Craft beer Bangkok: the best bars and taprooms by area

Craft beer in Bangkok has had an odd history. Thai law long made small-scale brewing almost impossible, so the first wave of Thai craft labels were brewed abroad on contract and shipped back, and the bars that poured them clustered where expats and Thai beer nerds overlapped: Ekkamai, Phrom Phong and a couple of streets in Chinatown. The rules have loosened in recent years and the scene has grown with them. Here is where to drink craft beer in Bangkok, by area.

Ekkamai and Thonglor

Mikkeller Bangkok, in a converted house on Ekkamai Soi 10, set the standard when it opened: a long list of taps from the Danish brewery and guests from around the world, a garden, and a restaurant upstairs. It is still the first stop for most people. The same soi has smaller taprooms that come and go, and the Thonglor bar strip has craft lists in several cocktail bars. The Ekkamai guide and Thonglor guide cover the area.

Phrom Phong, Asok and Ploenchit

Hair of the Dog runs the most serious tap list in the city: the original bar is in a small room off Ploenchit, the flagship is on Sukhumvit 33 in Phrom Phong, and both rotate American and European imports with a bottle fridge for the rare stuff. Craft on Sukhumvit 23 is a bigger, more sporty bar with a long tap wall. Brewski on the roof of the Radisson Blu at Sukhumvit 27 is the one with a view, pouring craft taps over the Asok skyline. See the Phrom Phong guide and Asok and Nana guide.

Chinatown: Soi Nana

Among the cocktail bars of Soi Nana in Chinatown, Pijiu Bar is the beer one: a narrow shophouse with Asian and Thai craft on tap and a knowledgeable crew behind the bar. It is a good place to try the local labels side by side. The Chinatown guide has the rest of the soi.

Koh Kret: Chit Beer

The origin story of Thai craft beer is on an island in the Chao Phraya north of the city. Chit Beer on Koh Kret is a riverside brewhouse that taught a generation of Thai homebrewers and still pours its own beers at weekends, with a view across the water. It makes a good day trip combined with the island's pottery villages; the Koh Kret guide explains the ferry.

Thai labels to look for

The beers to order when you see them on a list:

• Sandport, a Bangkok brewer with clean lagers and pale ales.
• Devanom, known for its saison and seasonal brews.
• Outlaw, from Chiang Mai, with hop-forward ales.
• Stone Head, a Thai label brewed across the border and widely available.
• Mahanakhon, a white ale found in many Sukhumvit bars.

Many of these are also sold in bottle shops and in the beer fridges of the taprooms above.

Getting there

• Mikkeller: Ekkamai BTS, then a taxi or a long walk up Ekkamai Soi 10.
• Hair of the Dog Phrom Phong: Phrom Phong BTS; the Ploenchit bar: Ploenchit BTS.
• Craft: Asok BTS or Sukhumvit MRT.
• Brewski: Asok BTS.
• Pijiu Bar: Wat Mangkon MRT.
• Chit Beer: Pak Kret pier by boat or taxi, then the cross-river ferry to Koh Kret.

Thai law restricts alcohol sales to set hours of the day and bans sales on some Buddhist holidays, when even craft bars close their taps. Check the venue if your visit falls on a holy day.