How, When, And Why Did Chang Become The Farang Beer Of Choice?

[LennyW]

Whatever happened to Singha Gold?? seemed to appear around mid 90's but dissapeared as quick as it arrived, it was a rather nice beer.

[Bjorn]

Leo is outstanding amongst the Thai beers.

Heineken is consumed by Thai people that wants to show off that they can afford to order an expensive bottle of beer (even if it tastes like sh-t)

[rgs2001uk]

Whatever happened to Singha Gold?? seemed to appear around mid 90's but dissapeared as quick as it arrived, it was a rather nice beer.

Singha Gold was a low alcohol content beer, I seem to remember about 3.5%, has been replaced by Singha Lite which appeared on the market a couple of years ago.

[skybluestu]

Chang gives me killer hangovers but I've started drinking Chang draught recently which is very nice and much easier on the swede the next day but still quite pokey at 5% I think. Chang light is also quite nice despite being only 4.2%.

[rgs2001uk]

It's usually San Mig Lite, Leo or Tiger for me. Chang gives me blinding headaches and singha heartburn

Anyone remember the name of the Thai dark beer that was around in the nineties, Black Horse, Black Tiger -something like that?

Yes it was horse piss, wasnt a true dark beer at all (not in the sense of a stout) just more fizzy piss water.

[dttk0009]

I get either Leo or San Mig. Not too fond of Singha. Chang's alright, dam_n strong though. Never tried Archa, or I may have once when it came out.

[barky]

I tend to drink Leo more often than not. Good value for money too.

[InSiSongkram]

After this thread today I tracked down a few bottles of Archa, not too bad but still not on par with Leo which seems more popular than I thought from the replies here.

[syd barrett]

Whatever happened to Singha Gold?? seemed to appear around mid 90's but dissapeared as quick as it arrived, it was a rather nice beer.

Singha Gold was a low alcohol content beer, I seem to remember about 3.5%, has been replaced by Singha Lite which appeared on the market a couple of years ago.

Singha Gold was very popular with non-hard-drinking ex-pats who liked a few beers without getting blotto. It was 4.5%. I've noticed that thoses same drinkers now drink Leo or Singha-soda mix.

[DP25]

Heineken is consumed by Thai people that wants to show off that they can afford to order an expensive bottle of beer (even if it tastes like sh-t)

Yeap. Heineken is just awful. If Heineken is the only beer available I'm drinking water.

[pattaya_girl]

I use to love the Chang Beer when i first came to live here 8 Years ago, but then my Partner converted me to Leo Beer, when the 7.11 sells out of Leo, we resort back to Chang, and it tastes awful now compared to my favourite Leo...

Its Leo for me always now, I even named my Mynabird Leo after my fave Beer. ( do you think the Labels are Leo labels on this pile of bottles ? )

[wamberal]

Some really interesting answers, thank you all very much. I will definitely try Leo the next time we visit LOS to see the wife's family.

Incidentally, I belong to the school that says that there is no such thing as a bad beer, although some are better than others - they all taste the same after the first dozen or so.

[cdnvic]

Incidentally, I belong to the school that says that there is no such thing as a bad beer

I think the brewers of Phuket Lager went there too.

[Ratsima]

I miss the good old Carlsberg

Then try Chang Draft.

If I'm out and Tiger is available, that's my choice. But, none of the markets where I live carry it, so I settle for Leo. But, with a meal, Singha is what I order. Goes good with food, especially Thai food as the sweetness of the beer is a good contrast for the spiciness of the food.

If I want to get hammered, a few Chang certainly do the job.

[Macx]

So what month and year do we finally get mass distribution of Beer Lao in Thailand? And will it be real Beer Lao or made in Thailand fake Beer Lao? Its no wonder the powers that be are delaying this, if it was sold today at competitive prices (not premium) it would take over 50 percent of the market easily.

Hahaha! In your dream (and mine too).

I offered a big group of Thais a choice of Leo or Lao--this after a taste test between the two. Every single one of them preferred Leo AND promptly told me that it's not "safe" to drink Beer Lao since it might be "unclean".

Now, it's all that I put on the table for visitors. They don't stay long

[hammered]

I find my taste varies and I drink quite a lot of beer. When I first came here there was only Singha, Kloster and Amarit NB. Since then the choice has expanded which is good. There have also been loads of beers come and go: Carlsberg, Amstel, Black beer, Super Leo, Singha 60(?) Some of them were OK too.

Leo, Heineken, Singha, Asahi in any order and occasionally Chang. Cheers left me with some hideous chemical taste in my mouth for about week after drinking too much of it so I leave that well alone. Tiger is OK for a change. Accidently bought blue horse cans instead of Tiger cans once and thought it was foul.

Back in the pre-97 days some supermarkets sold bottled guiness (from Malaysia?) at reasonable prices and that was nice. You could also get some aussie and german beers at good prioces then. Since 97 they have become a lot more expensive relatively. Still enjoy a good german beer on occasions though and when in BKK (rarely) sometimes indulge in a pint of guiness.

Better not get on to wine and spirits.

Like the man said though enjoy what you enjoy.

[catmac]

Leo is what I usually drink. I don't like Singha. Chang rarely. Recently I tried Archa again and really liked it. What do you think of Archa?

With you on this one, Jingthing. Tried Archa more as a snub to this Government's tax hike, but I actually like it, and would you believe I picked up 2 cases of it for just 320 Baht/case in Carrefour just a couple of weeks ago.

Tend to agree with those that say Heineken is mainly drunk by farangs too scared to try Thai beer, and Thais trying to show off! Awful stuff that should be sold at a discount, not a premium!

Hate to fall foul of Priceless yet again, but I was led to believe that Leo is now the best selling beer here; maybe "Chang" beets it but only by adding the sales of Chang Draft and Chang Lite on to the basic Chang sales.

[losworld]

I've been trying to figure out why it is that LEO is by far the most favoured beer by expats and locals alike, yet you can never find it in many of the tourist bars.

Tiger on tap is a good alternative.

Why doesn't Leo show up in the main lower suk bars and the tourist resorts?

Leo is less expensive than the rest and I think the profit margin may be less. Beer is about marketing and if you can ignore that then you can make your selection on taste. I would not be surprised if Singha is actually less expensive to produce than Leo but has a larger marketing budget for upscale and a higher profit margin. Additionally, Leo is sold in large bottles which is even better value. And it actually tastes a lot better.

Edited July 14, 2009 by losworld

[Jeddah Jo]

Chang draught is not too bad at all, quite light and refreshing (better on ice as otherwise it gets too warm too quickly). Never drink the bottled stuff though as it gives me a headache after one bottle.

I used to like Leo but found it too hoppy after a while so now am mainly a San Mig Lite person. Although sometimes the limes they put in the bottle are less than clean and it can be a little variable. If I am not in the mood will revert to Heineken.

JJ.

[torrenova]

I used to drink Singha, not Singha Gold which was around then. But that was when on holiday.

With my bars, I never used to sell Chang as the alcohol content was far too variable. Wasn't there some documentary where some Thai guy checking the specific gravity was merely concerned at whether it was more than the stipulated "maximum". I used to joke that it could be 6% or 16%, you never knew and thus, it was terrible for business.

Mind you, at that time, we had Heineken, Singha, Carlsberg and Chang (yes I know about some others like Kloster but they were not big sellers). Carlsberg went and then Tiger came along but it was, to me, just rubbish. San Miguel came too early and I threw away free samples as no-one wanted them. Later it came back with much more marketing and took hold. Of course we now have Leo, Lao and a myriad of other marginal players. San Miguel Light has been the major surprise to me as I think it is a very poor cousin to its Spanish equivalent.

Heineken is still number one, followed by Singha and San Miguel Light and then Tiger unless the cheap charlies are in town and then Chang goes. I have it now because they have higher quality control nowadays.

Heineken for me is the best of a bad bunch.

[ukrules]

I don't drink beer, so I am no expert.  And I rarely go to a bar, so I am even less of an expert there.  But at restaurants, it seems to me that most farangs tend to drink Heineiken.  I might have a client who is visiting for the first time who will have a Thai beer with dinner, but Heineken seems to be the choice for most farangs who I've noticed drinking beer.

Heineken is pretty much the only beer I drink. In the past I have decided which bar to drink in based on the temperature of the bottles of Heineken. It should be really ice cold, some places really don't turn the temperature in their refrigerators down enough.

[hunglikea]

I don't know a single farang living here that drinks Chang, well they dont anymore as they have learnt that its the worst beer ever brewed (outside of America!)

Most drink Leo and some drink Heineken. Tourists drink Chang because its the most famous, its cheap and gets you proper hammered.

I can't believe i live in a place that regards Heineken as a premium beer!

I have lived here for 7 years and my favourite is still CHANG by FAR, it has to be ice cold tho' as all 'lagers' do. All of my friends, Thai and farang agree, Chang is best. The worst is Leo which has a 'beer' smell but tastes of water. Beer Sing, Tiger and Heineken are just too sweet to even be called 'beer' or even LAGER.

A large V & T or a good Rioja still beats all of them though.

HIC!

[smokie36]

I don't know a single farang living here that drinks Chang, well they dont anymore as they have learnt that its the worst beer ever brewed (outside of America!)

Most drink Leo and some drink Heineken. Tourists drink Chang because its the most famous, its cheap and gets you proper hammered.

I can't believe i live in a place that regards Heineken as a premium beer!

I have lived here for 7 years and my favourite is still CHANG by FAR, it has to be ice cold tho' as all 'lagers' do. All of my friends, Thai and farang agree, Chang is best. The worst is Leo which has a 'beer' smell but tastes of water. Beer Sing, Tiger and Heineken are just too sweet to even be called 'beer' or even LAGER.

A large V & T or a good Rioja still beats all of them though.

HIC!

Pretty much anything beats them for flavour but they do seem to get you pissed quick especially Chang.

Chang is ok and cheaper than most but beerlao would beat it hands down in a fair fight.

[mahtin]

Beer Lao.

Let the Philistines tremble.

The one and only true .

[cdnvic]

Regardless of whether it's Chang, Singha, Beer Lao, or Archa, in Thailand it isn't so much a case of picking your favourite as picking which one you can best put up with. I'll drink a Chang with Thai food in Canada to add a little authenticity but for the most part I'm profoundly grateful to have a real selection of beers.

[Marksamui]

I drink Chang when at home, I swapped from Singha becuase it is cheeper and tastes the same to me. When in a restuarant it would still normally be a Singha, because it still appears to be well stocked in the places I go.

Tiger is not Thai it is from Singapore, and stronger in taste than the Thai Beers.

Leo I have on occasions but not much.

[p_brownstone]

I have been drinking Singha almost exclusively since I came here in ’71 .

At that time there were only 2 local Beers available – Singha and Amarit, outside Bangkok it was almost impossible to find anything but Singha and since I was travelling up-country a lot I stuck with Singha.

As someone has already said, in those days Singha was very variable, both in alcohol content and in taste, also it would often give you a headache – not a hangover, a headache while you were still drinking it.

Singha has changed a lot over the years and occasionally I have tried others in “protest” but always come back to Singha – even after their most recent change when the alcohol content was reduced to 5%.

Patrick

[wjhall]

In Khon Kaen I would say that the majority of Farangs drink San Mig Light closely followed by Leo. Hardly anyone drinks Singha. I would estimate Chang and Tiger compete for 3rd place followed by Heineken. Federbrau has a small following but does not appear to be taking off. The new (to me anyway) Tiger Crystal Light I think will compete very well with San Mig

[sportsman69]

So what month and year do we finally get mass distribution of Beer Lao in Thailand? And will it be real Beer Lao or made in Thailand fake Beer Lao? Its no wonder the powers that be are delaying this, if it was sold today at competitive prices (not premium) it would take over 50 percent of the market easily.

Got it from the powers that be here in Phuket ( distributors ) that supplies will be available here the middle of next month (August) and will still be the real deal. I simply hope we have enough in stock to satisfy demand until then, but without living in hope here in Thailand, you may as well go home anyway.

Can't quite get the drift about "competitive price", ours across the bar is the same as Heineken or San Mig which cost about the same, and it is a fully imported beer, not just made under license.

Totally agree if it was sold at the same price as entry level Thai beers it would have a far greater acceptance level, it is indeed a good quality beer and tastes free of 'preservatives' quite unlike most of the 'local' brews.

As for consumer demand it sort of goes like this and I only quote our own custom;

Tiger.

Lao, (inc, dark)

Heineken.

Singha.

San Mig. light.

Australian V.B., Bulmers and other English ciders

Leo.

lucky to get a mention, Chang.

and kept as toilet cleaner, not for sale, Phuket Larger.

It only goes to prove everywhere is case sensitive though I feel Phuket has its own market demand and as such is not representative as to the rest of Thailand. It is not only a matter of cost but also one of availability and last but not least, personal preference.

God damm, another bottle with a hole in the bottom, better try a'nudder.

Cheers 'n' beers.

[thesunset75]

I like Heineken when i was in Thailand, sometime Singha then Chang (cheapest from those 2).

Since I moved here those Thai beers are double prices so...Heineken still the best !

I like to have Thai beers when we have BBQ here so special :-)

Now im thirsty !