Alcohol Bought At Duty Free Shop Mae Sai

[EL159]

This subject has been aired before, but I remain intrigued. The bottles of wine and spirits you buy there look genuine, seem to taste ok ( but I m no expert!), usually come with the duty paid strip across the top of the bottle, but I have Thai family members who wont touch it. They believe it to be fake, well copied, looks the real deal and tastes ok, but fake nevertheless.

 

As I say, I m no expert, especially after a few glasses, haha !! Any thoughts or more definite information?

[Rama]

not fake. Know many people that buy who are wine drinkers. Just like Cambodia, there's no huge tax on imported liquor in Myanmar.

[donnacha]

I'm pretty sure that the Johnnie Walker I bought at Mae Sai Duty Free a few years ago was fake, and bad stuff too.

We ended up giving it to my father-in-law.
 

Edited December 15, 2019 by donnacha

[orchis]

the one i bought (hoegaarden rosé) was real, a surprise to find it there and very cheap.

Edited December 15, 2019 by orchis

[Mickeem]

I'm acquainted with the long time manager of the main duty free in the market, he told me wines are imported from wholesalers in Singapore then shipped through Malaysia then onto Tachileik via Burma

I reckon after the wine leaves temperature controlled warehouses in Singapore the wine has to be consumed soon as possible. Iv'e had duff bottles from Tachileik before and put it down to it being sitting around in a too warm environment, so now I would go for the most recent years and purchase the cheaper brands in case the bottle has to be poured down the sink

 

Also on the beers very important to check the fill date and best before on the bottom of the can, there is a lot of out of date cans in the shops, take a magnifying glass if your eyesight is a bit dodgy from quaffing 45B bottles of Hoegarrden 

 

 

[legend49]

Just google fake alcohol in Cambodia and China, it will tell you what you dont want to know.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Some is definitely fake.  I bought some famous brand name Australian wine there last year; only when I got home did I notice a misspelling on the label.  Caveat emptor!

[Scott Tracy]

Surely if it has a duty paid sticker, it's not duty free?

[EL159]

25 minutes ago, Scott Tracy said:

Surely if it has a duty paid sticker, it's not duty free?

Yes, you re right, just checked, still have a couple of bottles, it comes without the duty strip across the top. My mistake!

[owenm]

My GF always favours Hong Thong whisky, while I'm a Leo man.. We purchased a large boxed bottle of Hong Thong from a smaller mama papa shop for the first time there, and the color in the bottle was noticeably lighter in color, and tasted nothing like the usual whisky.. Three others were drinking into it with also a distaste.. Was purchased in Bangkok Noi.. 

 

It had a tax label on the top as usual, printing on the bottle looked the same.. On the box the same.. The only difference was the product code on the box was different and inside the box, instead of being normal neutral color cardboard, it was printed inside in total black with a color printed advert for a different product. 

 

Has anyone else also seen this? 

At a guess I would say it was probably imported fake whisky from Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar.. 

Edited December 16, 2019 by owenm

[Greenwich Boy]

Was there this week and the duty free place I have used (just over the river and down to the left) looked definitely closed. So was the restaurant opposite it on the Thai side. If the duty free has moved can someone say where to. I was under a bit of time pressure so could not look around.

[ThaiPauly]

My friend gave me a bottle of Gin from there.

 

It nearly tasted like gin, but not quite, because it was in fact called "essence of gin"...that explained it all really.

 

Same guy also got me some ciggies (when I smoked). He brought them from a boy in the market. Packaging was superb, but they tasted like sawdust, which was I think actually sawdust. They blazed up when you lit them, one drag and they were done, my fault for not telling him to get them from the big shop, I assumed he would...but then a s s u m e made an a s s out of yo u and me!!!

[daveAustin]

On 12/15/2019 at 5:54 AM, donnacha said:

I'm pretty sure that the Johnnie Walker I bought at Mae Sai Duty Free a few years ago was fake, and bad stuff too.

We ended up giving it to my father-in-law.

Please don't tell us the ole fella's now in the ground? ????

[sandyf]

19 hours ago, NewlyMintedThai said:

Some is definitely fake.  I bought some famous brand name Australian wine there last year; only when I got home did I notice a misspelling on the label.  Caveat emptor!

That is the thing, you need to look closely at what you want to buy. I seen some whisky at the Cambodian border that had been made from selected grapes.

I always check the barcode, it should be EAN 13 and UK products would start with 50. Ones to watch out for are Thailand - 885, Cambodia - 884 and China - 69.

St Edwards whisky is a bit of an odd one, that starts with 30 which is France but the whisky is produced in Scotland and bottled in France.

[kiwikeith]

12 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

My friend gave me a bottle of Gin from there.

 

It nearly tasted like gin, but not quite, because it was in fact called "essence of gin"...that explained it all really.

 

Same guy also got me some ciggies (when I smoked). He brought them from a boy in the market. Packaging was superb, but they tasted like sawdust, which was I think actually sawdust. They blazed up when you lit them, one drag and they were done, my fault for not telling him to get them from the big shop, I assumed he would...but then a s s u m e made an a s s out of yo u and me!!!

 have bought whiskey from that shop every year for a friend in Chiang Mai, I get a couple of bottles for him when I go over to tachilek.

He never has said they were fake and they have never been a problem.

I am going there soon , first time for two years maybe things have changed in the last two years???

As for the smokes they have always been a con, they show a real box to you, then after you buy they hand you your smokes wrapped in newspaper, when you open them they are just garbage.

Edited December 17, 2019 by kiwikeith
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[opalred]

some years ago i bough cigs for friend Marlboro /they said would wrap them to take across border 

when got back and gave to friend /he unwrapped them to find cheap china cigs in boxes 

[gamesgplayemail]

do they snake the asian snake wine ?