Is there ANYWHERE I can buy non copy booze?

[dageurreotype]

Like many here, the only way to access the real McCoy is for a friend to pack it in their luggage. And THEN, the second of just two measly bottles (of Captain Morgans Spiced - tellingly not available here) is 'confiscated' upon entry.

My preference for an Over the Yardarm is vodka (no. I'm not Russian) but having noticed it has the same effect of whateveritis laced with the ingredient used in Satou/Satao (sp), have given up on the ubiquitous Absolut, Where else to go? Tried Villa, same.

[madmitch]

I really don't understand your second paragraph, maybe a bit too much Captain Morgan's Spiced, but there's not a problem with counterfeit booze here.

[NickJ]

There is a lot of fake Absolute here. ......I was told that years ago by a guy that worked for them......now I would not think Villa would sell it. Anyways best buying a premium Vodka thats not popular enough to counterfit.......they are here.

[dageurreotype]

There is a lot of fake Absolute here. ......I was told that years ago by a guy that worked for them......now I would not think Villa would sell it. Anyways best buying a premium Vodka thats not popular enough to counterfit.......they are here.

Which premium vodka and where? I've also searched for Grey Goose and Belvedere, but alas non existent here. My guess quality alcohol is too difficult to copy, thence, the best of a bad bunch (Absolut) is seized upon, and is indeed sold at Villa. A viewing of a Thai made documentary many years ago appears to bear this out. I've oft wondered why the constant 'crackdown' on copyrighted goods includes everything from to software to cd's to handbags, but never a mention of alcohol. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the wealthiest families here appear to be those whose businesses deal with alcohol?

[Suradit69]

Like many here, the only way to access the real McCoy is for a friend to pack it in their luggage.

I doubt that applies to "many here" unless their favorite poison is some oddity that no one else would want to buy.

And THEN, the second of just two measly bottles (of Captain Morgans Spiced - tellingly not available here)

If it's not available here it's probably because the market for 100 proof spiced rum wouldn't make it worth the bother of stocking it.

And then you switch rather suddenly from having people try to sneak in bottles of rum for you to carrying on about finding legitimate quality vodka.

Can't specifically comment on vodka, but genuine, original producer booze exists in abundance in Pattaya and Bangkok. Some bars undoubtedly water down what's on the shelf or pour the cheap stuff into bottles labeled as premium (because they know their regular patrons wouldn't know if they were being served paint thinner), just as happens in low quality bars anywhere, but if you shop in quality supermarkets that regularly sell booze, particularly the sort of things that would be bought by farang who have drunk certain brands for many years, they couldn't be substituting fake stuff in fake sealed & taxed bottles and be fooling everyone (but you) on a continuing basis.

The only hard stuff I drink is brandy and if I do buy it, the only stuff I buy is a certain fairly expensive brand and I know very well what it will taste like when it hits the tongue & palate. There's no way that they could pass off some cheap crap as the real thing. Pretty sure the same can be said of whiskey and any of the people who enjoy the quality taste. If you have developed any sort of a palate for your favorite drink you couldn't be fooled by a fake label stuck on a bottle.

It can't be that challenging to find the real stuff. You seem to be buying into a conspiracy theory that probably hatched as the 100 proof spiced rum eroded the "little gray cells."

[LindaLovelace]

There is a lot of fake Absolute here. ......I was told that years ago by a guy that worked for them......now I would not think Villa would sell it. Anyways best buying a premium Vodka thats not popular enough to counterfit.......they are here.

Which premium vodka and where? I've also searched for Grey Goose and Belvedere, but alas non existent here. My guess quality alcohol is too difficult to copy, thence, the best of a bad bunch (Absolut) is seized upon, and is indeed sold at Villa. A viewing of a Thai made documentary many years ago appears to bear this out. I've oft wondered why the constant 'crackdown' on copyrighted goods includes everything from to software to cd's to handbags, but never a mention of alcohol. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the wealthiest families here appear to be those whose businesses deal with alcohol?

"Could this have anything to do with the fact that the wealthiest families here appear to be those whose businesses deal with alcohol?"

Absolutely. One family fiefdom controls 95% of the alcohol business in Thailand. Seling a bottle of fake Absolute bottled and labeled in one of their domestic plants will bring 1,000 times more profit than selling the genuine article. That's quite a temptation for a business owning distilleries and bottling plants. And these families run the country. They ARE the law. Follow the money.

If you want to live here, you have to get used to it. I gave up on the good stuff and now just drink Blend 285. I never seem to get a fake. I have my cigars mailed from the US by a friend. You can legally import up to 250 grams of any tobacco product.

[LindaLovelace]

Like many here, the only way to access the real McCoy is for a friend to pack it in their luggage.

I doubt that applies to "many here" unless their favorite poison is some oddity that no one else would want to buy.

And THEN, the second of just two measly bottles (of Captain Morgans Spiced - tellingly not available here)

If it's not available here it's probably because the market for 100 proof spiced rum wouldn't make it worth the bother of stocking it.

And then you switch rather suddenly from having people try to sneak in bottles of rum for you to carrying on about finding legitimate quality vodka.

Can't specifically comment on vodka, but genuine, original producer booze exists in abundance in Pattaya and Bangkok. Some bars undoubtedly water down what's on the shelf or pour the cheap stuff into bottles labeled as premium (because they know their regular patrons wouldn't know if they were being served paint thinner), just as happens in low quality bars anywhere, but if you shop in quality supermarkets that regularly sell booze, particularly the sort of things that would be bought by farang who have drunk certain brands for many years, they couldn't be substituting fake stuff in fake sealed & taxed bottles and be fooling everyone (but you) on a continuing basis.

The only hard stuff I drink is brandy and if I do buy it, the only stuff I buy is a certain fairly expensive brand and I know very well what it will taste like when it hits the tongue & palate. There's no way that they could pass off some cheap crap as the real thing. Pretty sure the same can be said of whiskey and any of the people who enjoy the quality taste. If you have developed any sort of a palate for your favorite drink you couldn't be fooled by a fake label stuck on a bottle.

It can't be that challenging to find the real stuff. You seem to be buying into a conspiracy theory that probably hatched as the 100 proof spiced rum eroded the "little gray cells."

I wasn't going to say this, but since you touched upon it . . . I toured a premium vodka maker's facility several years ago. The regular tour guide was out sick and the vice president of marketing took us around. Of course, he was more fascinated with the company's marketing than anything else. He told us that the company regularly conducted blind tastings where their product was offered along side other premium brands, and several mass market brands like Seagrams and Smirnoff. He pointed out that the tasters could not consistently tell one brand from another. He was quite proud of the fact that the company's "premium" status and market share were purely the result of careful marketing and nothing else.

He said he was in a marketing meeting when one of their people presented the idea of a premium vodka filtered through diamond dust. The VP said he asked what it did. The guy said, "Well, it does absolutely nothing." The VP said, "Brilliant! I love it! Let's go with it."

Of course, this is not true with scotches, bourbons, brandies and many other premium alcoholic beverages. But if you are buying "premium" (unflavored) vodka, you could save yourself a lot money.

Edited May 4, 2015 by LindaLovelace

[Somtamnication]

Fake Absolut in Phuket? Sacre bleuski!

[redandyellow]

I am not a social drinker, so I just quit..

I understand your dilemma though

Best

[dageurreotype]

If you want to live here, you have to get used to it.

I've lived here for twenty years and have become increasingly intolerant of all of it to the point where I'm now teetotal. First their awful chemical laden local beers (they should have been colonised to at least educate them on brewing) or a trip to Villa and pay through the nose, (interestingly, I was told by a Thai vendor my favourite beer, Guinness, was once sold here at 40 baht a bottle but didn't catch on as the Thais didn't like it. Bugger), so switched to wine for a while but still can't get the taste of vinegar out of my mouth or spend just 200 baht less for a bottle of Absolut. As to there being no decent vodka anyway, someone had brought over a bottle of Absolut Gold, in a gold plastic bottle, so he didn't notice when I'd drank the lot Very smooth!

Absolut has the same effect as that cheap and nasty (therefore popular here), Archa beer. Even the locals will tell you 'it for sleeping', so presume the same as yet unknown ingredient used in that also. Rather like purveyors of cannabis lacing it with heroin in the UK for that 'zonked' effect. Not my cup of tea, which I will be drinking even more of now given no one's actually answered my question. Ah well, sobriety's a Very Good Thing Cheers. Or not.

[HooHaa]

There is a lot of fake Absolute here. ......I was told that years ago by a guy that worked for them......now I would not think Villa would sell it. Anyways best buying a premium Vodka thats not popular enough to counterfit.......they are here.

Which premium vodka and where? I've also searched for Grey Goose and Belvedere, but alas non existent here. My guess quality alcohol is too difficult to copy, thence, the best of a bad bunch (Absolut) is seized upon, and is indeed sold at Villa. A viewing of a Thai made documentary many years ago appears to bear this out. I've oft wondered why the constant 'crackdown' on copyrighted goods includes everything from to software to cd's to handbags, but never a mention of alcohol. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the wealthiest families here appear to be those whose businesses deal with alcohol?

i would suggest you take a better look around, everything you have mentioned is available here.

[Baerboxer]

If you want to live here, you have to get used to it.

I've lived here for twenty years and have become increasingly intolerant of all of it to the point where I'm now teetotal. First their awful chemical laden local beers (they should have been colonised to at least educate them on brewing) or a trip to Villa and pay through the nose, (interestingly, I was told by a Thai vendor my favourite beer, Guinness, was once sold here at 40 baht a bottle but didn't catch on as the Thais didn't like it. Bugger), so switched to wine for a while but still can't get the taste of vinegar out of my mouth or spend just 200 baht less for a bottle of Absolut. As to there being no decent vodka anyway, someone had brought over a bottle of Absolut Gold, in a gold plastic bottle, so he didn't notice when I'd drank the lot Very smooth!

Absolut has the same effect as that cheap and nasty (therefore popular here), Archa beer. Even the locals will tell you 'it for sleeping', so presume the same as yet unknown ingredient used in that also. Rather like purveyors of cannabis lacing it with heroin in the UK for that 'zonked' effect. Not my cup of tea, which I will be drinking even more of now given no one's actually answered my question. Ah well, sobriety's a Very Good Thing Cheers. Or not.

Last time I drank Guinness here was about 10 years ago, A Thai friend bought some cans to make me feel at home. It was 7% brewed in Malaysia (worked near he brewery there once) and tasted sweet, like a barley wine. Much preferred the Singha he was quaffing. Nothing like bottled Guinness or the canned draft you can buy elsewhere.

I don't drink Vodka so can't comment specifically. But, as a flavorless drink it would seem more easy to copy than whiskies, rums etc.

[Jimi007]

I would suggest a trip to Prom Pan on Cho Fa West on the left about couple of blocks before the Central Festival underpass (veterinary hospital next door). Large selection of name brands, most bars buy from them.

[Shot]

Makro