Thailand, air-con and café culture

[crazygreg44]

you tend to forget that the mentioned 35 - 40 degrees have been measured in the shade

If you started to sit under an umbrella at Siam Square, you would soon find yourself sitting in an 80-90 degree Celsius bowl right underneath the umbrella, more so because the surrounding pavement will reflect direct sunlight in forms of even more heat.

And we haven't begun to speak about the humidity, yet, which will bang really in after May, and the sudden monsoon downpours.

Why not try it out, rent a taxi, bring a chair and an umbrella. Bring some eggs, because you can actually fry eggs benedict in a pan in the direct sunlight next to your "cafe culture" . . . .

all along the river, there are countless of cafe's , restaurants and bars catering to your needs for the time after sunset !

Edited January 20, 2015 by crazygreg44

[YeahSiam]

 

There are only 2 months of the year you would want to be outside drinking coffee.. I just returned from a Coffee shop and nothing more relaxing then a nice coffee with the sound of Motorbikes with no exhaust and tuk tuks.

 

Sounds like a normal weekend on the King's Road

in Chelsea. Sunshine, coffee, almond croissants,

a pack of Marlboro Lights and Harleys & Lambos

pulling up to park 10 feet away. Not really

seeing your problem.

[nisakiman]

Bangkok has many many places with gardens you can sit in, some really spectacularly nice places.

Just a couple you might want to try

Hemingways - just inside Sukhumvit 14

Coffee Alley in the Garden - just down Sukhumvit Soi 16

Cottage 66 - Sukhumvit soi 66 (bit far out but a beautiful place

Suggest you Google each of the above for details, which are easy to find.

You might want to Google this which will give you a great article on the subject "nomadicnotes.com bangkok cafes" (I don't think I can post the actual URL)

Thanks for that info - I'll check them out when I can.

A few posters seem to have got the impression that I'm complaining by the tone of their posts, with one even suggesting I move to Greece! LOL! I've been living in Greece for the past 14 years, and I'm just here for a couple of months so my wife can see her folks and to do a few things we need to do. What made me write the original post was not that I was complaining, but the fact that I'd come across this large pedestrianised square just over the road from Paragon, and it was a soulless, concrete desert with absolutely nothing going for it. And smack in the middle of one of the busiest and most upmarket areas of Bangkok. What a waste! It was just crying out for some imaginative development (NOT another air-con mall).

It could, I'm sure, be a thriving spot that people would seek out if it was full of café bars with nice seating and tables.

Other posters here seem to think being outside means sitting in the sun - it doesn't. You won't find any Greeks sitting in the sun at their favourite café - they aren't masochists! There will be plenty of large umbrellas providing shade and plenty of fans providing a breeze. Even in the hot weather, it makes for a shady, cool and comfortable environment in which to enjoy an iced coffee or a cold beer. And to watch the world go by.

And as a previous poster pointed out, air-con wasn't the norm 20 years ago - it's a relatively recent phenomenon, and personally I think the Thais have gone a bit overboard with it.

[canman]

Vietnam has a great out door cafe culture. Similar temps and humidity in the south to Thailand. One big differance is the amount of greenery and large trees in the population centers which I think helps to shade the outdoor areas and create a better ambiance than the concrete jungle which is Bangkok.

[Kitsune]

Out of BKK you find just about everywhere open air restaurants, but no coffee or doughnuts in 'em. Many coffee shops too, but usually air conditioned, and not the same as you find in western countries.

The place is just different, that's all. Suck it up.

No

The place has become different because of morons like you

[Kitsune]

Vietnam has a great out door cafe culture. Similar temps and humidity in the south to Thailand. One big differance is the amount of greenery and large trees in the population centers which I think helps to shade the outdoor areas and create a better ambiance than the concrete jungle which is Bangkok.

Not long ago BKK was filed with trees

That's what I loved about the place: A capital with trees everywhere!

Then came the boneheads, they cut the trees to put concrete and aircon

[SoiBiker]

I remember when it was all fields round here...

[mrtoad]

Two lovely Coffee shops n Chanthaburi, Latte which is on the river and Kay's which is a title more off the beaten track. Sitting outside in Bangkok, is not always pleasant due to the pollution.

[BudRight]

I don't know what the hell you are talking about and I don't understand why anyone would 'not like aircon.' I'm from a place where Summer temperatures can break 50 degrees C and without aircon everyone would die. At least in Thailand the heat is only uncomfortable and instead of dangerous, but there's still there's no point in sweating your balls off outside getting a rash when it's 22C just yards from you unless you are masochist. Thais know this and that is why they are in aircon any time they have a choice.

[YeahSiam]

I remember when it was all dinosaurs here

[balo]

There are open air stalls everywhere in Bangkok and the rest of the country selling ice coffee , this is what most Thais like to drink. If you want to meet middle class or hi-so Thais , they prefer indoor places like Starbucks . And the humidity is so high here most of the year so air-con is what most people prefer, including me.

But right now its nice to stay outside and here in Pattaya we have several good open air coffee shops.

Edited January 20, 2015 by balo

[His Masters Voice]

Vietnam has a great out door cafe culture. Similar temps and humidity in the south to Thailand. One big differance is the amount of greenery and large trees in the population centers which I think helps to shade the outdoor areas and create a better ambiance than the concrete jungle which is Bangkok.

Could that be because of the strong influence the Fench Colonialism had on the Vietnamese Culture?

I will have to get to Vietnam one day.

[His Masters Voice]

Bangkok has many many places with gardens you can sit in, some really spectacularly nice places.

Just a couple you might want to try

Hemingways - just inside Sukhumvit 14

Coffee Alley in the Garden - just down Sukhumvit Soi 16

Cottage 66 - Sukhumvit soi 66 (bit far out but a beautiful place

Suggest you Google each of the above for details, which are easy to find.

You might want to Google this which will give you a great article on the subject "nomadicnotes.com bangkok cafes" (I don't think I can post the actual URL)

Thanks for that local knowledge. I'll have to try some of them soon.

Winter is here, great time to be outdoors.

[AlexRRR]

Ten yrs in Fla taught me to seek the coldest air con mall, but I find none in Thailand... the walkway areas are too hot for me and most of the shops, with doors, are still oppressively hot to me. I dislike air con, but I dislike sweating like a pig more. The SkyTrain is a frosty blessing to me, aaahhhhh, good.

The direct answer to ur question is that Thai do not like to congregate with a bunch of people they do not know in a public place and IN THE SUN. They prefer getting with FAMILY anywhere IN THE SHADE. Thai think air con is up scale, kinda HiSo, and thus want to be in it as much as possible, even if shivering.

Being definitely not Greek, Thai are being slow to like even Starbucks,which is soldiering on, apparently in it for the long term building of the culture which would really support their biz.

My wife's convenience store/car wash/covered parking now has added a coffee shop... indoors with a fan and open air, no door.... uncovered outside seating also available. Come on over.

You dont get out of Fla much, Starbucks Centre World kills your theroy of Thai's congregating with strangers.

Coffee culture is only just begging to take off in Thailand im sure in time alfresco type cafes will be everywhere, to date the ones ive notced seem to be small and sometimes attached to a petrol station with indoor and outdoor seating.

The coments about the humidity being a draw back dont really hold, one time about 6 ys back after a long hot day touring the Angor Wat complex and this was in May, back in Seam Reap i longed for a cold drink, i quicly came apon an out door cafe/bar reluckantly i sat down and orderd a cool drink but to my suprise within a very short time it was very pleasent there, this place had a roof over all the tables and covered on 2 sides and opened to the street on 2 sides, several fans on meduim blowing a nice breeze, it turned out to be so pleasent i struggled to get up and be on my way.

Ive been to quite a few alfresco restaurants some stunning i would never have known if a Thai had not taken me there, the Ko San rd area area is full of alfresco style cafe/restaurant's might be a good idea if you got on your bike and did some exploring.

[kannot]

I remember when it was all fields round here...

Yes but were they growing coffee?

[kannot]

perhaps thais aint so dumb as to throw money at overpriced drinks?

Guess you haven't been down Thong Lor recently.

I dont think Thong Lor represents the whole of Thailand......try Loei high street

[KonaRain]

Smoking ? at the Table..

Even my cymbals smelled of smoke back in the day.

I like the HEPA on the air con in LOS.

[canman]

Vietnam has a great out door cafe culture. Similar temps and humidity in the south to Thailand. One big differance is the amount of greenery and large trees in the population centers which I think helps to shade the outdoor areas and create a better ambiance than the concrete jungle which is Bangkok.

Could that be because of the strong influence the Fench Colonialism had on the Vietnamese Culture?

I will have to get to Vietnam one day.

Very likely, two things the Vietnamese do well is coffee and bread. If you get to VN try a cafe su da, Vietnamese ice coffee

[fey]

Vietnam has a great out door cafe culture. Similar temps and humidity in the south to Thailand. One big differance is the amount of greenery and large trees in the population centers which I think helps to shade the outdoor areas and create a better ambiance than the concrete jungle which is Bangkok.

Could that be because of the strong influence the Fench Colonialism had on the Vietnamese Culture?

I will have to get to Vietnam one day.

or just goto france

[fey]

I don't know what the hell you are talking about and I don't understand why anyone would 'not like aircon.' I'm from a place where Summer temperatures can break 50 degrees C and without aircon everyone would die. At least in Thailand the heat is only uncomfortable and instead of dangerous, but there's still there's no point in sweating your balls off outside getting a rash when it's 22C just yards from you unless you are masochist. Thais know this and that is why they are in aircon any time they have a choice.

cant why anyone would hole up in an air conned box when there's a whole would out there. might as well be in a 9-5 cubicle somwhere staring at a computer monitor.

[bermondburi]

Agree about the humidity. I live in Riyadh which is far hotter in summer than Thailand ever gets. And yet it is strangely tolerable due to zero humidity. Bangkok at 80% humidity leaves you dripping. You can practically watch a map of the world appear on your shirt.