Health and safety forum

I expect they are available but they really aren't necessary. It's a mosquito borne disease so probably more prevalent in the rainy season. If you're using DEET repellents to avoid catching Dengue Fever (which is the only mosquito born disease that presents any risk in Thailand) then that will also help prevent you catching Japanese Encephalitis anyway.

I've spent a lot of time in Thailand no one I know has ever caught the Japanese Encephalitis or had the inoculation....it's pretty rare. I know several expats who have had Dengue though. There's no specific prophylaxis for that as yet and no cure, so probably wise to use mosquito repellents.

Hmm. The Aedes aegypti mosquito (which also transmits yellow fever but don't worry about that) feeds during the day so I suppose I should say use repellent all day. In practice this is pretty impossible on the beach as you'll be swimming etc. (I suspect DEET might cause photosensibility in some people too) There are far fewer mosquitoes about during the day anyway...main feeding time is early morning and in the evening. In jungles there are more during the day than on a beach.

Put it this way ...I'm always forgetting to use a repellent and the only thing that's ever happened has been itchy mosquito bites! ;-)