed a nice change and tasty option 🙂 Thanks Ivette for stopping by.
What a great collection of tips! I always worry about the water quality, but I never think about the cup! I will now!
Glad you found the tips helpful Dorothy. Please feel free to share with friends or family who may be traveling soon. Cheers.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever use this but this is an awesome writeup! I hope you enjoyed yourselves in Southeast Asia!
Geat post! I will remember this when traveling.
Very helpful tips, one should always be careful especially when it comes to your health. Tourists normally get excited and want to try out all the famous delicacies, however they really don’t know whether the food or utensils are hygienic or not. The best rule is to be prepared for the best and this is what the post is all about.
Love your comments. You got it 100%, the idea is to be prepared for the “best” and to make smart decisions. Appreciate your feedback.
Great tips! We had to do the same with our water when we travelled to Nigeria. Luckily we didn’t get too sick, just a little stomach upset 🙂
Gennifer Rose | http://www.GenniferRose.com
Good to know Gennifer and glad to hear that you did not get sick in Nigeria. How did you filter your water?