FlippinFlags

For those of you who have toured through Malaysia and Thailand where are you getting your drinking water?

Abu Mahendra

Bottled supplies at hotels/hostels, bottled water in shops along the way. I do not carry a filter/purifier, nor chemicals.

saddlesores

1.5L bottles available in most shops, gas stations, or in the
over 10,000 7-11 shops in this tiny country. current price
about $0.35 in thailand. cheaper by the 6-pack if you're staying
in one place a while.

most areas in thailand with housing have self-service reverse
osmosis water refill vending machines. about $0.05/liter.

if you have lunch at a roadside restaurant, they will often let
you refill your bottles.

have only ever carried a small filter when going for extended
rides (>50km) on jungle trails with no villages.

chinese hotels provide boiled water for guests to make tea or
instant noodles. on the road you might be out of luck. china
is communist, y'know...

Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?
Mandrake: Well, I can't say I have, Jack.
Ripper: Vodka, that's what they drink, isn't it? Never water?
Mandrake: Well, I-I believe that's what they drink, Jack, yes.
Ripper: On no account will a Commie ever drink water, and not without good reason.

Kontact 

A few purification tablets weigh nothing and could get you out of tight spot.

pinholecam

Water is sold almost everywhere in convenience stores, petrol kiosks, super markets and eating places.

Generally, if your route is not too remote, you should pass one of the above within 30-50km, often nearer than that.

I have never had a need for water filtration or purification items in my travels in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia.



As for hydration, typically I will have at least x2 750ml bottles, but I have never run out of water if I carry that plus another 1.5L PET bottle of water, as that will always last till I find another source to top up.

Abu Mahendra

In Singapura where you've said you'll start, you can drink/take it from the tap. Hotels--maybe not the $5/nite variety--will give you an electric kettle. i boil tap water and let it sit overnight to cool down. Fair game in the morning for filling up bottles.

jackb

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia for two years (1976-78) and have travelled extensively in that country and in Thailand. This was before the days of bottled water. I and everyone else that I knew in the PC drank tap water exclusively. I never drank from rivers except in the Taman Negara, the national park. The only place in Asia I did not drink tap water was India. The Phillippines , Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore were always good for tap water.

Stormsedge

Agree that in Singapore you should be in good shape with tap water at hotels. In country, I'd stick to bottled water from established looking markets. If buying from a street vendor, check the cap to ensure it is legit...not superglued back together. I would also carry iodine/purification tabs and also a purification straw just in case. Enjoy.

Tourist in MSN

I have never been to Asia, but if I was going there I would probably bring either a 1 oz bottle of chlorine bleach (a couple drops per liter, wait half an hour) or a Steripen, or maybe both. Small and light, I would consider carrying that as an insurance policy in case I was nervous about my water source.

I bought a Steripen a couple years ago, just as an insurance policy to take on a trip where I did not know if I might find myself away from a designated drinking water source. Never needed it, but I was glad to have it along anyway. It meant that I did not feel it necessary to carry a lot more water all the time as a contingency. And since I did not plan to use water from a stream or lake, I did not want to bring the larger or heavier filter, I was only looking for a contingency in very rare situations.

The chlorine bleach or Steripen option (or boiling), those are only good for biological contaminants, not chemical contamination. Thus, if your concern is industrial pollutants, in that situation you would need something else.

fietsbob

Beer was safe in Europe when the water was dodgy, during the middle ages ..