The dreaded Pattaya cough

[jacko 8,822]

When us smokers read threads like this we always get that "Smug" feeling !!

At least we can say it`s the fags that give us a cough ! :)

I suppose that was cancerous 'tongue in cheek'?

[DP Gumbypgh 97]

I am aware that I am not the only one that gets a Pattaya cough when I go to LOS. I am sure it would happen anywhere as I believe that it is the result of air-conditioning. I tend to believe that this is a combination of the rooms, gogo's etc rather than aeroplanes but who knows.

 

My reason for writing this is that rather than getting this at home I started getting the cough during my last week in Pattaya so off to the pharmacist at Watsons. They came up with something called MUCLEAR. This has turned out to be better and cheaper than any other fix that I have had. More often than not I end up going to the GP after about three weeks but I feel sure that this has fixed me.

 

For 180 baht this is substatially cheaper than local pills and potions that I have tried. If you get the dreaded Pattaya cough then give this s try.

The same medicine (acetylcysteine) is also sold as NASlong

[Woops 5]

Tips

 

[teelack 9,645]

Thanks Woops that was interesting. I guess that people who live in air conditioned rooms on a normal/regular basis know the rules but I had no idea.

[Woops 5]

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060828063235AAt6EwD

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/environment/sudden-change-from-hot-to-cold-can-harm-health

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_quickly_changing_from_cold_weather_to_hot_weather_get_you_sick

[short 215]

That 5 degree rule is BS. I keep my house at 65 year round even when it is exceeding 100 outside and have never had a problem due to the inside outside temperature difference. I think the culprit is units that aren't properly cleaned.

[Trvlr 50]

Dont want to scare anyone but just be aware that there is also a fair amount of whooping cough in Pattaya. This is a contagious disease, and the problen is it is contagious before the whooping stage sets in, so people do not even know it.

It is viral, so it has to run its course, but if someone has a bad cough it may be a good idea to avoid self medication alone and see a doctor.

 

I have never gotten a cough in many many years of visits, and I do most things mentioned above except smoking. But I also walk a lot, take my vitamins regularly, and eat a lot of ice cream.

[chopper1 0]

every time over the last few years that i visit pattaya and angeles after 2 or 3 weeks i develop the cough, it lasts 3 or 4 weeks and nothing i take to try and stop it works,it just goes by itself.i think its caused by b/gs, air con and pollution.i never get a cough anywhere else.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

I have astma. In the tropics the humid air actually helps me. Second hand smoke makes me wheeze but I bear it in the bars and gogos. It is a small price to pay for being there.

 

I do not barfine ladies who smoke and always try for a non-smoking room. I manage things to minimize any issues.

 

Planes do not seem to cause me problems.

 

I have many seasonal allergies to pollen, etc, and going to the tropics relieves those as well.

 

I did get a sinus infection in LOS once and the flight home was miserable, especially on takeoffs and landings - landings were worse. Now I take decongestants with me. Just in case.

[js007 795]

Dont want to scare anyone but just be aware that there is also a fair amount of whooping cough in Pattaya. This is a contagious disease, and the problen is it is contagious before the whooping stage sets in, so people do not even know it.

It is viral, so it has to run its course, but if someone has a bad cough it may be a good idea to avoid self medication alone and see a doctor.

 

I have never gotten a cough in many many years of visits, and I do most things mentioned above except smoking. But I also walk a lot, take my vitamins regularly, and eat a lot of ice cream.

 

It's easy enough to get a booster Whooping Cough shot. Most of us got the shot as a kid, but apparently, the effectiveness wears off after 10 years or so. Before my next trip to Pattaya, I'm going to get updated on my shots.

Edited June 7, 2014 by js007

[graymatter 153]

One of mother natures cruel tricks is to link our cough response with our arsehole.

 

We land in a place where we completely change our drinking and eating habits to the point that 70% of us get a dose of TD (Travellers Diarrhoea). Bacterial pathogens are the predominant risk, and locals soon become immune to the symptoms but when we first arrive the symptoms are predictable.

 

Of course the other predictable illness is the dry cough. It might be the air-conditioning but I believe that a change in lifestyle together with strange bacteria cause most of us the same problem. Again the locals and long term visitors soon become un-effected by the symptoms.

 

The irony is that both things often happen at the same time resulting in an urge to cough but a fear of doing so.

 

As they say in Thailand...never trust a fart.

[Gary 4,119]

I can assure you that my condo air con filters are clean. I really don't have much sore throat problems but within 5 days I feel like I am catching a cold. After I go back upcountry it disappears so it is definitely not a cold. I do have allergy problems here in farm country but nothing like I have in Jomtien. And they say salt air is good for you, bullshit.

[teelack 9,645]

Last time in Pattaya I had to take back to back courses of treatment to get over the cough.

 

That's 20 tablets but it did work.

 

I really have only a few culprits and they are: Air con, airplanes, swimming pools, smoky clubs and kissing Thai girls. Generally speaking I get this after three weeks in Thailand and never on arrival so I think that planes and air con are least likely as I believe I would have symptoms earlier. As for swimming pools I always thought that the chlorine would kill off any bugs on the go. This leaves clubs and girls so I can expect another attack the next time I go there!

[steamer 158]

I often get sick on my hols in Thailand but the Pattaya cough seems to be a thing of the past for me. I still get the shits, food poisoning and eye infections etc but not the cough, not lately anyway. I'd say that I used to stay in shitty hotels ~100% of the time but now that's down to about 50% of the time.

[Geno 25]

I cannot ever remember having the Pattaya cough. I think going in and out of aircon would probably bring it on for some people.

[hugobronson 33]

I used to get it most trips but I haven't had it the last couple of times I have been to Thailand. I think sleeping with the air-con on is probably the main reason why people experience this. Smoking crack and ice can also contribute so mind how you go.

I hear some thais put chewing gum across their teeth to filter the nasty stuff as it goes down. I also hear they are using a water filtered (bong-type) smoking device to reduce the cough. Just heard, dont know if true.

 

Just so you are aware, the exact same problem is widely reported in Angeles City too so I don't think it's Pattaya specific. What are the common denominators? I also get it in both cities. Aircon and vehicle exhaust emissions are imho the biggest culprits.

This is true. I get it a bit in both places.

I drink shitloads of water, ice tea, juice...anything but coke or fizzy shit.

It seems to help.

Drinking booze and sleeping with mouth open and aircon on is the main contributor I have found.

[Nightrider 340]

The main reason we get this cough is we are breathing in hot air and our bodies are not used to it.......!. Thats why ex-pats don't suffer from it because they have become imune and there bodies have adapted to it ....... simple really when you think about it....!

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

The main reason we get this cough is we are breathing in hot air and our bodies are not used to it.......!. Thats why ex-pats don't suffer from it because they have become imune and there bodies have adapted to it ....... simple really when you think about it....!

I for one disagree with that.

 

The air I breath in California is dry and filled with pollutants and allergens. I suffer at times from asthma related to that.

 

In Thailand, especially in Pattaya, my lungs clear up because i am not allergic to anything there and the humid/sea air is good for my asthma.

 

I vote for aircon as the nature of the beast.

 

Buildings in America (probably elsewhere) get "sick". The worst cases are Legionnaire's Disease. The aircons in Thailand, hot and humid Thailand, are perfect breeding grounds for many thinks including mold.

 

Just my thoughts, unscientific as they might be.

[Butch 3,456]

Good point Midlife, most AC's harbour some kind of Bacteria, if I were a hotelier with 50 rooms, servicing my air cons each year might cost me several thousand pounds / baht / dollars, if I don't, then that's a nice saving on something that I only have to fix when it goes wrong.

 

Legionnaires is caused by stagnant water (from the condensing effect of the AC Unit) pooling and the exsisting legionella bacterium in the water multiplying in the ideal conditions . The two things that the legionella bacteria require to grow and reproduce are: a water temperature of 20-45ºC (68-113ºF) , impurities in the water that the bacteria can use for food, such as rust, sludge, algae and limescale.

 

All pretty much describing any given hotel room AC unit anywhere in SEA.

 

Also, don't forget most of us step out of a long, metal tube which we've been in for 12+ hours full of people farting, caughing, sneezing and breathing the same , recirculated air. given that most Viral / Bacterial infections appear after a few days, once the immune system starts to struggle, then it is easy to attribute it to the AC unit. Of course, having a badly maintained unit harbouring nasty bacteria will add to your problems anyway.

 

Here's a tip. When you arrive in your hotel room, have a look at the cassete AC unit on the ceiling. Get a chair and unclip the front of it (there's 2 small plastic tabs you use for leverage). The front will lift up revealing a black and white plastic mesh grille. The brown stuff you can see on the front of it is airborne dust, dead skin and other particulates.

Remove the grille (hold breath while doing so!) and head into the shower, trying not to breathe in any dust when you remove it. turn the shower on and clean the grill down until you can see right through it., wipe it clean with your hands, wash them well and then let it dry outside for 10 min. Go back to the unit and with a wet tissue wipe the plastic cover you flipped up inside and out, as well as the front area which the grille covered and the "flap" underneath from left to right. Replace the mesh grill into the AC unit, close the front & wash your hands again and turn it on. This sounds daft, but after you turn it on, smell the air coming out of the AC, it should smell "cold".

 

I always do this every time I enter a hotel room with a separate AC. Some rooms have a non intereference system which is a large metal grille, usually above the door or in the wall of the room at ceiling height. There's nothing you can do about these unfortunately. Very often AC systems like this are only maintained , if ever, when they go wrong.

 

Personally I think it is the combination of pollution, Air con, being on a plane for hours, travelling and a general lowering of the body defences which causes the problems. Before any trip I always load up on Vitamin C, ensure I get a decent rest before the flight and hydrate as much as I can. Although that didn't stop me from nearly croaking it on a Malaysian airlines flight 2 years ago, it did, until then, stand me in fairly good stead.

[Geno 25]

 

Here's a tip. When you arrive in your hotel room, have a look at the cassete AC unit on the ceiling. Get a chair and unclip the front of it (there's 2 small plastic tabs you use for leverage). The front will lift up revealing a black and white plastic mesh grille. The brown stuff you can see on the front of it is airborne dust, dead skin and other particulates.

Remove the grille (hold breath while doing so!) and head into the shower, trying not to breathe in any dust when you remove it. turn the shower on and clean the grill down until you can see right through it., wipe it clean with your hands, wash them well and then let it dry outside for 10 min. Go back to the unit and with a wet tissue wipe the plastic cover you flipped up inside and out, as well as the front area which the grille covered and the "flap" underneath from left to right. Replace the mesh grill into the AC unit, close the front & wash your hands again and turn it on. This sounds daft, but after you turn it on, smell the air coming out of the AC, it should smell "cold".

 

 

Or just use the fans and leave the aircon off.

[js007 795]

In my case, I don't think it has anything to do with the air-conditioning or the heat. They have both in Phuket and I never get sick there. Only in Pattaya. Every single time I go to Pattaya, I get sick. I suppose I could blame it all on some sort of very strange coincidence....

[jacko 8,822]

 

Or just use the fans and leave the aircon off.

Many hotel rooms don't have fans...... the windows are sealed and the use of AC is needed.

[Butch 3,456]

 

Or just use the fans and leave the aircon off.

Great idea if you want to use the aircon.

 

As Jacko said, a majority of hotel rooms don't have fans as the windows are sealed, as well as fan instalation being an added expense during construction. I'm sure some guest houses still have fans though.

 

Besides, what's the point in booking an Air con room at a hotel if you're not going to use it?.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Butch

[Geno 25]

Great idea if you want to use the aircon.

 

As Jacko said, a majority of hotel rooms don't have fans as the windows are sealed, as well as fan instalation being an added expense during construction. I'm sure some guest houses still have fans though.

 

Besides, what's the point in booking an Air con room at a hotel if you're not going to use it?.

 

Many hotel rooms don't have fans...... the windows are sealed and the use of AC is needed.

 

Depends where you go and what type room you stay in. If you are in some high rise in Bangkok then you would be correct, the windows are sealed but some do still have fans. In Pattaya every room I have stayed in has had a fan I believe. It is up to your personal choice really. I am not a big fan of aircon. Who books an air room at a hotel? I never have, I just book a room.

[jacko 8,822]

 

 

Depends where you go and what type room you stay in. If you are in some high rise in Bangkok then you would be correct, the windows are sealed but some do still have fans. In Pattaya every room I have stayed in has had a fan I believe. It is up to your personal choice really. I am not a big fan of aircon. Who books an air room at a hotel? I never have, I just book a room.

I would absolutely never book what I see listed as a FAN room. That is what you sometimes see in smaller places like guest houses and hostels and maybe those huts on the beach. Posted in front. But I thought we were discussing hotels.

When I book a hotel room in Pattaya, I am expecting AC.......I would certainly be unhappy to turn up and find the room did not have AC.