What Do You Drink?

[Mar]

I'm trying to budget for my trip, and it seems to me that beer is relatively expensive in Thailand. From what I've seen posted on this site, 80 Baht is the cheapest you'll find. What else do you people drink? What is the national liquor? How much does it cost? How much for a case of Chang to take home?

Thanks!

[Adjan]

... alcohol is not good for your health

[Adjan]

... maybe have a look here ? drinking in thailand

[Mar]

Thanks for that Adjan... ...Anyone else?

[tutsiwarrior]

Mar...a case (12 x 660ml bottles) of bier Chang can be had for around 350 baht upcountry. If you like spirits and are not near a tesco or carrefour then beware as items other than local products are not available upcountry...local products are desperation time and give you a headache that you cry to yo' mama about.. Either when you leave your point of departure or arrive in BKK load up with the max whiskey, vodka, etc that you are allowed to carry past customs. Everything is available in BKK and other tourist places of course.

Bier Chang is no great shakes and a case is as described above...no good for your economy class luggage allowance...

Adjan...a chemistry instrctor advised me the same way re: health...he is dead, he was teetotal and my age and I am ALIVE!!!

[elsie]

80 THB is very cheap. I only got that price at a bar in Pattaya.

I usually pay 120THB++ to 160THB++ for a beer. So, I guess I should wait and see where I can get a beer for a better price.

Oh... Another alternative would be 7-eleven.

[Mar]

Thank-you for your replies. It seems that Thai beer comes in a much larger bottle than those in Canada (341ml I believe).

Any help on my shoe size post in the "General Topics" section?

[bmanly]

Mar, my favourite past time is drinking. Beer can be found very cheap in Thailand, it just depends where you go. In Pattaya there are several top quality bars that serve 330 ml Heinekens for 45 baht. 2 such bars are in soi 8 "The Sailor Bar" and around the corner in the "We are the world Bar", the later has live music. Then you can go to walking street and use the Happy Hours at the A Go Go bars and observe the beautiful Thai dancing. Draft beer can be bought for between 40 and 60 baht during happy hours. Some establishments offer happy Hours all night.

If you can handle spirits the local whisky is Sang Thip. It is ok after a belly full of beer but if you drink it all day and all night it will kill you. You can buy a Sang Thip and Soda or coke for between 25 and 50 baht, if you are careful and look for the happy hour bars you can have a good time and save your money for your trips up country. When in a non tourist area the best places are 7/11 mini marts, beers very cheap about 40 baht. If you are in a position where you can buy Heineken in bulk like a carton of 24 x 330 ml bottles you will only pay 31 baht a bottle or 745 baht a case.

Just watch the really high class places, I've paid up to 160 baht for a 330 ml bottle of Heineken. Good luck have a good trip and don't forget to see the countryside and the temples too.

[tutsiwarrior]

stay way from local spirits...stick to beer in the bars, the cheap price that you pay for local spirits and coke ain't enough to justify the death feeling after. If you are a drinker in a tourist area or near tesco or carrefour pick up on some cheap vodka (215 baht) and mixer and have a few drinks before you hit the town...the local shit will kill you and ruin your holiday

remember don't take paracetamol with alcohol, will ruin your liver...and aspirin is hard to find...

[britmaveric]

Bit Poofy, but I enjoy an occasional "Spy Red Wine" Cooler.

[jayenram]

Up here in Issarn, beer Chang is now Bht 370.00 for a case of 12 x 640 ml bottles. In a local bar you’d expect to pay between Bht 40.00 and Bht 50.00 for one bottle of the same size. In a hotel the price will be Bht 60.00. Carlesburg, Heineken etc. is around Bht 650.00 a case and will cost between Bht 75.00 and Bht 90.00 in the bars. Kareoke lounges charge substantially more.

[mrvietnam2001]

Perrier

Vietnamese Coffee

Ginseng ice tea

Cream soda

Fresh squeezed mango juice

" " Avacado "

A coke every now and then

Rgrds

Mr Vietnam

Good friend of Bill's.

[KevinN]

You might as well drink CHANG, Carlesburg and all the rest are brewed and bottled in Thailand,I do not drink,so I can not say much about the quality of most stuff here, But I have watched them make and still liquor,if you were to drink the SATO before it is stilled I would say it would kill a farang as some is made with very contaminated water and worked off in very unsanitary conditions,and the stilled stuff might not be to good for you either,smells to me like fingernail polish remover.

But I know that doesn't make any difference to a man that wants to drink.

[Nat]

Hi Mar

I know everyone's saying to stay away from the local stuff but personally I don't mind sang som - it's cheap and does the trick .

[Up2U]

I don't drink at home, so cannot tell you about supermarket prices.

However I am a well-known frequenter of Pattaya bars and usually drink draught, rather than the more fizzy bottles of lager. Seldom have I found a decent ale.

The prices depend on whether you have found a 'Happy Hour' spot - draught about 45 baht a glass, size of glass varies considerably - or are drinking in a beer bar (60 baht max.) go-go 60-80 baht, or the Blues Factory at about 110 baht.

Recommend Tahitian Queen at 12.30 to 1.30 midday for a cold beer in a chilled glass, they do have other Happy Hours later in the day.

Most go-go's have their 'pullers' waving placards with the Happy Hour timing on them. Open beer bars are cheaper (on average) than 'proper' bars (with doors and tables)

So you are talking about US $1 up to US $ 2.50 or so for a beer and company.

That ain't expensive, mate - it's sheer bloody paradise!

[Mar]

I've heard of an interesting local drink made with local Vodka/Whiskey(?), Red Bull and Coke. This drink is apparently available at the full moon parties. Anyone had? Sounds great to me.

[bmanly]

I've heard of an interesting local drink made with local Vodka/Whiskey(?), Red Bull and Coke. This drink is apparently available at the full moon parties. Anyone had? Sounds great to me.

Yes if it what I think it is it's crap. It's Sangthip, coke and soda mixed with a dash of red bull. All it does for me is give me a belly ache after a while, Thais drink it a lot. If you are going to drink the local whisky you are better off with just a Sangthip and Soda. Mate a bottle of Sangthip can be bought for 160 baht, a few bottles of soda and you will all be wiped out. There is another way they do it too, it's called a bucket. They pour in a half bottle of Sangthip into a small bucket, then coke, then soda and a bottle of the red bull. Throw in 4 straws and you and your mates drink out of it. Probably cost you 50 baht each like that. It goes down easy but it's rot gut, I don't like it but young backpacker farangs seem to like it.

[tutsiwarrior]

I would be less offended if we kept descriptions of young falang backbacker savagery far away from a discreet and genteel website...

[Boon Mee]

Stick to Lhao Khaw (however it's spelled) - the stuff in the plastic bags - cheaper the better. The better the technicolor yawn next day...

[joinme2leave]

what ARE u arguing about?

beer STILL is da*n CHEAP in LOS!!! Bht 40-60 for 33cl Heineken is FANTASTIC!

I live in austria's most favourite skiing area and bars do ask approx US$ 5,00 for that Heineken beer (one more reason to leave the country....to be right understood: austria is a very nice country!....but just to have a nice vacation time...)

besides...I do prefer whiskey in general. Jack Daniel's in special. Quite expensive in LOS, unfortunately. Somebody here in Bkk do know about local prices for a (700 ml) bottle? Will arrive in Bkk 25 march. Should I bring some bottles with me or is it not really worth the deal? (I do not talk about price difference higher than US$ 1,- per bottle)

[tutsiwarrior]

jack daniels is an expensive tipple in these parts judging by the prices in BKK supermarkets so bring as much as you can carry and get past customs. If you get a cheap flight that will take you to either Dubai or Bahrain before BKK then good...cheapest airport duty free prices in the world...sure to be half what you would pay in a BKK supermarket. Hop off the plane, run to the nearest duty free shop in the departure/transit area then run back before the onward trip to BKK. Many flights on Emirates, Royal Brunei and Thai airways stop there for an hour or so...you may even have to change planes. Check it out...

[Up2U]

I've heard of an interesting local drink made with local Vodka/Whiskey(?), Red Bull and Coke. This drink is apparently available at the full moon parties. Anyone had? Sounds great to me.

Pattaya - Clinic Bar - Vodka and Red Bull - 100 baht for a full glass (generous measures of both).

This is "Looney Juice" at it's most lethal. Only for real piss-heads.

[bmanly]

I would be less offended if we kept descriptions of young falang backbacker savagery far away from a discreet and genteel website...

Whoops I slipped up I use to be one 25 years ago, forgot where I was. Now I'm one of "old hippy types with the long army pants that wai's to other farangs"

[peteypie]

All I can say is that I'm glad I don't live in the God aweful places you guys live in! A bottle of Chang at more than a hundred baht! What the ######'s going on? My local shop sells it at 30 baht a bottle?! As for quality beer in Thailand, well lets forget it. The only place in Asia that I think you can get a good quality brew is in Laos! Yes! Laos!! Beer Laos has got to be the best beer going and if only they had a sea port I'd be in the export business by now. So, if you want a good drop of the amer necktar head across the border to Vientianne.

[peteypie]

All I can say is that I'm glad I don't live in the God aweful places you guys live in! A bottle of Chang at more than a hundred baht! What the ######'s going on? My local shop sells it at 30 baht a bottle?! As for quality beer in Thailand, well lets forget it. The only place in Asia that I think you can get a good quality brew is in Laos! Yes! Laos!! Beer Laos has got to be the best beer going and if only they had a sea port I'd be in the export business by now. So, if you want a good drop of the amber necktar head across the border to Vientianne.

[bartender100]

Does aanyone else have a problem with hieniken,I love the stuff,but in a lot of bars I find it undrinkable,due to it tasting foul.

The only reason I can think of its because the fridges are turned off at night,and restarted in the morning.I only have to smell it to know if its good or bad.

[tutsiwarrior]

bartender...you hit the nail...most anywhere I go heiniken is undrinkable for that reason...refrigeration is expensive and yeah...the coolers do get turned off at night.

now the local brews like Chang appear to be impervious to a number of heating and cooling cycles but are riddled with substances that are not good for health. I can keep an open bottle of Chang in the fridge for two days then pour it over ice and it is like it was never opened. Bizarre. If not bizarre then maybe someone can explain the associated thermodynamic principle.

me for tescos and the cheap vodka...

[organic]

now the local brews like Chang appear to be impervious to a number of heating and cooling cycles but are riddled with substances that are not good for health. I can keep an open bottle of Chang in the fridge for two days then pour it over ice and it is like it was never opened.

According to rumour it contains formaldehyde. Still my regular drink, though, and only 40-50B a bottle in the bars here in Krabi. If they run out, I'll drink Singha, and if they run out of that I'll run out the bar rather than drink locally-brewed Heineken or Carlsberg.

Can't find sato here though - not sure if that's good or bad - it'd make a good anaesthetic.

[Adjan]

Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions. May cause cancer. May also cause other effects ...

Formaldehyde

[Mar]

I've heard of an interesting local drink made with local Vodka/Whiskey(?), Red Bull and Coke.  This drink is apparently available at the full moon parties.  Anyone had?  Sounds great to me.

Pattaya - Clinic Bar - Vodka and Red Bull - 100 baht for a full glass (generous measures of both).

This is "Looney Juice" at it's most lethal. Only for real piss-heads.

Sold for 100 Baht!! Is the vodka of reasonable quality?

Sincerely,

"Real Pisshead"