Thai allergy card

Which Thai dishes have fish sauce (nam pla)?

Thailand's allergen challenge is often in the sauces and pastes, not the dish name. Nam pla (fish sauce) seasons pad thai, fried rice, tom yum, some curries, papaya salad, and many dipping sauces, including plates a menu calls vegetarian, unless the kitchen specifically caters to strict vegetarians. It goes in as a seasoning rather than a headline ingredient, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand describes it as the most common ingredient in Thai cooking, which is why the name of a dish tells you so little about whether it is there.

Does Thai curry paste contain shrimp paste (kapi)?

Kapi (shrimp paste) is pounded into curry pastes and chili-based nam prik dips before cooking starts, so it can't be picked out afterward. Oyster sauce, common in Chinese-influenced Thai stir-fries like morning glory (pak boong), is another one travelers often miss because it's added during cooking rather than shown on a short menu description. Peanuts turn up as a visible pad thai and satay garnish, but also as a less visible ingredient in som tam dressing and some sauces, and occasionally as a cooking oil.

None of this means a dish is automatically unsafe, it means the dish name alone doesn't tell you enough. Ask what's in the sauce, the paste, and the garnish, and whether the wok or fryer is shared. For a full ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown, see the hidden allergens in Thai food guide and, for peanut-specific dish risk, the Thailand peanut allergy guide.

What should you ask before ordering in Thailand?

At a sit-down restaurant, show your card before ordering and ask the server to check with the kitchen, a written card gives them something concrete to relay, which matters when a dish is cooked to order. At a street stall, the calculus is different: woks, grills, oil, and utensils are typically shared across every dish that stall serves, so removing a visible peanut garnish or asking for "no shrimp paste" reduces but doesn't eliminate cross-contact risk. Show the card, name the specific allergen, and ask directly whether the same equipment is used for other orders. If staff can't answer clearly, treat that as your answer and choose a different stall or dish. Thailand's packaged-food labelling rule, Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 450, lists crustacea, fish, peanut, soybean and tree nuts among the allergens to declare, but it exempts food whose seller can give the customer the information directly, such as hawkers and food stalls, so at a stall the answer has to come from the cook. The Thailand street food guide covers how to read a stall's risk before you order.

Frequently asked questions

What do you get with the Thai allergy card?

A printable PDF with a cut-out card, plus an image sized for your phone. Every allergen you select is printed in Thai and English side by side. Cards with up to three allergens can also be added to Apple or Google Wallet.

Does the Thai card cover fish sauce and shrimp paste?

Fish sauce and shrimp paste appear in a large share of Thai dishes, including many that do not look like seafood. Select fish or shellfish when you build the card and those are named on it in Thai. Our Thailand guide covers where they turn up across the cuisine.

Do restaurants in Thailand accept written allergy cards?

Many kitchens will read a written Thai allergy card, but acceptance and accommodation vary. Show it before ordering, ask how the dish is cooked and what is in the paste or stock, and do not order if the answers are unclear.