Thailand Is Becoming a Very Good Place to Drink Wine

From an onerous tariff being lifted to a curious younger population, the country is poised for pours.

Bangkok is not a place one goes to relax,” an older wine journalist said to me, rather condescendingly, when I mentioned I would be there shortly and looked forward to using the visit to unwind a bit. I understood his point. Asian megacities aren’t known for their chill vibes and calming atmospheres. But in my case, “I need to relax” is actually a shorthand for “I need to take a break from tasting so much Italian wine,” so Thailand seemed like the perfect choice for a reset after another punishing year of having to judge expensive juice from the peninsula for a living.

Alas, as probably everyone who knows me could have guessed, it was less than 72 hours before I found myself in a private dining room at the much-lauded Lenzi Tuscan Kitchen, popping magnums of older vintage Barolo in a room full of hospitality professionals and getting wildly excited about drinking wine, Italian or otherwise, in Thailand.

There’s very good reason to be excited about wine in Thailand right now, even if you’re not several glasses deep shoving prosciutto in your face while doing karaoke to songs played off your friend’s phone. The lifting of once-punishing tariffs on wine imports—a whopping 54% on standard table wines from countries without a free trade agreement—in a decision from the Thai Ministry of Finance in early 2024 means that wine is becoming cheaper and both more readily and more widely available to this young, vibrant population, especially in thirsty Bangkok, where drinkers consume 60% more per capita than the national average.

Lily Nuttiya Wisootsat, assistant director at Fabulous is Needed (FIN Wine for short) and director at MUST Wine Bar is justly enthusiastic: “The market for drinkers [in Bangkok] is continuously growing.” What stands out to her is how intrepid wine drinkers are in Thailand—their desire to explore is what promises the most for the future: “It is very exciting to see people wanting to learn the right stuff, and the effort that they make to truly appreciate wine. They are very intrigued to learn more, try more, drink more.”

The capital’s cocktail culture has already become the envy of the world with its unique ability to sit at the crossroads of avant-garde sophistication and sensitive attention to tradition and local ingredients, from the delightfully performance-driven sips offered at TEP Cultural Bar of Thailand to the carefully guided offerings at Independence Cocktail Bar and beyond.

Wine bars already have an outsize presence on the scene in Bangkok (check out my colleague Alek’s list of his fave natty places on wineenthusiast.com) as witnessed by the rarefied lists at places like Mod Kaew Wine Bar and Chenin Bangkok.

The list at Chenin, driven by sommelier and wine director Paul Ozbirn, is pushing limits also because of the unusual pricing structures in Thailand: “Ironically I’m able to list wine for almost half what I would on an American wine list at a place like Chenin, despite paying a bit more in wholesale cost.” He is optimistic that the shift will be toward serving that local population of wine-curious drinkers and looking forward to a demographic shift: “I think what’s next for Thailand is for actual Thai people to desire and drink more wine at the dinner table.”

And this optimism is further buoyed by what’s happening across the country. Group sommelier and beverage manager at Riedel Bangkok, Luca Lodoli points out that the expansion of hospitality options in Chiang Mai and elsewhere means that there’s a lot to expect on the horizon. Lodoli expects an ascent in wine consumption at all levels with the Thai audience, thanks to the generally more accessible format: “Wine is not a ‘luxury’ product for a niche anymore or only available in fine dining restaurants.

The trend of wine bars focusing on approachable and easy-to-drink wines is going to continue and grow, as locals and visitors are looking for value and to enjoy themselves with wine.” Would that we all saw wine as approachable, non-niche, easy to drink and just enjoyed ourselves. Thailand seems ready to lead the way.

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