Pork gourmets digest city's hygiene horror

It has been exposed as one of Bangkok's dirty little secrets: more than half the pigs slaughtered for the city's markets, restaurants and food stalls meet their end in back-street, unlicensed abattoirs.

This simple fact has been enough to make residents look askance at their morning bowls of pork noodle soup - even before the current Japanese encephalitis scare in Malaysia is considered.

Eating out is at the core of the Bangkok existence and fresh pork is a staple in many of the Thai and Chinese dishes served at the tens of thousands of stalls across the city.

The delicate laab salad features finely mashed and flavoured pork meat which is often served partially cooked and lukewarm.

Street-side vendors serve soups filled with lightly steamed offal and processed pork balls.

'I eat my pork and think of the most beautiful things I can imagine to keep my mind off where it may have come from,' said accountant Saowannee Chaoweng at a Silom Road eaterie as she wolfed down pieces of bloody liver from a spicy steaming broth.