Will new bill finally pop the cap on Thailand’s booze oligopoly?

[spidermike007]

The answer is no. Why? Because yes would represent not only progress, but support for the youth, who this administration despises. There are many intelligent, creative and dynamic young people here who are passionate about starting micro breweries, and have tried to repeatedly, only to be thwarted by Cha Cha, and his oligarch friends. He is there for one reason. To protect the rich, the elite and those who are well connected, and to deny those who are not. Period. End of story. 

 

Any hyperbole to the contrary is meant to deceive only the most naive amongst us. Regression. Not progress, is the agenda. 

[Barefootknobby]

If opened a bar in the U.K. selling Chiang and Leo only they would be laughed at, and close as fast as they opened lol

[heiri007]

There are some craft beer places in Bangkok with great beer. Cambodia’s Kingdom Brewery does some nice brews for the Thai market, but difficult to find. 
 

But everything in Thailand monopolizes even more, given the undemocratic power structures. No hope here for that bill. Even though, what’s going on with cannabis is a bit surprising. 
 

In the meantime I’m quite pleased with Singha’s Reserve brew. Quite hoppy and tasty, not your average Thai beer at all!

[Jaybott]

2 hours ago, Excel said:

Anything in the US labelled as "beer" should be taken with a pinch of salt

"should be taken with a pinch of salt."  Well that's your problem, should be taken with Buffalo Wings.

[malt25]

"For instance, beer manufacturers are required to have at least Bt10 million in registered capital."           I think I might be missing something here. Please correct me if I'm on the wrong bus. A beer manufacturer is only required to have Bt10 million in capital ? We retired peasants have to have Bt 800,000 tied up in a bank account to remain in the Kingdome. Bt 10 million is a fair chunk of change, but only about 13 times more than the 800,000 we have sitting idle. What am I missing ?

[malt25]

40 minutes ago, kuzie57 said:

Beer Lao is the best beer in SE Asia in my opinion, just wish it was not taxed so heavily.

Don't you understand ? BeerLao is imported, international drop. Has to come across the Mekong.

[sambum]

3 hours ago, Virt said:

That might be what happened the first time we bought Leo.

Holy crab it tasted bad and we couldn't finish the beer and said we would never but that again.

So we stuck to Singha but changed to Chang a few years later.

 

Now when in Thailand we started to pick a lot of different ones in the counter just to see if there are other that we like.

We found a Vietnamese that tasted good but can't remember the name so have to try a hunt for Vietnamese beers again lol.

 

Here in Denmark we recently tried another Thai beer at a Thai restaurant. Archa and it was not that bad. Going to try that one once we're back in Thailand and see how it taste in that environment.

 

When in Thailand i prefer beers that are easy to drink and reminds me of Tuborg.

It's too hot to enjoy the stronger Danish and Belgium brews that i normally drink here in Denmark.

Many years ago I was touring in Sweden with a few mates, and we were staying in a forest lodge for a couple of days. We decided to have a snack and a couple of beers and the "landlady" brought us some bottles of Tuborg Special. I have had Carlsberg Special before, which is strong, but this stuff was almost hallucogenic! One guy thought there was a pack of wolves surrounding our lodge, andf it turned out to be the landlady exercising her Alsatian dogs. We had a fabulous time! ????

[DaveE13]

6 minutes ago, sambum said:

Many years ago I was touring in Sweden with a few mates, and we were staying in a forest lodge for a couple of days. We decided to have a snack and a couple of beers and the "landlady" brought us some bottles of Tuborg Special. I have had Carlsberg Special before, which is strong, but this stuff was almost hallucogenic! One guy thought there was a pack of wolves surrounding our lodge, andf it turned out to be the landlady exercising her Alsatian dogs. We had a fabulous time! ????

You sure it wasn't those funny mushrooms he ate????

[jimn]

5 hours ago, Guderian said:

They need to do something, Thai beer is some of the worst I've tasted anywhere, and it seems to get worse every year. Even a locally brewed foreign beer, like SML, seems to lose much of its magic here compared with drinking it in the PI. Thank Buddha for Hoegaarden, brewed under licence in Vietnam and available at a reasonable price here nowadays.

I was with you until you mentioned Hoegaarden. What a foul taste that is

[Expat68]

Take a leaf out of Vietnam, excellent beers over there. Totally bored with drinking lager type beer

[khunjeff]

3 hours ago, LiamB80 said:

On my early trip years ago I drank a lot of Carlsberg. It was one of the more popular beers found in the bars back in the day but got muscled out by Thai beer companies. Certain payouts to govt officials can get rid of any foreign competition. 

Yes, and the Carlsberg story in Thailand was even more complicated than that. They came into the country and partnered with what is now ThaiBev, only to find their partner learning the beer business from them, then creating a new beer with a very similar label and taking over the nationwide beer distribution network that had been created for Carlsberg.

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30191495

 

https://scandasia.com/403-carlsberg-breweries-ends-joint-venture-with-chang-beverages/

[Purdey]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Critics have complained for years that the Thai liquor market is monopolized by a handful of giant producers

For a start, a monopoly is one, singular. There are duopolies (2) and oligopolies where there are several sellers. Grammar aside, no one becomes a billionaire by being stupid or mundane. Khun Charoen in Thai Bev is a really nice guy to his staff but a devil at winning business. I don’t know his next move but he will not lose money. My guess is that the law will force people out of business but making them invest too much. Let’s see.

[VocalNeal]

3 hours ago, Excel said:

Anything in the US labelled as "beer" should be taken with a pinch of salt

It is like sex in a canoe?

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, maechanman said:

their beer is  far more superior

Can one be more superior?

[Tonypandy]

At a time when it's all about big corporations taking over the world, don't think there is room for the small player anymore. 

[fgmr]

6 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

That's a mighty big ''if''

When a new entrant into the  liquor market is not allowed to market their products how are they expected to launch their products?

Perhaps it is a case of tell your mother-in-law to pass the word around! 

 

[wimpy]

3 hours ago, Excel said:

Anything in the US labelled as "beer" should be taken with a pinch of salt

Lots of really great beers produced in the US.

[David T Pike]

It would be great to see a Craft Beer War here in Thailand! Then we could have MANY local beers to choose from! Even Draft Craft! ????

[goldenbrwn1]

Corona extra seems to have gone down in price here….

[Peterphuket]

5 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

I do have a Leo8 before dinner in the evening and after a bike ride through the rice fields but I wouldn't drink it any other time.Beerlao I like and yet to try Hoegaarden.  It did appear many years ago in Devon on draught and I thought it was lush. Whether it is the same brew ...I must give it a go.  If I was as dry as a dead dingo's donger I would not drink Chang. 10.30am and enjoying a cuppa tea.

The next time you'll have to try Hoechaarden Grand Cru, it is the best but I have to warning you, after 2 bottles you can already get drunk.

I'm not sure it is available in LOS.

[robin hood]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

How ignorant. Like beer in the US is a monolith. 

Ever been to Portland Oregon?

 

 

He’s winding you up mate don’t bite it’s called humour

[Raphael54]

There are many, many more things wrong with the Thai beer, wine and liquor industry.  How for example, is it possible that Beer Lao, from a neighboring country is the most expensive beer in Thailand?  In all neighboring countries (Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam) it costs less than the equivalent of 20 THB a bottle or can.  Why is the (apparent?  import?) duty so high in ASEAN fellow member Thailand???  Guess, who could be behind this?

And the worst thing of all in Thailand is that the alcohol content of drinks is not taxed.  The tax on low-alcohol beer is much higher than on the high-alcohol local spirits, just the opposite of "normal" countries (actually, the rest of the world including abnormal countries).  Health advocates have complained about this for decennia. Guess again, who could be behind this? 

[Virt]

1 hour ago, sambum said:

Many years ago I was touring in Sweden with a few mates, and we were staying in a forest lodge for a couple of days. We decided to have a snack and a couple of beers and the "landlady" brought us some bottles of Tuborg Special. I have had Carlsberg Special before, which is strong, but this stuff was almost hallucogenic! One guy thought there was a pack of wolves surrounding our lodge, andf it turned out to be the landlady exercising her Alsatian dogs. We had a fabulous time! ????

We got a special brew in Denmark called Keine Hexerei that is 19% (ordinary Tuborg is like 4,6%)

and if you drink 4 or 5 of those there is a chance that it's not just wolves you will see ????

 

It hit like a hammer.

[Ginner]

7 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

^^^ On top of that, one batch can differ from another, making the Thai brand even worse than it normally is. Some batches have been absolutely putrid. 

On top of that you have delivery guys draining from the bottles then top up with water and replace the gap.

[eastlight]

7 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

^^^ On top of that, one batch can differ from another, making the Thai brand even worse than it normally is. Some batches have been absolutely putrid. 

Bring back Kloster 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, goldenbrwn1 said:

Corona extra seems to have gone down in price here….

The price of their shares has bombed too apparently! 

[sambum]

14 minutes ago, Ginner said:

On top of that you have delivery guys draining from the bottles then top up with water and replace the gap.

Proof/link? Once you knock off the "gap" (I presume you mean "top" or "lid") the beer will become flat as a fluke in hours.

[TheScience]

Who cares about pleb beer it just makes you fat. Lower the whiskey tax !!

[paul1804]

The big players are in the law makers pockets so until that can be overcome nothing will change. Thai politicians love to talk and have their mug shots posted with no action, its all about face!!!

[sambum]

58 minutes ago, Virt said:

We got a special brew in Denmark called Keine Hexerei that is 19% (ordinary Tuborg is like 4,6%)

and if you drink 4 or 5 of those there is a chance that it's not just wolves you will see ????

 

It hit like a hammer.

At the end of the day, are you drinking to get drunk, or drinking to enjoy yourself? Personally, I go for the latter option!

 

A friend of mine who was an alcoholic (RIP) used to drink Carlsberg Special  - a few bottles in secret every day and I never saw him drunk! That, IMHO, is the difference between a drunk and an alcoholic!