Why is 99.9% of beer sold in Thailand bottled beer?

[Leaver]

15 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Have plenty of tap beer in the tourist bars like irish and english bars.

 

for the other bars it may be that they dont want the extra cost of having to continually clean the glasses, breakage etc.

 

i prefer bottled beer anyway.

 

Do you prefer bottled beer in your home country?

 

The beer companies supply glasses, if you go on contract with them.  

[Leaver]

11 minutes ago, shy coconut said:

Although the title of your thread doesn't indicate this, I was about to jump in saying that 

I have many tinnies on sale in shops, glad I didn't now.

 

Also it is clear that this is a bashing thread as one reply have good sound reasons to 

your question which you decided meant lazy, incompetent and dirty.

 

It seem that you had your answer to your question all along.

 

Hardly a bashing thread.  Tap beer is not the norm across most of South East Asia.  

 

Given it's cheaper for the beer company, cheaper for the retailer (bar) and cheaper for the customer, thus everyone profits / saves, and many would say it tastes better, I am wondering why tap beer is not more widely adopted here, and I don't mean in small tin roof beer bars.

 

Several other members suggested the inability of Thai's to keep lines clean, and the beer kegs rotated and fresh.  I merely asked is this from lack of training, incompetence, or laziness.

 

You are clearly a Thai apologist.  

 

 

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Do you prefer bottled beer in your home country?

 

The beer companies supply glasses, if you go on contract with them.  

Yes.

 

Very rare for bars to be stuck on contract to one supplier. 30 years ago yes. Now no.

 

most bars in malaysia have tap beer and bottled. The bars i frequent in vietnam and manila also.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Sujo

[SomchaiCNX]

On 2/5/2021 at 9:32 PM, Leaver said:

 

If your read my OP, you will see it's focused on the hospitality industry, and particularly mentions tourists. 

 

My OP was not focused on "take away" beer from 7/11 or the supermarket.   

 

 

The hospitality industry is on its knees so  who you want to motivate to do something they have no interest in doing. 

[PGSan]

Until a year past, I enjoyed huge quantity and variety of tap/draft beer in this country.   Now, I have long known that I am in many respects in the .001% élite, but I never guessed that this activity also put me so firmly there.

 

Is it really so unusual in bars and pubs here, when they are open for alcohol sales?

 

I should add that the draft beers I drank were often not at all cheap!  

Edited February 7, 2021 by PGSan

[PGSan]

16 hours ago, Leaver said:

Do you prefer bottled beer in your home country?

That depends a lot on the variety, and availability, of each individual beer!  

[PGSan]

On 2/5/2021 at 11:32 PM, Psimbo said:

a pint glass of slowly warming beer.

 

Go local!  Dump some ice in it!  Or get British! ?? 

[transam]

15 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Hardly a bashing thread.  Tap beer is not the norm across most of South East Asia.  

 

Given it's cheaper for the beer company, cheaper for the retailer (bar) and cheaper for the customer, thus everyone profits / saves, and many would say it tastes better, I am wondering why tap beer is not more widely adopted here, and I don't mean in small tin roof beer bars.

 

Several other members suggested the inability of Thai's to keep lines clean, and the beer kegs rotated and fresh.  I merely asked is this from lack of training, incompetence, or laziness.

 

You are clearly a Thai apologist.  

 

 

If bar toilets are anything to go by, then you have a valid point...

[natway09]

Have always had draft on tap.

Not so much gas in the lager, easy to drink.I drink nothing else.

Yes, you are right the brewery comes & maintains the temprite, cleans the lines every week.

All we do is ensure have cold mugs in the freezer.

As to cost, it is not a lot cheaper, but refreshing

[PGSan]

On 2/5/2021 at 11:45 PM, captainjackS said:

.  I like fresh beer from a keg.

It is even better from a barrel, gravity fed! 

[PGSan]

21 hours ago, Leaver said:

Have you seen a lot of tap beer in these places, particularly for tourists?  

Yes, if not more than that!  But no tourists nowadays to drink it.

[PGSan]

18 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

No kegs, no pipes no fuss.

No taste!

[Sheryl]

A rude post and reply to it have been removed

[rwill]

I have been to many restaurants and hotels that have beer on tap.  Usually Chang, Singha, Heineken and/or Hoegaarden.  Some places in Bangkok have many beers on tap.  Like Wishbeer, it claims over 100 taps.  There are also the Tawandang locations that have their own craft beer.

Edited February 7, 2021 by rwill

[MajorTom]

I love draft beer and would like to see more of it. But.. In a non-airconditioned bar, even a half pint gets warm before i can finish them.

I dont know why, but according to the bar owners i have talked to; Draft beer is only marginally cheaper than bottled, so there's not really much extra profit on it.

 

That said, Thailand must be the most boring beer market in the world. All the large players protected for any competition by some arbitrary tax rules make one product: Thai Lager. Creative lazyness.

 

They seem to get this draft beer working fairly good in other SEA countries, so you cant only blame the climate.

Vietnam has craft beer on every corner. Reasonably priced. I guess the market doesnt come by if you don't try to create it.

Also, San Miguel in the Philippines has a range of beers: Negra, Super dry, White etc. I think Beer Lao also makes an IPA now, though i have not seen it in southern thailand yet.

 

[chilly07]

Because  once Thais open alcohol  they have to  finish it. Can you  imagine what  they would  do with  a full keg? 

[rott]

On 05/02/2021 at 9:38 PM, Leaver said:

 

Keg / tap beer is a lot cheaper than bottled beer, both for the beer company, and the retailer. (bar)

 

Let's say Tiger offer to put a tap beer system into a bar, under the contract that they will be the only tap beer in that bar for X amount of years, then that Tiger tap beer can be offered a lot cheaper than the competition's bottled beer.

 

However, my thread is not about the cost of beer. 

 

I am just wondering why, with such a huge tourism industry (pre covid) and in 2021, tap beer is not more common in bars in Thailand.   

My experience in the Nakhon was that when bars were offering local beer on draught they priced it higher than the bottles. 

[mike787]

better than no beer.  Who really cares.

[ChipButty]

Around where I live in the south of Phuket draft Tiger is a good seller almost every bar has it in, 50 baht a half glass I have seen it as much as 65 baht, also draft Leo 50 baht.

[Nout]

Never had a tradition of brewing

Never been occupied by a western power.

When a pub in soi 31 Sukhumvit stocked 'Old Speckled Hen' the brewery had to send a 'cellar man's out to Bangkok every few weeks..

 

[MajorTom]

9 minutes ago, rott said:

My experience in the Nakhon was that when bars were offering local beer on draught they priced it higher than the bottles. 

Yeah. A local bar here once brought in San Miguel Light on draft. They sold "half pints" for 100B and the bottles were 70B ????????.  Claimed it was that expensive retail. It obviously didnt sell much.

[RichardColeman]

After reading what noodle vendors put in their noodles water, I think I'll stick to the bottled variety and not worry about what someone's putting in the keg down below.

[Isaan sailor]

Last year (on Leap Day, to be exact) my stepdaughter married to a good Thai man at our house, and in our yard.  I ordered four kegs—two Singha and two Leo from my local beer distributor.  The formal wedding commenced at 6:00 p.m. after things cooled off.  A guy delivered them and set up the taps on a stand he set up in our yard. He become the bartender and poured pitchers of beer.  Two cuties in short skirts arrived shortly thereafter—a Leo girl and a Singha girl. They brought the beer pitchers to each table.  How good was the draft?  We had very nice Sonoma Valley wines available. But I soon switched to the draft Singha.  Guests loved the beer.  Of course, most of the Thai guests preferred beer or lo kow.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Isaan sailor

[ChipButty]

A lot of my Thai friends like draft beer they especially like Hoegaarden if we go somewhere that sells it, usually in Phuket town the average price is 300 baht a pint, why does it have to be so expensive? 

[rott]

Issan Sailor and what do the bars sell it at.?

Edited February 7, 2021 by rott

[toofarnorth]

On 2/5/2021 at 9:24 PM, fishtank said:

Thailand has beer available?

News to me.

Me too. Bottled lager is not beer.  Many years ago in England there was a strike by the ones who delivered beer.  Our local only had bottled beer and lager left .  We found somewhere else that sold keg beer. Ah the days of Worthington E and Watney's Red Barrel.  Both not too good if my memory serves me well.

[sandyf]

On 2/5/2021 at 9:38 PM, Leaver said:

However, my thread is not about the cost of beer. 

 

I am just wondering why, with such a huge tourism industry (pre covid) and in 2021, tap beer is not more common in bars in Thailand.   

You are wondering on a false assumption, that tourists would prefer it. Experience has shown that to be false, many places have tried draught beer and failed to sell it.

Certainly in Pattaya there were enough places around to get draught if you want it. A few weeks back I stayed at a hotel in Chantaburi and had a problem getting a bottle of Chang, they were more concerned about selling jugs of draught Leo.

[transam]

Just now, sandyf said:

You are wondering on a false assumption, that tourists would prefer it. Experience has shown that to be false, many places have tried draught beer and failed to sell it.

Certainly in Pattaya there were enough places around to get draught if you want it. A few weeks back I stayed at a hotel in Chantaburi and had a problem getting a bottle of Chang, they were more concerned about selling jugs of draught Leo.

Draught beer has a life, it can't lie around in the bottom of barrel, it can in a bottle...

[Nout]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

After reading what noodle vendors put in their noodles water, I think I'll stick to the bottled variety and not worry about what someone's putting in the keg down below.

The keg is a sealed unit. The problem comes with dirty pipes and taps/pumps. I NEVER drink draft beer in Thailand.

[Russell17au]

I think that the biggest problem is storage space for the bars. How many beer brands are on the market in Thailand? How much room would be needed for a bar to store enough kegs of each brand of beer complete with room for the gas cylinders and piping and the empty kegs and empty gas cylinders? Does the bar only cater for some brand drinkers and make the other drinkers go elsewhere therefore losing customers. A bar can hold enough stock of every brand of beer much easier if it is in bottles therefore keeping their customers happy. Now that there are so many different brands of beer it would be impossible to stock all of them and sell them on tap.