Gluten Allergy Card for Thailand
Why This Card is Essential for Your Trip:
✅ Tailored for Thailand – The card’s content is based on insights from local friends and verified by multiple locals to ensure accuracy in Thai food and ingredients.
✅ Clear & Localized Communication – Designed to help you explain your allergy to restaurant staff, reducing the risk of accidental exposure.
✅ Emergency Instructions Included – In case of a severe allergic reaction, the card provides clear guidance on what to do and who to contact.
What’s Included:
📌 Print-Friendly Version (PDF) – Credit card-sized for easy carrying in your wallet.
📌 Digital Display Version (PDF) – Optimized with a larger font for easy reading on your phone by restaurant staff.
Stay safe, eat with confidence, and enjoy your trip to Thailand with this must-have gluten allergy card!
Note: Having trouble with your card? Whether it's buying, downloading, or accessing your cards, just drop us a line at team@allergytranslator.com! If you're paying by credit card, you'll see "Gumroad" on your statement (that's just the shopping platform we use). If you need cards for other languages or allergies, please also feel free to let us know - we are ready to help more people!
The story behind the cards:
As someone who grew up in Hong Kong/China (where you’ll be amazed by the variety of food) and now lives in the United States, I've experienced firsthand how challenging it can be for travelers to communicate their food allergies across cultures.
My extensive travels throughout Asia - including more than 10 trips to Japan, more than 5 visits to Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan, and explorations across Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore - have given me deep insight into Asian cuisine and food preparation practices.
Food allergies hit close to home for me. Having family members with gluten sensitivity, peanut allergies, tree nut allergies, and shellfish allergies, I understand the anxiety that comes with dining out in places where you don't speak the language. Through years of helping my family navigate these challenges across Asia, I've discovered just how complex food allergy communication can be.
One experience really drove this home for me: I once organized a group trip to Asia for dozens of friends with various dietary restrictions. Some couldn't eat anything with soy sauce (widely used in Asian food) due to gluten allergies, others had shellfish allergies that ruled out many popular Thai street foods and sushi dishes, and several needed to avoid milk and egg products (and therefore couldn’t eat tamagoyaki). Planning their meals became an intense research project - I had to study every local dish in detail, understanding not just the main ingredients but also the hidden ones in sauces and seasonings. This experience taught me how crucial accurate ingredient information is for travelers with allergies who still want to experience local cuisine safely.
Each country uses distinct ingredients and sauces that may contain hidden allergens. For instance, what appears to be a simple stir-fry could contain shrimp paste in Thailand, oyster sauce in China, or fish sauce in Vietnam. These ingredients often go unmentioned, as they're considered basic cooking elements - like salt or oil in Western cuisine.
The same ingredient might have completely different names across regions and languages. For example: si yau, saang chau, lou chau, and tau you - these are all names for soy sauce in Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking areas from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Many local residents in Asian countries have lower rates of certain food allergies, which can lead to less awareness about cross-contamination risks. A server might not realize that cooking a shellfish-allergic person’s food in the same wok as seafood dishes could trigger a reaction.
That's why I've created these meticulously researched translation cards. Each card is specifically tailored to local ingredients, cooking methods, and language nuances. I've personally collaborated with local friends in each country to verify the accuracy of translations and ensure that common hidden ingredients are properly addressed. These cards reflect countless hours of research, consultation with locals, and verification of ingredient names and cooking methods - work that would take individuals weeks or even months to compile on their own.
I’m a big foodie and love Asian cuisine - I hope you will, too! My mission is to help you explore the vibrant food cultures of Asia safely and confidently, without letting allergies hold you back from experiencing all that this amazing part of the world has to offer.