As cheap 40% liquor, Sang Som kinda sorta fit the bill in the 'lower-yet-drinkable' end of the market. But seeing the price per bottle go to 200 baht is just ridiculous.

So I tried Varinthip, which is cheaper, or the higher-end Varinthip, which is also cheaper, BUT ALSO much better in taste.. Rather nice stuff, it reminds me of the old Sangthip.. now long gone.

cool! why did sang som go up in price while other brands did not?

You also might want to try Yeow Ngern - the bottle has an eagle's head on the label. It is a fairly good Bicardi copy. 125 Baht in Big C or Tesco Lotus. 110 Baht in a Thai off-license.

As cheap 40% liquor, Sang Som kinda sorta fit the bill in the 'lower-yet-drinkable' end of the market. But seeing the price per bottle go to 200 baht is just ridiculous.

So I tried Varinthip, which is cheaper, or the higher-end Varinthip, which is also cheaper, BUT ALSO much better in taste.. Rather nice stuff, it reminds me of the old Sangthip.. now long gone.

I bought a bottle of Sang Thip at the airport duty free about a year ago.

It was always pretty much the only drinkable Thai whisky I thought

Yeow Ngern

That's awful close to a Thai word that I would rather not drink.

Yeow Ngern is certainly not ##Number 1## but worth a shot if you are looking at 40% which is drinkable and cost less than 200 Baht a bottle.

you mean a big bottle, right? not a small one ("ben"). I always buy small bottles and the price has been the same for a long time - 115 at seven eleven, ten baht less sometimes at other shops.

when did the price go up?

Yeow Ngern

That's awful close to a Thai word that I would rather not drink.

Not wrong there

That's all poison you're drinking my friends. Had a friend looking into exporting the swill into germany and had it analized as per govmt regulations and it turned out to be just grain alcohol with additives, flavor and color.

If you go for the cheap alcohol, then kiss your liver good bye.....

It's all good in moderation temperance man

Yeh Varinthip is good, around 140B from 7. Much smoother then Sang som IMO.

I've tried Meekong, which is even cheaper i think, but that stuff is bad, can't be far off from straight unleaded

If I am in the mood for drinking rum I will dring sangsom. Why pay extra for bacardi. But if it's at the club it's 100 8 year, red, or chivas depending on the promo. Cheap stuff tends to give me a hangover vs the middle priced stuff.

That's all poison you're drinking my friends. Had a friend looking into exporting the swill into germany and had it analized as per govmt regulations and it turned out to be just grain alcohol with additives, flavor and color.

If you go for the cheap alcohol, then kiss your liver good bye.....

i always wondered why you never see sangsom in europe

That's all poison you're drinking my friends. Had a friend looking into exporting the swill into germany and had it analized as per govmt regulations and it turned out to be just grain alcohol with additives, flavor and color.

If you go for the cheap alcohol, then kiss your liver good bye.....

absolutely correct , thats why you dont see any of the old caracters that used to frequent the bar beer and various blue sky gardens anymore , they all used to drink that shit and now they are all dead.

Well, they hardly drank in moderation..

BTW, the regular Varinthip I think is 35%, I got the premium stuff (comes in a blue box).

I appreciate that Sang Som is most common around the bars, but I don't think it's the best for the money these days.

(And both Sang Som and Mekhong are available in the West in specialty shops or Asian import stores, etc.)

was sangthip withdrawn because of its high levels of poisons a few years ago ?

Sang Som makes a tasty product called Similan International Rum.

About 160-180 a bottle.

Seems pretty clean - I don't get hangovers from it!

Hard to find - most Thais don't seem to drink it or even know about it. Only some shops carry it

Mark

Sang Som makes a tasty product called Similan International Rum.

About 160-180 a bottle.

Seems pretty clean - I don't get hangovers from it!

Hard to find - most Thais don't seem to drink it or even know about it. Only some shops carry it

Mark

i think a lot of 7-11s stock similan, i had a spell on it once, never again

I always thought Sang Som was pretty good rum. I used to buy their premium aged variety but haven't seen it around for a long time now - anyone see it recently? The best rum IMO is Mount Gay from Barbados...

i always wondered why you never see sangsom in europe

I've seen Sangsom in bars in both Amsterdam and Hamburg Germany during my visits there...

-Mestizo

My TGF would never allow me to drink cheap cheap liquor and she is the kind that would haggle over 5 bht at the local shops. I wondered why ?

Let me guess: your TGF has a degree in chemistry and/or works in a lab?

Sang Som makes a tasty product called Similan International Rum.

Mark

They also make a better grade SangSom with pale blue on the label. I think it's pretty damned good.

Given the choice I take Woods 100 (strangely also with pale blue label) even over Mount Gay.

That's all poison you're drinking my friends. Had a friend looking into exporting the swill into germany and had it analized as per govmt regulations and it turned out to be just grain alcohol with additives, flavor and color.

If you go for the cheap alcohol, then kiss your liver good bye.....

why is cheap alcohol worse for your liver than good alcohol? alcohol is alcohol. just because you get a worse hangover from cheap alcohol doesn't mean it's worse for your liver.

after doing extensive research on the subject for an article i wrote it turns out that even severe alcoholics only run a 1 in 10 chance of contracting liver disease. and only one in ten of those actually die from it. so drink away! only problem is you'll probably die from other stuff like car crashes or falling down stairs or forgetting to eat food.

on the plus side as well it turns out that coffee protects the liver very well and prevents you from getting liver disease if you're a drunk. so drink coffee and booze!

but don't smoke cigarettes - that's the worst thing for your liver according to my research.

but don't take my word for it. look it up!

That's all poison you're drinking my friends. Had a friend looking into exporting the swill into germany and had it analized as per govmt regulations and it turned out to be just grain alcohol with additives, flavor and color.

If you go for the cheap alcohol, then kiss your liver good bye.....

i always wondered why you never see sangsom in europe

vodka is grain alcohol. you see that in europe. want additives, flavour and colour? buy rum (caramel colour sometimes added). or just mix it with coke. you see all that in europe as well.

the myths associated with sang som are endless. the reason it's not exported to europe is because too few people actually like it.

i love it.

I have a bottle of Sang Thip hidden away in my "break glass in case of emergency" cupboard.

Just waiting for the right rainy day to crack it open.

The problem is that I will never get another one/

Does anyone else remember the old days when you had to check the production date of Mekong before drinking it? You had to look through the bottle as the date was printed on the reverse side of the label.

It’s been a long time but I think it was only good for 1 year from production and once opened it had to be used within a couple of weeks or it would turn. Even in date you would see the occasional bottle with cloudy contents.

There was talk around at the time you could visit the Mekong distillery and they would give you the recipe although that could have just been bartalk.

They also make a better grade SangSom with pale blue on the label. I think it's pretty damned good.

That's the one!!! - I haven't seen it up here for a couple of years now. Please anyone let me know where (in CM) I could buy a case or two to lay up in the cellar for a decade or two...

As cheap 40% liquor, Sang Som kinda sorta fit the bill in the 'lower-yet-drinkable' end of the market. But seeing the price per bottle go to 200 baht is just ridiculous.

So I tried Varinthip, which is cheaper, or the higher-end Varinthip, which is also cheaper, BUT ALSO much better in taste.. Rather nice stuff, it reminds me of the old Sangthip.. now long gone.

I tried Varinthip one time because of curiosity. I won't buy or drink this stuff again....too sweet in my opinion.

On 5/5/2008 at 6:18 PM, Gladiator said:

You also might want to try Yeow Ngern - the bottle has an eagle's head on the label. It is a fairly good Bicardi copy. 125 Baht in Big C or Tesco Lotus. 110 Baht in a Thai off-license.

12 years later 145 baht tesco/Makro......not a bad price increase for 12 years......I find this smoother than name brand white spirits