Bangkok bar turns to ‘herbal heroin’ mocktails as venues try to get around alcohol ban
- Customers at Teens of Thailand can try fruity seasoned with kratom, a recently decriminalised tropical herb long used in parts of Asia as a mild stimulant
- With no government support, bar owners have been left with the choice of struggling to survive, flouting the prohibition rules or getting creative to keep going
As gin bottles gather dust, a Bangkok bar owner is trying to keep his joint going through a Covid-19 booze ban with fruity mocktails seasoned with kratom, a recently decriminalised tropical herb.
The Thai capital’s once-legendary nightlife has been hammered by a seven-month ban on alcohol service imposed to curb the coronavirus, leaving pub and bar owners with a major headache.
Thailand has registered around 1.7 million infections, the lion’s share since April, when the government called last orders after an outbreak traced to a cluster of high-end nightclubs. With no government support, bar owners have been left with the choice of struggling to survive, flouting the prohibition rules or getting creative.
Before the pandemic hit, barhopping gin lovers flocked to Teens of Thailand, a lively cocktail bar on the fringe of Bangkok’s Chinatown. Now Teens has reopened at 60 per cent capacity serving mocktails made with kratom, a leaf from the coffee family long used in parts of Southeast Asia as a mild stimulant.
Kratom, which stimulates the same brain receptors as morphine but with much milder effects, came off the Thai government’s banned list in August. The move threw Teens owner Niks Anuman-Rajadhon a lifeline, though kratom mocktails sell for just US$4 compared with regular gin and tonics at US$11.