Thailand

Drinks

It has already been mentioned that beer is priced in Thailand rather as a luxury. However, for those who don't want to miss their liquid bread, there are several excellent brands, Singha, Kloster, Amarit, Carlsberg, Heineken and Chang.

Drinking water of an excellent quality is found in Bangkok. Of course we are not talking of tap water in hotels or homes. Though it is alleged that faucet water in Bangkok is potable, there is widely available at very low prices bottled drinking water of the best quality.

The traditional bottled drinking water in Bangkok is Polaris. Actually, the name Polaris, even though it's a brand name, is used as a generic name: Polaris water means bottled drinking water, even if it is manufactured by another company. Indeed, there are dozens of companies filling and distributing bottled drinking water. But in the judgement of this author, Polaris is still the best.

Bottled drinking water is sold anywhere in Bangkok in small and large shops, by street vendors and in restaurants. The price usually is 5 Baht for a plastic bottle of almost 1 liter (slightly more than 1 qt). Occasionally, there are bottles for sale containing just about half a liter. However, their price is usually only insignificantly lower than the price of liter bottles, for example 4 Baht instead of 5. Water sold in glass bottles is always more expensive than water in plastic.

Most other brands are, when bought in shops, cheaper than Polaris (but not in restaurants). For home and restaurant use, there are large plastic jars, containing almost 20 liters (about 5 gal) - at a price of 30 Baht, or 1.50 Baht per liter, for Polaris, or as low as 10 Baht for other brands.