Drinking Men

[Flatouthruthefog]

I used the festive season to refresh parts that other beers don't reach. Like the eyes.

I watched carefully as groups of Thais and farangs imbibed, usually at seperate tables, usually in seperate establishments!

Found very few places frequented by farangs where Thai men sit at the bar together. The Kafe, but can't think of another offhand.

Found that waitresses expect to pour the beer from the bottle very frequently and keep the Thai guys glasses topped up. Thai men seem to expect this, which in many places results in the waitresses/waitpersons hovering constantly and unnervingly (to me). Not at Darets, of course, where catching the eye of the staff is a knack which has failed me for over a decade.

I do NOT want anyone pouring out my beer, thank you. I have done it a few more thousand times than they, and I KNOW how I want it. They don't. My philosophy is simple. I love beer very cold, but I do not want it to be diluted by ice. The bottle is always colder than the glass and remains so for longer. Thus I pour small increments into my glass from the bottle at frequent intervals. This works nicely and also helps to slow down my intake.

But not if Khuns Sombat or Porntip have anything to do with it. Oh no. First they fumble around at the next table with their backs to you, or park the whole set 50 meters away, then pour a whole glass full and bring it to you, leaving the bottle as far out of reach as possible. I gulp down the first glassful before it gets warm, but unless i am Very fast, they've brimmed the dam_n thing up again before you can say "Jack Daniels".

Can anyone give me the Thai for "Bring bottle and glass HERE please. Do NOT pour. Put them down and go away!"

Last weekend I was all ready to intercept as she reached the table, but wuddya believe she poured the whole glassful as she walked towards me?! Aaaarrrgghhhhh!

And talking of Jack Daniels (I knew him when he was called John) why DO Thai men bother drinking spirits at all? Yesterday in a smart Thai bar masquerading as a farang pub, a reasonable bottle of Johnny Black was utterly ruined by glassfulls overflowing with ice, and the woman pouring into each half a measure of scotch followed by one measure each of water and soda!! Can't tell you what it looked like, or if it had any taste left in it whatsoever. The Thai party seemed to enjoy it, but if I'd been a Scot I'd have fallen on my dirk.

How have these habits grown up? Am I alone in my frustration? If not, can saloonkeeps PLEASE train their staff to watch customers carefully from a distance, deliver the required libations quickly without ruining them - and then BACK OFF!

All views earnestly welcomed.

[Globeliner]

Agreed totally, really pisses me off when they assume you want ice (after telling them NO!) the bottle is always far away from the table, I just get up and grab it and continue swilling What really annoys me is the staff who dont know how to pour an ale, half froth, half ale, all flat and tastes like <deleted>.

[Rasseru]

. . . . . Am I alone in my frustration? . . . .

I imagine you are not alone in your frustration, but I do not at all share it or your way of looking at things.

[Momo8]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...96&hl=drink go back in time......to the good old days hahahaha Edited January 11, 2008 by Momo8

[john b good]

Just tell them to put the bottle down on the table and leave it alone until you want another.

I know that Thais want to have some bird fawning over them but I will pour my own thanks.

At the end of the day the customer is king. That is the golden rule, and, "he who has the gold makes the rules"

[tattoodrob]

i think main reason they keep your glass topped up is so that they can sell more drinks...therefore make more money....and thais are used to this and we are not.

i also agree that adding the soda or water to whiskey makes it very tasteless but seems to be the norm out here....might as well stick to the strong cheap whiskey if doing this.

i like my beer cold ..ice cold....i have no need to add ice as beer is finished before ice melts and i prefer a bottle anyway

[siam-i-am]

i think main reason they keep your glass topped up is so that they can sell more drinks...therefore make more money....and thais are used to this and we are not.

i also agree that adding the soda or water to whiskey makes it very tasteless but seems to be the norm out here....might as well stick to the strong cheap whiskey if doing this.

i like my beer cold ..ice cold....i have no need to add ice as beer is finished before ice melts and i prefer a bottle anyway

I was told by a Thai friend who owned a bar along the river that the staff are trained to put as much Ice, soda and water to as little spirit as possible, because a party will only leave when they have finished the bottle of spirit, so the more water, ice, soda they sell the more they make. Who says Thais aren't business savvy?

[Prakanong]

i think main reason they keep your glass topped up is so that they can sell more drinks...therefore make more money....and thais are used to this and we are not.

i also agree that adding the soda or water to whiskey makes it very tasteless but seems to be the norm out here....might as well stick to the strong cheap whiskey if doing this.

i like my beer cold ..ice cold....i have no need to add ice as beer is finished before ice melts and i prefer a bottle anyway

Selling more is one part of it but it is also cultural in Asia - in many other countries you have someone pouring your drinks for you too as you the big guy does not do these things yourself.

If I want no more I just put my hand over the glass and shake my head. They leave you alone till you indicate more.

Its the same with water when I visit some of our offices in Asia too - if I take a mouthful its often topped up as soon as I put it down - they must watch like hawks as they are not sitting right next to me

[Greenside]

I learned my lesson about the way they drink whiskey here. On my first visit to my girlfriend's brother's house I bought (against her advice - I should have listened!) a bottle of Black Label. Now I'm a fan of decent malt and take it neat or with a drop or two of water if pressed and so I was looking forward to trying the BL just to see what 1000 bht will buy you here.

It was a harrowing experience. He put it out on the table along with a couple of plastic bottles of home brew and his mates, already half cut as it was about nine in the morning started work on it right away, livening it up with huge quantities of pond water and something I thought was soda but suspect was 7up. Not only that, they alternated glasses with the no label Lao Cao and finished the whole bottle in about an hour. Cry? Well I could have...

I still have nightmares.

[Prakanong]

I learned my lesson about the way they drink whiskey here. On my first visit to my girlfriend's brother's house I bought (against her advice - I should have listened!) a bottle of Black Label. Now I'm a fan of decent malt and take it neat or with a drop or two of water if pressed and so I was looking forward to trying the BL just to see what 1000 bht will buy you here.

It was a harrowing experience. He put it out on the table along with a couple of plastic bottles of home brew and his mates, already half cut as it was about nine in the morning started work on it right away, livening it up with huge quantities of pond water and something I thought was soda but suspect was 7up. Not only that, they alternated glasses with the no label Lao Cao and finished the whole bottle in about an hour. Cry? Well I could have...

I still have nightmares.

LOL - I remember my first visit upcountry to stay with a GF family back in 96.

I was working in Scotland at the time so took them a nice aged single malt and also picked up a bottle of JW Black too.

We arrived early evening, were introduced, ate something then we produced the booze - the malt was nearly knowcked off the table in the scramble to get at the Black ;-)

After the tanned that they were about to start on the malt with the soda plus coke but the GF stopped them and made them try it with one finger malt and one finger plain water like my pal had taught her.

That style lasted 5 minutes ;-)

[BlackArtemis]

It depends on the people and their taste.

I only goto bars with Thai people, and while I can drink Johnny or Jack straight, I perfer to mix it with coke and ice. The Thai people I go out with know enough to drink the best first haha. But you are right, all the guys mix with soda and water. I mix with coke and splash or redbull or shark. The selection isn't the best here in Thailand, so you make do.

[PhilHarries]

Can't say I've noticed the beer pouring thing in Thailand except at restaurants but then I mostly drink from the bottle when at beer bars (small bottles). In KL I used to order draft beer by the jug (pitcher) and there the waiting staff used to drive me mad topping my glass up every time I took a sip.

As for the dash of scotch in a large glass of ice topped up with soda I find that quite refreshing. I don't much care for scotch, or any othr whisky, and tend to avoid spirits in hot climates so it suits me. I've seen Thais turn up at restaurants with their bottle of JW Black in a battered box that looks like it's been round the world a few times and when they get the bottle out it's still half full. I think a lot of it is show "look at me drinking the expensive farang whisky" than anything else

[jayenram]

Just tell them to put the bottle down on the table and leave it alone until you want another.

I know that Thais want to have some bird fawning over them but I will pour my own thanks.

Be careful, the locals may consider that such an action is doing a Thai out of a j*b!

:D

[rgs2001uk]

I used the festive season to refresh parts that other beers don't reach. Like the eyes.

I watched carefully as groups of Thais and farangs imbibed, usually at seperate tables, usually in seperate establishments!

Found very few places frequented by farangs where Thai men sit at the bar together. The Kafe, but can't think of another offhand.

Found that waitresses expect to pour the beer from the bottle very frequently and keep the Thai guys glasses topped up. Thai men seem to expect this, which in many places results in the waitresses/waitpersons hovering constantly and unnervingly (to me). Not at Darets, of course, where catching the eye of the staff is a knack which has failed me for over a decade.

I do NOT want anyone pouring out my beer, thank you. I have done it a few more thousand times than they, and I KNOW how I want it. They don't. My philosophy is simple. I love beer very cold, but I do not want it to be diluted by ice. The bottle is always colder than the glass and remains so for longer. Thus I pour small increments into my glass from the bottle at frequent intervals. This works nicely and also helps to slow down my intake.

But not if Khuns Sombat or Porntip have anything to do with it. Oh no. First they fumble around at the next table with their backs to you, or park the whole set 50 meters away, then pour a whole glass full and bring it to you, leaving the bottle as far out of reach as possible. I gulp down the first glassful before it gets warm, but unless i am Very fast, they've brimmed the dam_n thing up again before you can say "Jack Daniels".

Can anyone give me the Thai for "Bring bottle and glass HERE please. Do NOT pour. Put them down and go away!"

Last weekend I was all ready to intercept as she reached the table, but wuddya believe she poured the whole glassful as she walked towards me?! Aaaarrrgghhhhh!

And talking of Jack Daniels (I knew him when he was called John) why DO Thai men bother drinking spirits at all? Yesterday in a smart Thai bar masquerading as a farang pub, a reasonable bottle of Johnny Black was utterly ruined by glassfulls overflowing with ice, and the woman pouring into each half a measure of scotch followed by one measure each of water and soda!! Can't tell you what it looked like, or if it had any taste left in it whatsoever. The Thai party seemed to enjoy it, but if I'd been a Scot I'd have fallen on my dirk.

How have these habits grown up? Am I alone in my frustration? If not, can saloonkeeps PLEASE train their staff to watch customers carefully from a distance, deliver the required libations quickly without ruining them - and then BACK OFF!

All views earnestly welcomed.

you raise many interesting points, many of which are interlinked with marketing campaigns and the concept of face/status not only in thailand, but also the whole of asia.

jack daniels, the only thing thats any good for is marinating a steak, however as with black label, thais arent drinking it for the taste, they are drinking it for the sole purpose of being seen drinking it.

personally black label is not what i would consider a quality whisky, just goes to show you what can be achieved with marketing.

black is just a cheap blend, you can achieve the same reults for half the price if you drink red label, but there is no snob value in red.

many times i have seen thais pour local whisky into an empty black label bottle and take it to a restaurant, its almost a ritual as they make a show of making sure everyone can see they are drinking a bottle of black

label.

there are many decent whiskys available in thailand, if you know what you are looking for, i recently purchased an eight year old single malt for 500 baht, 100 pipers brand.

as for putting water in whisky, i have several cask strength whiskys in the house, that are over 60%, they need water in them to open them up and release the taste.

i remember being in the whisky club in leith a few years ago, some misguided person committed the original sin of asking for coke, he was politely told he may be better off taking his business elsewhere, they give only, spring water, soda water,distilled water or ice.

what i like about the whisky club is it removes a lot of the snobbery attached to whisky,you are presented with a leather bound menu, with descriptions of the whiskys, names dont appear anywhere on the menu.

however at the end of the day, its a personal choice, you pay your money, and as the thais say, up to you.

[Steve2UK]

you raise many interesting points, many of which are interlinked with marketing campaigns and the concept of face/status not only in thailand, but also the whole of asia.

jack daniels, the only thing thats any good for is marinating a steak, however as with black label, thais arent drinking it for the taste, they are drinking it for the sole purpose of being seen drinking it.

personally black label is not what i would consider a quality whisky, just goes to show you what can be achieved with marketing.

black is just a cheap blend, you can achieve the same reults for half the price if you drink red label, but there is no snob value in red.

many times i have seen thais pour local whisky into an empty black label bottle and take it to a restaurant, its almost a ritual as they make a show of making sure everyone can see they are drinking a bottle of black

label.

RGS pretty much sums it up, IMO - many people (OK, yes - a lot of them Thai) are drinking the label not the taste. As with "Jack" or "Black", so with Heineken rather than Chang or even Singha, let alone Leo........... so it's often a status/face thing. I got into my trouble with my then (Thai) partner a while back when a bunch of already "happy" Thai mates dropped by the house and he went off to fix them drinks. When he handed me my drink, I instantly realised that he was using my bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon (expensive) to mix with coke, soda etc and hand around. I, rather too conspicuously, immediately said to him that we had plenty of Sang Som and "suggested" that he use that for the re-fills. It (my comment) did not go down well............. my bad. In this instance, he wanted to offer the best we had - for valid reasons of face, nam jai etc - and I should not have interfered.......... at least not so publicly.

With that anecdote in mind, I wouldn't be quite so quick to criticise the Thai who are providing hospitality with a more expensive brand - they can also be expressing their appreciation/esteem for their guests just as much simply showing off. Many shades of grey here..................

P.S. - I really don't think it's confined to Thailand. I well remember my UK business partner agonising over which champagne to serve at his wedding reception. Eventually, he decided to have a reduced number of guests - so he could thereby afford to buy an expensive "label" fizz to impress them. Hmmmmmmm - not the choice I would have made..........

Edited January 12, 2008 by Steve2UK

[BangnaBound]

RGS pretty much sums it up, IMO - many people (OK, yes - a lot of them Thai) are drinking the label not the taste.

I have a Thai friend who is in market research here, and he had done some work for JW. This is definitely a phenomenon that they are aware of. JW Swing was introduced here because they were having problems selling JW Green. People were saying that in a dark night club, the bottle looked like JW Black, so what was the point of spending the extra money on the green label. JW Swing has the unique bottle shape so people know what you are drinking.

BTW – I believe that 500 bht 100 Piper is the 8 year old Blended Malt, not a single. Regardless, I concur that it is an excellent value, and I prefer it to JW.

[Ulysses G.]

It depends on the people and their taste.

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champaine and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

[Prakanong]

It depends on the people and their taste.

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champaine and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

I think we discussed this before

I do like champagne a lot as well as certain white wines but could not drink a whiskey if it was 5 THB a bottle or 500,000THB

[mogoso]

Simply grab that beer big bottle from cart and put in front of you. Pour at your leisure. I make it clear to waitress that I'll handle its distribution into my glass. I pay attention when it first comes to table as I want no ice anywhere near my glass. Something really disturbing about ice in my beer. I learned to drink beer warm when younger, ok thats a long time ago, but I remember, so while I prefer ice cold, warm don't bother me.

[BigSnake]

Thais drink the cheap stuff to get drunk and crazy, Farang drink the expense stuff for the same stupid reason. Oh well to each his own. Choose your own poison.

[siamesekitty]

Can anyone give me the Thai for "Bring bottle and glass HERE please. Do NOT pour. Put them down and go away!"

(Phom) khor rin eng na krub = "I'd like to pour my own, please."

Not exactly the same as your request, but I'm sure it'd be better received

[BlackArtemis]

I only buy red or chivas if there is a good promotion, but like most I get "Hundred bat pii"

I have no problem downing sangsom at any club if that happens to be the drink, I actually do enjoy sangsom.

[mogoso]

It depends on the people and their taste.

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champaine and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

Ah caviar, I can't see the fascination with it. But it does bring to mind a memory. Theres a monastery not so far from me that my wife liked to visit as well as her family when they were here. A monk there had a reputation of being very godly and compassionate man. But he had before turning to god a reputation is his home country of Colombia not like his present reality.

My wife was dying of cancer and was with her family in Colombia and asked me to visit at the monastery, purchase tapes of this monks lectures and send them to her as well as asking him to pray for her. I go there, request an audience with him and expect a long wait as many are there to see him. But he remembered me, and knowing my lack of belief, saw me right away. How may I help you he asked and I explained my situation. Talking for a bit I found out he was returning to Colombia, and I asked if I purchase the transportation could he go to Bogota from Medellin to visit with her. He thought that he could, if I cleared it with his superior. I did recieve permission and he did visit with her family for a couple of weeks. During that time he spoke in different churches most every night to packed houses as he has a huge following in Colombia, I think in part because of his message and because of his past.

Shortly thereafter he returned to the US.

Speaking with my wife she asked me to purchase caviar for him and take it to him as a way of thank you. It seems during their time together that he missed only two things from his life before god and one was a particular type of music he listened to only on rare occasions and the other was caviar.

Now this was just an odd remark during their many conversations and not a request for caviar, but my wife thought it'd be nice to take him some.

Well I go to our local gourmet shop, found myself bedazzled by an array of caviars and bought cans jars and fresh and took it to the checkout counter. Standing in line I was next to an array of crackers and thought dang they'll need something to put it on and grabbed some.

Dropping it off at the monastery, I was surprised to get a phone call from him a few days later. He thanked me ever so much, but had one question about the crackers. He wanted to know how did I come to purchase rice crackers as he couldn't digest wheat.

[Rasseru]

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champaine and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

Why do you think so?

[Ulysses G.]

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champagne and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

Why do you think so?

The main reason is that I don't enjoy any of these things and I have spent a lot of time since I was a child questioning people that I am close to and an awful lot of them will eventually admit to not really liking them either even though I will overhear them claim to when talking to someone else.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[Rasseru]

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champagne and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

Why do you think so?

The main reason is that I don't enjoy any of these things and I have spent a lot of time since I was a child questioning people that I am close to and an awful lot of them will eventually admit to not really liking them either even though I will overhear them claim to when talking to someone else.

Hmmm. Well, I love them all, truly love them all, and I wish they would stop brainwashing people who don't into thinking they should. I'd love for the prices to come down.

[miltonbentley]

Never liked caviar and don't get on with any whiskies but champagne is a wonderful drink although way too expensive in LOS. Also a big fan of port and foie gras.

[cmsally]

My personal belief is that very few people really enjoy many of the most expensive foods like caviar and drinks such as Champagne and premium whiskeys. They know that it is supposed to be good and pretend that they like it, but in reality it is a big waste of money.

I think that most people fall into this category.

Why do you think so?

The main reason is that I don't enjoy any of these things and I have spent a lot of time since I was a child questioning people that I am close to and an awful lot of them will eventually admit to not really liking them either even though I will overhear them claim to when talking to someone else.

Hmmm. Well, I love them all, truly love them all, and I wish they would stop brainwashing people who don't into thinking they should. I'd love for the prices to come down.

Well my husband has a couple of expensive whiskey bottles that he refills with cheaper stuff, specially for those people that pour in big quantities and at a fast rate. Nobody seems to notice the difference.