In the film version of You Only Live Twice, Bond makes an unflattering comment about Siamese vodka.
In the film version of The Man With the Golden Gun, Bond makes an unflattering comment about Thai wine. Specifically, a brand called “Fu Yuk”.
In the real world, how does Thai booze compare with that of neighboring countries? What do refined and cultured southeast Asians drink?
In the books, Ian Fleming never says any unkind word about any country’s spirits.
I’m not sure there was any Thai “wine” that far back. There is a fair-sized industry now though, with the grapes grown in the NOrtheast. The stuff’s no great shakes, but some of it’s not horrible.
More common is Thai whiskey and rum. Cheap plonk, but it’ll do the trick. You’ll certainly never mistake it for Johnnie Walker or Bacardi. I have many memories of Mekong hangovers, Mekong being a big whiskey brand. Or at least it used to be before it disappeared. I hear they’re bringing it back though, the same stuff but now marketed as a rum. Really. One problem with Mekong is even though it was called a whiskey, it was made from rice, so there was a lot of argument about whether you really could call it a whiskey.
Then there is lao khao, the local moonshine, also made from rice. The locals will sometimes spike entire batches with insecticide for an extra kick. That is true and not a local Urban Legend like some farangs (Westerners) think it must be. An American friend of mine caught some locals pouring in insecticide out behind a temple one time during a wedding. They tried to get him to drink it, denying it contained insecticide, but they 'fessed up once he told them he’d seen them pouring it in. And I believe I got ahold of some of that spiked stuff myself during one particularly memorable evening 24 years ago, during a Loi Krathong festival party held at a hilltribe boy’s school up North. I was told I was highly entertaining to watch. I swore the home-made stuff off for years after that until finding some of much higher quality in Laos.
Never ever heard of local vodka.
As for “refined and cultured” Southeast Asians, “Southeast Asian” runs a wide gamut. Many upper-class Chinese Thais like to consider themselves connoisseurs of fine French wines. Give a Thai man a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black, and you’ve probably made a friend for life.
He just takes a swig, grimaces, and then says to himself “Siamese vodka.” in a kind of disparaging way.
(“You Only Live Twice” was on this afternoon and I saw that part)
I think the negative attitude would probably be more from Thai attempts to make traditional European distillates instead of their own. Good tequila is a world class spirit, but Mexican gin, vodka and rum leave a lot to be desired, as I bet the Thai equivalents do as well.
Yeah…when you’re spiking your booze with nerve agents, you really might as well spring for Theragen.
Update: Great Rum From Where? Yes, Thailand
I’ve not seen this at all but will be on the lookout for it. The article mentions that phraya means “of high ranking,” which is true, but it also brings to mind the Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok.
And I didn’t know today – it’s Friday over here already – was National Rum Day. I can only hope some of you get it as paid time off.
EDIT: I find myself reminiscing now about a nice little rum bar a friend took me to in Beijing some years ago. Mmmm. They had some tasty stuff, and I normally don’t like to drink rum straight.
Some people have recently been poisoned in Laos by spirits adulterated by alcohol not suited to human consumption.
And, in fact, the government feels that the source of the contaminated vodka was the Tiger factory itself.
I must have forgotten the Bond movies where he drinks screech and Malört…
This brings to mind an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. The locals tried to get him to sip (he wouldn’t) moonshine from clear glass bottles with no labels. By the end of the short scene the guys were half laying on the table and pounding their fists while laughing uncontrollably. My Thai wife says this was an every day party for many of the farmers she grew up with.