Busting Thailand's Sangsom and Red Bull Myths
I remember a few nights out in England that ended in my friend’s lounge. His pride and joy was a bottle of Sangsom that we all thought was some sort of miracle water. “It’s 80%,†he’d tell us. I did a few shots of it on various occasions and was almost sick. We all agreed it was more potent that Absinthe, but little did I know that Thailand’s favourite whiskey is just a disgusting drink, and not quite the super-spirit it’s made out to be.
“The buckets are full of amphetamines.†I heard that statement many times, even before the idea of coming to Thailand popped into my head. Amphetamines? In a drink? And it’s legal?! Great, I thought. I must make a point to try that.
Thinking that Red Bull was full of speed, I was more than a little excited with my first purchase of a bottle. I’d only been in Thailand for a week, and was wide-eyed enough as it was; a little wider couldn’t hurt. The disappointment was immense. There was no powerful buzz or elevated level of awareness. It was, really, just like Red Bull back home.
The myth surrounding the drink has earned it legendary status around the world. In actual fact, the drink is more or less the same as its Western counterpart, albeit uncarbonated. It packs a bit more punch because the volume of liquid is slightly less, and so the concentration is slightly higher.
As for Sangsom, well, perhaps the misconceptions come from the difference between ABV and proof. If I’m not mistaken, Sangsom is 80% proof, which I think should give it an ABV of around 46% (although Sangsom’s ABV is said to be 40%). Add this to the fact that it tastes vile and you can see why people think it’s so special. It’s not even a whiskey; it’s a rum, made from sugar cane. Some people even go so far as to take bottles of Sangsom home with them after travelling; this never fails to baffle me. On the plus side though, it is cheap. The vacant-mindedness that follows the day after isn’t particularly pleasant though.
Sadly, Sangsom isn’t laced with speed. Who would waste real amphetamines on cheap, mass produced drinks anyway?
May 7th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Another myth is that Red Bull is Thai, I think it's Austrian. The founder/owner is an Austrian and he had a minority Thai business partner, something like that.
July 5th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Nope, red bull is thai. It existed years before the Austrian dude bought the recipe for international use. I believe it was a product of the pharmaceutical company Osotspa or something, but it is thai.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Red Bull is definitely Thai, found by THAI MAN.
December 16th, 2007 at 1:21 am
You say there is speed in the drinks? Speed is known as a drug around here that keeps you going all night. It is one of the harder drugs in Canada but im not sure it is considered to be a hard drug in Thailand?
Well when you say "speed" are you refering to the actually drug speed or Taurine?
1000 mg of Taurine is in a can of North American Red Bull.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 am
The Red Bull in Thailand is a lot sweeter too. It also has a different recipe from the Austrian kind. It doesn't have any taurine in it I don't think. Good stuff though. I'm drinking Sangsom with Coke right now. Not bad for a commercial rum.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
If you've ever had just sangsom and diet coke all night, you would know that it isn't just rum and coke. After drinking nearly a full bottle it keeps you wide awake and gives you a distinct stomach ache in the morn, not unlike amphetamines!!!
January 29th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Diet coke has a lot of caffeine. So you must be awake after drinking it all the night, with sangsom or without it. Sangsom it's a rum. Nothing more..
February 18th, 2010 at 10:43 am
i drink Sang Som all the time. you have to use the right mixer, and Red Bull isn't it!
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:00 pm
1 lowball glass
1 shot sangsom
1 shot thai redbull
nam kang
top it up with soda
try it ;)
March 8th, 2010 at 3:15 am
I live in Thailand and speak Thai, so here is the truth.
Sangsom used to go by the name Sangtip and it DID have amphetamine in it then. Amphetamines are way cheap to produce, just ask any backyard chemist.
Red Bull, Sangsom and Chang beer all have something else in them besides the alcohol – this is common knowledge amongst the locals and expats, there is a lot of conjecture as to what the additives are but another competing energy drink was found to have traces of an insecticide in a batch a few years ago.
I believe that they use the ephedra plant in the production, giving it a mild hit of ephedrine and caffeine, drink 8 or 9 of those cans and you'll feel more than just coffee.
Locals will add aspirin to it to increase the hit. Aspirin/ephed/caffeine is a fat burning stack well known to bodybuilders before the speeders started making Ice out of ephedrine, thus making it illegal.
Smirnoff Blue Vodka also has something in it to make you more drunk – it is the only alcohol that I forget what I do on, it gives me a total blackout for a few hours. Blue isn't available in a lot of countries.
And as to Absinth, go to Czech Republic, get out of hte tourist areas and ask the barman for hte real stuff, it is 'heavier' than acid. The export versions do not have any wormwood and thus are not psychadelic. But it gives you really evil nightmares.
April 11th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Smirnoff Blue has something extra in it alright, an extra 10% Volume of alcohol !