Vive the beerhalls!

On a per capita basis, Thais are the largest consumers of alcohol in Asia. I reckon it's all that Mekong whiskey that's accounting for this statistic. The government is doing their best to reform the shall we say less 'salubrious' aspects of society (in their opinion) - for example, bars now have to close about 1.00 a.m., and you're not allowed to buy alcohol in the afternoon. Although according to a notice in my local Villa supermarket, if you buy over say 10 litres, that's okay!

Anyhow, I have great admiration for a nation that likes its tipple. In Hong Kong I can say that the notion of after work drinks just didn't catch on - everyone was far too addicted to their work. Here we have a country whose best-selling local beer has around 6% alcohol - a hell of a lot stronger than the p*ss water lager like Fosters. Last year we came to Thailand and Fatt took quite a liking to Singha Gold, little realising that it was considered a girls' drink due to it's measly 4.5% alcohol content. Now we don't see it sold anywhere - obviously a flop in the Thai market.

One fun aspect about the beer in Thailand is the prescence of enormous beer halls - akin to those only seen in Germany and perhaps eastern Europe. When we arrived in Bangkok earlier this year, we stumbled into the Suan Lum Night Bazaar and were just blown away by the ginormous beer hall there. That and the skimpily clad pop singers up on stage strutting their stuff. You'll definitely not need to look for service at here - a zillion beer girls and boys descend on you like flies around shit as soon as you sit down, all vying to take your order.

Last weekend, we ventured a little further afield to the Tawandaeng Brewery Hall. Actually, from the outside it doesn't look like much but you know the place has to be good when there's a massive floor to ceiling blackboard with all the reservations chalked up. Having no reservation, they still managed to squeeze us in onto a top tier seat where we could watch another Thai pop act. It was a really buzzing big place. Half the buzz actually came from the waiters and waitresses - the ratio was practically like having your own personal butler do everything for you. The beer was either white beer, lager or dark beer - they were all very moreish. The food was German or Thai - we had the pork knuckle which was awesome. The waiter was so sweet and told us it was enough for two. He also got us extra bones to take away and give to our soi dogs.

We decided to go home when a stage rendition of Beauty and the Beast started. It was all massive good fun and we'll definitely be back for more. Next on our list: the brewery hall near Suk Soi 40 with the massive Greek god like concrete torso sprouting from its entrance: Coliseum.

UPDATE 4 September 2005: So, you want pictures huh? OK, can't do Lumpini or Tawan Daeng yet, but last night we did hit Coliseum - get the write up of the greek god stuff now?


here's a close up:


It's like the tardis inside - I swear it's bigger than the outside! This pic below misses out the other tiers and back part of the 'Brew Arena'.


It was fun inside, but the atmosphere & service was better at Tawan Daeng. At Coliseum, the Heinekin was warm (bleurgh!) and they charged 120 baht per bottle. Still, not bad for a local 'pub' near our home!