Bangkok's Craft Brew Godfather: A Chat with Khun Chit [S7.E55] (Classic Recast)

Greg 00:00:01 Hey everyone! So this is the first episode we're rerunning as part of our new recording schedule going forward. And since I was just up at Chit Beer last weekend, I thought it'd be fun to re-air episode 58 of season four, an interview with the man himself, otherwise known as the godfather of Bangkok's craft beer scene. Now, since this recording was done in November 2020, the shit empire has happily kept expanding. There's like half a dozen beer locations around the city now. And more importantly, he himself is a new father to, of course, Little Chit. Also, since this episode was recorded. Thailand's restrictive alcohol laws are slowly being dragged into the current century. If you'll indulge me a few seconds, let me read a few short paragraphs from a story that appeared in the Asia Brewers Network in January 2025. Included among the key initiatives of the proposed legislation are support for cooperatives, farmer groups, community enterprises and small entrepreneurs to obtain commercial production license. It also makes it easier to receive permission to produce various types of alcoholic beverages, as long as production standards are necessary and necessary social impact controls are maintained.

Greg 00:01:02 Very important. The new licensing regime introduced by the bill should also encourage the opening of more microbreweries and small distilleries that should eat into the duopoly of Thai Beverage Company and Boon Road Brewery that dominate the country's beer and spirit sectors. It should also help restaurants and brew houses in developing niche alcoholic beverages that better serve the tastes of millions of foreign tourists who visit the country each year. No mention of the tens of millions of Thais and foreigners who live here, who also enjoy the same drinks. Anyway, I recorded this episode with our buddy guest host Scott at the original location on Cock Rat, and that's why you can hear boats going by in the background. Always a fun time to sit down at Chit Beer and chat with the man himself. Enjoy it.

Greg 00:01:45 On this episode, we sit down with legendary craft brewer Khun Chit from Chit Beer.

Ed 00:01:50 So if you're a fan of beer, curious about Thailand's uniquely weird alcohol laws, or just want to know more about Thailand's godfather of craft brewing. You'll love this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.

Greg 00:02:16 Sawat dee krap. And welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who came to Thailand in 2001 to practice Muay Thai. But it turns out getting punched in the face hurts a lot. So I decided to start a podcast.

Ed 00:02:29 Probably a good idea. Yeah. And I'm Ed Knuth, an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 20 years ago. Fell in love with trying to guess the true nature of all the different Thai condiments. And they never left.

Greg 00:02:42 Is this vinegar gonna make my mouth pucker or blow my head off from spice? I don't know if.

Ed 00:02:47 I even know what it is. I feel like that's a victory. All right, I want to say a quick thank you to one of our patrons, Vincent Scully, who supports us at the show. shout out level. Stick around after our interview with the owner of Chit Beer. Do you hear why Greg will literally be putting his skin in Vincent's hands? Ooh, I don't know. That sounds a little bit creepy.

Greg 00:03:06 Yeah, well we'll see.

Ed 00:03:08 Any huge thanks to all of our patrons who support the show? Patrons get a whole bunch of cool stuff, including our ad free regular show a day early behind the scenes photos and videos of our interviews, discounts on swag which you can find on our website, and various other things that aren't available to regular listeners. But best of all, patrons like Vincent also get an unscripted, uncensored bonus episode every week where we riff on current events and random topics. We just finished recording this week's bonus show, and we chatted about a new luggage surcharge in Bangkok, taxis, and the surprising news that Thailand will probably soon make drugs like opium and cocaine legal for medical treatment, as well as the news that early term abortions will now be legal. Surprisingly, liberal moves in a conservative, authoritarian culture to become a patron. Head to Bangkok podcast. Com forward slash support.

Greg 00:04:00 Things are getting weird in the land of smiles, man.

Ed 00:04:03 They are man.

Greg 00:04:04 Yeah. All right, well, before we jump into things, we have a couple of things to go over first.

Greg 00:04:08 number one, this is our last show before our meetup, which is happening on Saturday, November 28th. Lots of cool people, and a good number of previous guests of the show are going to, so it'll be super fun. Check out our Facebook page for all the details and if you are in town, we hope to see you down there. Yeah, if.

Ed 00:04:25 You're in town, you got to go.

Greg 00:04:27 Yeah, it's going to be awesome. Number two, shout out to our buddy Nick in Calgary. He's one of our new listeners editor. And check this out I was listening to my course. I grew up in Calgary and, I was emailing him back and forth. It turns out we lived about five blocks away from each other in the late, late 1990s.

Ed 00:04:44 Oh, wow. That's crazy.

Greg 00:04:45 Super funny. Same neighborhood in southwest Calgary. So thanks for listening. From our hometown, Nick. And, number three, I'm not sure if you saw this ad, but I did a quick Facebook poll the other day.

Greg 00:04:57 on on last week's show bonus show, I think we were talking about this new measure that comes in that's requiring people to have 500,000 baht in the bank to get a tourist visa. Yep. Hey, guys, quick note between the time we recorded the show and the time you hear the show, the law that this survey is based on has apparently been rescinded. So there you go. And I was talking with our buddy Joe on online about this, and he didn't think it was a big deal. And I think it's a really big deal. And you were sort of on the fence. So I did a poll on our Facebook page and I want to read the results here real quickly. The poll said we want to do an informal poll here. Thailand recently stated that tourists coming into Thailand on a 60 day visa needed to show 500,000 baht, which is about 17,000 USD in the bank for the past six months. Is that one ridiculous? I'll go somewhere else to fair. I can deal with that.

Greg 00:05:51 Thailand. Here I come. And I said, if you choose option one, please like this post. And if you choose option two, please leave an angry face emoji. So the results are in. We got 16 angry face emojis as 16 people who are not fans of this and 45 thumbs up.

Ed 00:06:09 Interesting. I wonder, you know, I'm just curious what their reasoning is. I think if God if I was a young person and I was really looking forward to coming to Thailand, it would be pretty damn annoying.

Greg 00:06:20 Impossible. Like, I there's no way I could come, but. Yeah. maybe all the people that responded to the poll were middle aged and had a bit of a scratch in the bank. I don't know. Yeah.

Ed 00:06:29 I mean, it's not that much money. And if you just have to show that it's in your kind of own bank, then it's not that big a deal. But yeah, for for a young person, it's brutal. yeah. Again, we don't have to rehash the issue, but, it sounds like, the response was leaning positive then.

Greg 00:06:46 Yeah, yeah. And if you want, listeners, head to our Facebook page. for some interesting comments and conversations going on on the like on the comments section of the post. Yeah, so check that out and thank you very much, everyone for responding. That was really interesting. All righty then. Well, on this episode, we are honored to be joined by someone who is a legend in his particular industry. You might not know the name Widget Cyclo, but you may well recognize his more common nickname. We are, of course, talking about Kun Chit of Chit Beer, Thailand's original and definitely most well-known craft beer brewery. It manages his empire from the island of Crete, which is in Winterberg province, just north of Bangkok, where he serves up a rotating stock of home brewed beers everything from creamy stouts to pale ales to raspberry wheat beers. It also offers brewing classes in Thai and English. Don't You Know? Which sends a new batch of graduates off into the world every few weeks to brew their own concoctions, many of which are then offered at Chit Beer's awesome open air pub later on.

Greg 00:07:48 So that's where I met him for this interview, where I was joined by our good friend and beer aficionado, Scott Coates. To hear his story, talk about beer in Thailand and pour ourselves a nice cold stout at 11 a.m., which was very enjoyable. So here is our interview with Kunshan. All right, everyone, well, we're up here sitting in a really unique location, which I'm going to talk about in a little bit. We also have someone on the show who many of you have probably heard about and who I'm very, very happy and psyched to have as a guest on the show. Couldn't we try it? I'm sorry, I already forgot. I forgot your last name.

Khun Chit 00:08:29 It's okay. Widget side cloud.

Greg 00:08:31 Widget side cloud. Everyone probably just knows you as it. From the.

Khun Chit 00:08:35 Very opposite. Or from the.

Greg 00:08:37 Very, very famous shit. Beer. Welcome to the show, sir. It's great to have you on.

Khun Chit 00:08:42 Thank you. And. Yeah. Glad to be here.

Khun Chit 00:08:44 Yeah. Now, you probably.

Greg 00:08:46 You probably, surmised listeners that were close to the river because you can hear the the long tail boats in the background. Right now we're sitting at Chit Beer on the island of concrete, which is in northern Bangkok, in the province of Ontario. And, we are looking over the river and we are enjoying a wonderful glass of stout corn.

Khun Chit 00:09:07 Milk stout. Pon pon pon pon pon. Milk stout. It's even better.

Greg 00:09:12 At 11.

Khun Chit 00:09:13 A.m..

Greg 00:09:13 So we're. We're off to a good start. I'm also here with my good friend Scott Coates, host of the Talk Travel Agent podcast and sometime co-host of the Bangkok Podcast.

Khun Chit 00:09:22 How's it going, Scott? So it's going.

Scott 00:09:24 Great because, rode the bicycle up here, and I like a stout if it's morning drinking. And we gave it away. But it is not yet noon. But this is a tasty pawn's milk stout. And happy to be joining you guys and meet Quinn and learn more.

Khun Chit 00:09:37 About you too, Scott.

Khun Chit 00:09:38 Yeah.

Greg 00:09:38 I never understood the rule around drinking in the morning. I never thought it was a big deal. I don't understand why people get so uptight about it.

Khun Chit 00:09:45 Yeah, I think. I think it's, a stupid lie.

Greg 00:09:52 I think your story is quite well known. and let me let me summarize it. But tell me if I'm wrong. I think you were in the army. In the Thai army? Yes. You went to America? Yes. And you sort of learned how to brew your own beer there.

Khun Chit 00:10:06 I think I just know how. I just know that, you can make me at home. They call home brew, but I never brew in the US.

Greg 00:10:15 Okay, okay. So you just learned about it.

Khun Chit 00:10:18 I, I heard about it because, when I was, in Atlanta, my friend picked me up and, like, we go to, like, RCA. We call back here in Atlanta. Okay. And on the way back, he always stopped by his apartment and opened up, his home brew bottle.

Khun Chit 00:10:35 So I knew since 1996 that, people can make beer at home. Right.

Greg 00:10:41 So then you came back to Thailand And you said, I want to make my own beer.

Khun Chit 00:10:45 Yes. One one. One day. One day. One day I dream of. So I think I dream of when I. When I retire from the army. Yeah, maybe. But, And I remember that the reason that I want to brew beer just to kill the loneliness. So I maybe I don't I don't have anything to do after retire. So if I make a friends going to come over or you can have party, you need to invite you. Remember that. Yeah.

Greg 00:11:17 That's a really smart way to do it. I, I should have thought of that when I was lonely with no friends and younger. How do I get people to invite me to their parties? Beer, beers?

Khun Chit 00:11:25 The answer?

Greg 00:11:26 Yes. Yes. Unfortunately, I used to hang around with a bunch of drama nerds. No one drank beer, so I guess I had to be a good actor if I wanted to go to the party.

Greg 00:11:33 So you eventually wound up with this wonderful sort of iconic brewery on set. How did you get here? Tell us the story about how you founded this place.

Khun Chit 00:11:42 I would like to say upfront that it's just by chance are other than dreaming of making beer for myself one day. But I got another. Dreams. I would like to have a small house on the river banks. So actually, after I graduate, I'll be looking for, you know, river house for seven years. And then one day I met my old friends, and we updated many things because they were made for, you know, 20 years. And the last thing that he said, I got a house on chocolate and I live in MD for four years. Oh, yeah. Yes. Yeah. And that's and that's my accident.

Greg 00:12:33 That's super.

Khun Chit 00:12:33 Lucky. The super lucky. So I think, next day I, you know, I jump on the boat and cross the river and looking for his house. Not this one, but, the the one next to here.

Greg 00:12:47 Oh, okay. Just down.

Khun Chit 00:12:48 There. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So after I saw that house, I. I call him and, hey, let me rent. And so he let me rent that house in the 2012, 2012.

Greg 00:13:00 Okay.

Khun Chit 00:13:00 Yes, yes. Once you got the house, what you gonna do with the house?

Greg 00:13:06 Well, you know, because you're on concrete, there's not a lot to do up here. There's no movie theaters or there's no.

Khun Chit 00:13:11 No.

Greg 00:13:11 Discos or anything.

Khun Chit 00:13:13 Yeah, yeah. So by the time we come for, staying over the weekends, we, we do kayaking around the island. We do painting. Yeah. Look at that painting. Yeah, that's the only painting. Yeah, that's the only day. So. But then, I got my high school friends and I asked him, do you think, what should I do with this house? And he said, hey, how about you making beers because you dream of, you know, after I came back from the US, you know, we go camping at Kauai, and, you know, I'm talking about making my own beer one day, and and, you know, you still remember, you know, 6 or 7 years ago, and he still remembers.

Khun Chit 00:14:07 So. Actually, that's year 2012, right? Yeah. But actually I discovered homebrew 2011. Okay. I'm searching, playing on the internet, and I saw a brewing kit on Amazon.com. Yeah. they called Mr. Beer Brewing Kit. From where?

Greg 00:14:32 From from America.

Khun Chit 00:14:32 From from from us. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, so I, I, I ordered the the brewing kits from Mr. Beer in 2011. Actually, I blew my first batch on my, my condo. Oh, yeah. The other size. 2011. The first two batch you cannot drink because I forgot to put the the yeast in. So actually I failed to batch and I got the house in 2012 here. And I bring my last batch on the island, and it works.

Greg 00:15:09 It's the magic of the island.

Khun Chit 00:15:10 Exactly. And it's the magic number three.

Greg 00:15:14 That's right. Third time's.

Khun Chit 00:15:14 The charm. Yeah. Third time's the charm.

Greg 00:15:16 You know, it's funny, you ordered from Mr. Beer, and now a lot of people think of you as Mr. Beer of Thailand.

Scott 00:15:22 In just, eight years. Nine years? Five years. Quite a short time. Yes. So you started brewing after your condo? You started brewing it in this what is now the bar. Is this where you started to make.

Khun Chit 00:15:32 Sure that that that white.

Scott 00:15:34 House. Oh, the white House. Just over here.

Khun Chit 00:15:36 Oh, okay. Yeah, I blew that. And I remember that I opened my first batch on 23rd of Sunday, 23rd of December, 2012. The temperature at that time is about 18 degrees. Wow. Oh, and cold winter. And we we drink a beer. And I invite probably about 6 or 7 people. And after he has his first sip of the beer. And he says hey. Are we now at Bavaria, Germany. Right. Yes. I think, I think I always, that that's the moment, you know, you feel the feedback, you feel the happiness of, the people close to you, your your inner friends, a circle. Right.

Khun Chit 00:16:30 Right. And that makes your heart, you know, brewing. I think it never stopped after that. I think that's very.

Greg 00:16:37 Rewarding for you.

Khun Chit 00:16:38 Right? Yes, exactly, exactly.

Greg 00:16:40 So I don't want to dwell on this too much, but, there are some quite well known laws in Thailand that prevent or make it very difficult for people to start their own breweries. How have you dealt with that over the years?

Khun Chit 00:16:54 As to all we know that there's a wall and and multiple walls, you know, making beers, you know, illegal. That's the first wall, right? And now telling the story about your beer or selling beer is also illegal. And that's another, another.

Scott 00:17:16 Wall cannot have a an ad or any promotional material at all.

Khun Chit 00:17:20 No, but, start with, making beers. I, I think the law is nonsense. So the way to do that, I think. Yeah, I, I will break it. But when you break it, you need to be small and nimble.

Khun Chit 00:17:43 I see that's so that's my strategy. So. So if you you fight for for changing that law. Look at yourself. It's just a small. And you need a lot of power. And I don't know how many powers that that you for for changing something. So I choose another approach. I thought when you're changing the rules, changing law, you need the power. But when you're changing yourself, changing people. No need. So I choose that approach. I change myself, and then I change people, one person at a time. Teach them how to brew beers. Right. And when he feels that, yes, I can make beer. And I think you feel power is in your hand, and then you propagate that that feeling. And then I think when we do that long enough, when we have more people, I call the Army of Brewers. And then I'm waiting for external factors, maybe the trends, the maker trends. And, and I think change can be easy.

Greg 00:18:57 I think I think a lot of people can identify with that, because when anyone who has ever taken on a project podcasting, doing a long bike ride like Scott, you've done many long bike rides, something that you want to learn and improve and share the joy with others.

Greg 00:19:13 It's a very rewarding experience. And when more people start to see through your eyes about why you get such joy out of it. Then it can sort of, like you said, propagate. Yes. So there's two elements actually here. Right now we're sitting in your your bar restaurant. This great view across the river. But you also have a school that teaches people how to brew beer, and that's where the education come.

Khun Chit 00:19:35 That's the education I've been teaching for seven years about. I graduate about a thousand people a year, so there's been 7000 people already. Wow. And some of them are making themselves to be the school for teaching others. And now I think I estimate we have about 50,000 or almost 100,000 brewers over Thailand in the army of beer. Yeah, the army of beer.

Scott 00:20:01 50 to 100,000.

Khun Chit 00:20:03 Yes, exactly. Quietly brewing for themselves.

Scott 00:20:06 That's a lot of people.

Khun Chit 00:20:07 There's a lot of people. Yes. We start from. From none. And then now we we we are growing.

Khun Chit 00:20:13 Well, I.

Greg 00:20:13 Think I think the the result is obvious because I've been in Thailand for 20 years. Scott, you've been here a bit longer than that. You've been here a lot longer than that. but craft beer and home brewing has exploded in popularity over the past five, six, seven years. So it's obviously not going away. It's obviously craft beer is something that everyone loves and is incredibly popular in Thailand. I guess you were a part of that.

Khun Chit 00:20:38 Yeah, I think because of its smell. Good. It's tasty. Yeah. It's difficult to beat.

Greg 00:20:44 Yeah, exactly.

Scott 00:20:45 Exactly.

Greg 00:20:46 So how does your school operate? What? Can you walk us through the process? Can anyone join? how does it work? Yes.

Khun Chit 00:20:51 And anyone. Joy. so I dedicate my time for the weekends. Thai on Saturday. English on Sunday.

Scott 00:21:00 Oh, fantastic. Wow. Yeah. So you're teaching today after we finished talking? Yeah, yeah.

Khun Chit 00:21:04 Okay. One, one group up and coming.

Greg 00:21:07 So we've got a hard out.

Scott 00:21:08 We're not done. How long is the class?

Khun Chit 00:21:12 you need to come for? No, actually, you need to book, but. Sorry. You know, I I'm not quite responsive to the message in inbox because too many messages. And so normally when when you show up, normally you come to drinks and you like it and you see other people and you sign up. So when you come to Ireland, you sign up. But the backlog is about three months. So now it's now it's full booked by the end of this year. Wow. Okay. But but that's on Saturday. And then I leave Sunday for. For foreigner and VIP. Okay. Normally they they come in so they, they can jam on on Sunday. I see. So so Sunday I still have half a slot left. Okay. And then after you book you, you you need to come. Today's the first day we call the brewing workshop brewing session. It takes about 5 to 6 hours.

Khun Chit 00:22:10 Okay. We start from 1 p.m.. So we we we we teach and and we blue. We matching and we let it ferment for one week. And so next Saturday They shouldn't have to come back for for bottling.

Scott 00:22:28 Oh, wow. You bottle it after just one week?

Khun Chit 00:22:30 Yeah. Just one and then two hours. And then you come third week to pick up your beer. The BSU are 50 bottles.

Greg 00:22:39 50 bottles of beer?

Khun Chit 00:22:39 Yes, 50 bottles of beer.

Scott 00:22:42 So it has rewards?

Khun Chit 00:22:43 Yes. And it's your beers. Yeah. And, I charge 7500 bottles. per groups. So you can come in one or 2 or 3. 4 or 5. It doesn't matter. Once you book my slot and us your tab.

Greg 00:22:58 You sure you booked a slot? Not for the person.

Scott 00:23:01 And you get 50 beers with us?

Khun Chit 00:23:02 Yes. And you come as a group. Doesn't matter.

Greg 00:23:06 That's fantastic. What kind of beers do you make? And what? I see a little a little display, plaque here with some some barley and seeds and things in it.

Greg 00:23:14 What? What type of ingredients do you use?

Khun Chit 00:23:18 I have four choice. like, I start from simple A Vienna lager, pale ale and amber ale. But I tell my students that I don't worry which style because we learn the process. Yeah, and after that I have about 20 or 30 recipes. So you can repeat the process with different types of beer.

Greg 00:23:44 Interesting.

Scott 00:23:46 Do you sell beer and have what is now one of the better known craft beer bars in the greater Bangkok area? Do you do it because you love to share and sell the beer? Or are you doing it more because you really have an ultimate goal of change and social change and changing the laws? Or is it a bit of both? I think it's.

Khun Chit 00:24:05 A little bit of both. But, for the sake of a second reason, because I would like to demonstrate that, yeah, I make beer. I teach them how to brew beer. I selling beer? So I break everything. Just to be the example. Right.

Khun Chit 00:24:27 Lead by example. Exactly. Exactly. And actually, I want them to copy me. I want everybody to copy me. So we can. We can make a dance. And we got enough.

Scott 00:24:37 People, enough momentum that.

Khun Chit 00:24:39 It takes. Exactly. And once you make beer. Normally within two months, you're going to bring some sample after you make your own. Sure. For me and and many brewers, normally they hang around at the bar in the afternoon and they give you the feedback and then you add just again, and then they all click here after that. This is the marketplace. You can bring your beer to selling here.

Greg 00:25:08 Oh you can sell your beer here. Yes.

Khun Chit 00:25:10 Yes, exactly. This is a marketplace as well to test that you are valuable in the market.

Scott 00:25:16 Oh that's great.

Khun Chit 00:25:17 But I've said you're serving your beer here. You're serving beer. You make other people happy. And then you fly off the island. That's how I send one by one.

Greg 00:25:27 By like your little birds.

Greg 00:25:29 You're letting them.

Khun Chit 00:25:30 Go. Let them go. And then they make some make some noise and and and and I, I heard about them maybe six months later, one year later. And I go check them out.

Greg 00:25:44 Wow. They're doing good.

Khun Chit 00:25:46 They're doing good. And that's good. That's the most, the most important thing. So you're like.

Greg 00:25:51 The proud teacher just standing in the back of the bar with a little me.

Khun Chit 00:25:55 That doesn't mean, that, you know, works. Yeah.

Greg 00:25:59 Yeah.

Scott 00:26:00 You get voted off the island. Sent off the island at the end of your.

Greg 00:26:03 Literally, literally sent off the islands. This is a very good snout that we're.

Scott 00:26:08 Having right now. Is this from one of your students? Just pouring milk? Yeah. That's your own beer? It's.

Khun Chit 00:26:14 It's easy. when you see the names of the beer And any name that doesn't have the the slash in front that's been that's in-house. Yeah. So so when when the students bring their beers, they can have.

Scott 00:26:28 The slash at the beginning means it's someone else's beer.

Khun Chit 00:26:30 Yeah. And normally they're going to come on on Sunday.

Scott 00:26:35 So it's I think you're lucky though. You're trying to make social change. But it's an interesting thing. Beer. Most people like beer. Like you said, it brought your seven friends together. If you were trying to change the laws with an electric plant, it's not as exciting as beer. You can invite someone to have a beer and help convert them to your your army over a beer.

Khun Chit 00:26:54 So so so beer. Like something from heaven. You know, it's a it's an object for me to speak out or to to to demonstrate some principle that, that I think I believe in.

Greg 00:27:06 You know, this is something that Anthony Bourdain was very famous for. You know, the guy who had the famous TV food show, The Cookie of the chef, and he would say he would travel the world for his TV show. And he said, it doesn't matter what country you're in, what language you speak, where you come from, what religion you are, how old you are.

Greg 00:27:22 Everyone loves to sit around a table and eat food. And that also applies to beer, I think. Right? It doesn't matter what country you're in or what your background is. Everyone likes to sit around, have good conversation and a lot of most people love it. Love to do it with beer.

Khun Chit 00:27:35 Yes, yes. And then after we have Biya as a little boy and then we're talking something else.

Scott 00:27:46 Social lubricant. Social lubricant. Yeah.

Greg 00:27:50 Yeah. So I, Scott and I sometimes go on rides together. And a few weeks ago, I was here with some other friends of mine. We rode our bicycles from Taksim up to Greg, which is a wonderful ride. And the best part of the day is when we get off our bikes and park them right over there, and then come here to chit beer for a post ride. Beer?

Khun Chit 00:28:10 Let's do 1 or 5.

Greg 00:28:11 Yeah, right. Luckily we have transportation back home because I don't think we could ride our bikes home. But every time I've come here and it's especially obvious now during the pandemic, your place has been packed.

Greg 00:28:24 Always full. Will there reach a point where you have to, like, pull back a little bit, or are you already operating at 100% capacity?

Khun Chit 00:28:32 I think that's all I can do. Maybe it's too busy and I try to accommodate and expand, and that's why I ran that board.

Scott 00:28:49 Oh, there's there's a part of the roof of the boat.

Khun Chit 00:28:51 It's a floating bar, so I. Yeah. Oh, and it fit about 50 people on the rooftop. And. Yeah, because that boat, you know, it's parking for nothing for for three years. And they say, I want that boat. You fix everything repainting. And I will rent it just for parking.

Scott 00:29:10 Yeah.

Khun Chit 00:29:10 And now I add 50 or 60 more seats into the capacity here. And I don't know what else I can do.

Scott 00:29:19 But you've opened a new bar. You're involved in a new brand. Now.

Khun Chit 00:29:23 the process of getting the legal license. Making beers now, after four years, actually, now we call it.

Scott 00:29:31 And this is way up in Ontario.

Khun Chit 00:29:32 Is it? It's a bucket. It's about one kilometre in. Yeah. In fact. And that's become our plan B so that's mean not only see it you know because it's very difficult to to have a craft beer on on Sunday because, you know, it's gone by mostly gone by Saturday. So we don't have enough capacity to make beer. But now we got the the real brewery. So I think in the future we can.

Scott 00:30:05 Yeah. So it's a brewery bar location. You're trying to get the licence to open as a bar soon? Yes, yes. Nice. Congratulations. It's the.

Khun Chit 00:30:11 Blue part. Thank you. Yes.

Scott 00:30:15 So, imagining five years into the future in Thailand, maybe even ten years, what does the what does the brewing picture look like when you see your country and the ability to brew your own beer legally and hopefully sell it? What do you think it looks like in five years?

Khun Chit 00:30:30 I think what it looks like, I call the dream of hope.

Khun Chit 00:30:37 One brewery, one province, one brewery. Hop hop hop hop hop hop hop.

Scott 00:30:42 That's great. Oh, pop. Okay.

Khun Chit 00:30:44 That's that's that's that, I think. And not many people know that, the law of change. And to get the, the blue pub license, it's not that difficult as previously. Oh, yes. Because, actually, it's not about the, the, the alcohol license, but it's about the factory license. It's the lights convict themselves, you know, in the factory that you have the machine more than five horsepower, you need to get the factory license. But now they expand to 50 horsepower. So most brewery, most brewpub, only 20 horsepower. You don't need to, get that license. Because that license. Because of conflict to the city plan. That's nice. That's that's the problem. Previously, that took me four years. But now when they lift that off, you know, you can have any place, anywhere.

Scott 00:31:47 Are you allowed to legally sell it?

Khun Chit 00:31:48 Yeah, exactly.

Khun Chit 00:31:49 Exactly. So. So that means now if I want to set up the second breweries. Not for years, but I think I can achieve within 9 to 12 months. Wow. If I, if I want to. But but I will leave that opportunity for other because, you know, I don't want to dominate the whole thing because my concept is about a little star, but many, many little stars. But you need to take care of your own.

Greg 00:32:16 That's a very good concept as we're wrapping up. Finishing up, I just want to say I like your your embracing of the word chit because in English, obviously git is is, you know, a bit of a funny word for a lot of foreigners who are not familiar with the Thai language. But I like your slogan for this place. It's a good chit.

Khun Chit 00:32:35 It's a good chit, and you know there's a story behind it. Yeah. Yes, sir. Because I think six years ago, it must be American. And it being my beer at the white House and it said it should come here.

Khun Chit 00:32:53 do you have a motto? I say no. Oh, I'll give you one. Oh, yeah. It's a good chip. It's a good chip. So that night, you know, I write him back. Amen. Which one? Shit. Oh, shit. He said no, not that shit. Your shit. And I think it should happen.

Greg 00:33:17 Shit happens.

Khun Chit 00:33:18 Should have died.

Greg 00:33:20 Well, thank you so much for coming on. It was a pleasure to meet you. And thank you very much. I know you're busy. You've got a bunch of students coming here soon. And for anyone who's listening who hasn't been up to Cochran. I mean, Cochran is a wonderful place by itself, but I highly recommend coming up to Chit Beer and having a wonderful pint with this great view overlooking the river. It's a hell of a way to spend an afternoon and surrounded by good people. LED by the North Star. So thank you very much for coming on.

Khun Chit 00:33:48 Thank you for having me on.

Scott 00:33:50 Thank you. I have a lot of admiration for what you do.

Khun Chit 00:33:53 I think after this continuum.

Greg 00:33:55 Oh, yeah. I could have another beer. Sure. Continued success.

Khun Chit 00:33:58 Hey.

Scott 00:33:58 I watched your channel.

Khun Chit 00:33:59 All right. Cheers.

Ed 00:34:09 Man, the whole experience is so cool. I mean, I know you're a fan of bike rides up there. I'm embarrassed to say I think I've only done one, so I've only been to chapter once and it was a few years ago. I gotta get back there, man. It's a great ride. I mean, there's there's other reasons to go up there besides beer, but that just adds to the list of coolness. So for anyone, if you're an expat or if you're already here, checking out car credit is worth it.

Greg 00:34:34 Yeah. It's awesome. Well, anyway, yeah. So thanks to shit for coming on the show. Many thanks. It was really, really cool to meet him. He's such a nice guy. Super friendly, as you heard in the interview.

Greg 00:34:43 He's like laughs all the time. He's just really approachable and friendly and cool. And anyone who goes there will do well to, seek him out and shake his hand, because he's definitely a very cool dude.

Ed 00:34:53 What a.

Greg 00:34:54 Character. Yeah. He's great. So thank you for coming on the show. And hopefully within the very near future, we will be able to chat again when I go back up to concrete for some nice. Oh, that stout was good. I'm sure. Morning stout. I'm a fan.

Ed 00:35:08 It's some good carbs. Those are good carbs.

Greg 00:35:10 Better not make it a habit. All right, well, let's get into some love, loathe, or live with where one of us picks a particular aspect of life in Bangkok, which we then discuss and decide if it's something we love about living here, loathe about living here, or have come to accept is something that we just have to learn to live with, no matter how we feel about it. And this week, it is my turn to see what you think about this.

Ed 00:35:31 Okay.

Greg 00:35:32 All right. you are a vegetarian, but do you. Do you eat fish? Nope. No. Okay, well, you used to eat fish.

Ed 00:35:39 I did. Of course.

Greg 00:35:40 You probably know what I'm talking about. Sure. I really like this. but I was just talking to someone the other day who surprised me by saying they hate it. And I am talking about yam foo. That's the shredded fried catfish that they serve with peanuts and mango sauce.

Ed 00:35:56 well, I haven't eaten fish in the last few years, but I did. It's funny. This is weird. It's funny. When I came to Thailand, I was a vegetarian and I was a veterinary for four years. Then I dropped it, and then I spent about 10 or 12 years eating everything, and then I got back on the bandwagon. So. So I've got more than ten years of eating everything in Thailand. And I got to say, I don't like that stuff because it's. Yeah, yeah, I actually I don't even know what it was called, but I know what you're talking about.

Ed 00:36:22 And the one thing I don't like about it is, it's not like fried fish meat. It's it's more like there's a lot of, like, skin in there and and. Weird.

Greg 00:36:32 Yeah. For listeners that don't know, it's it's shredded fried catfish. Yeah.

Ed 00:36:36 It's shredded fried catfish. But they just shred the whole thing.

Greg 00:36:40 Yeah.

Ed 00:36:41 They take the bones. They take the bones out. But I mean, they shred the whole thing. So I mean, there's like fish skin and fish scales in there.

Greg 00:36:46 Yeah. Yeah. But you know, I'm not I'm really picky when it comes to fish. like really picky. But I love this stuff. Oh, and they, they usually give you this, like, really good mango sauce to pour on it with peanuts and stuff. God, it's really good.

Ed 00:36:58 Yeah. The sauce is good, no doubt.

Greg 00:37:00 Yeah. And the best I've ever had in Thailand is in the police station canteen at the police headquarters just across from Central World.

Ed 00:37:07 Interestingly, oddly, oddly.

Ed 00:37:09 I've been there with you, like, once. Like back in the day. I remember once we were going to meet for lunch and you wanted to go there, and I was like, why would you want to go to the canteen in the police? What is it? The police general hospital. Is that what it is?

Greg 00:37:21 No, it's next to the hospital. It's the police headquarters. Like the.

Ed 00:37:24 Right. I remember this distinctly. You're like, let's meet over there. And I'm like, why would you want to go there?

Greg 00:37:29 It was just interesting sitting down there surrounded by hundreds of cops. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you're safe.

Ed 00:37:33 Yeah. No, but it wasn't bad. Whatever I ate that day wasn't bad at all.

Greg 00:37:37 Well, I probably had some stuff when I was there because I love it. I'm solid love on this one.

Ed 00:37:41 Well, I mean, you know, it's not like I can't say, like, I loathe it with a passion, but I can't really.

Ed 00:37:46 Basically, it's something that I would never eat if I had a choice. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna have to go. Loathe. It's something I'm gonna go mild. Loathe.

Greg 00:37:54 All right, fair enough.

Ed 00:37:55 All right, so as we mentioned at the beginning of the show, we'd like to say thank you to Vincent Scully for letting us his support of the show's shadow level. And, Greg, what did you find out about Vincent?

Greg 00:38:04 All right, well, actually, before we get into Vincent, I want to give a quick, real quick shout out to, two of our patrons who have signed up for a shout out. Steve and John. Steve and John, I sent you a couple of messages, a couple of emails, but I haven't heard back. And if you don't write back, of course I can't give you a shout because I don't know what to talk about. So if you're hearing this, check your junk mail. Because sometimes Patreon stuff goes to your junk mail and send me a message for sure.

Greg 00:38:26 All right. Back to our main man, Vincent. well, it turns out Vincent, he lives in, Jersey, new Jersey. That is, with his wife and three sons. And they do plan on moving to Thailand for at least a couple of years. Once we have enough of a passive income happening in the States, he says. He says, I've been teaching myself the Thai language slowly but surely over the past seven years. And the thing that pisses me off is he's probably already speaks better than you and me.

Ed 00:38:47 Yeah, I don't want to hear about it.

Greg 00:38:51 That's really cool, though. if you can bring your kids to Thailand for a couple of years, like when they're in their formative years, like, what a what an adventure that would be.

Ed 00:38:57 That's an adventure for sure.

Greg 00:38:59 Yeah. And check this out that you would like this part. He says his four times great grandfather. That's great. Great great great grandfather, I guess was Daniel D Tompkins, who was vice president under James Monroe.

Greg 00:39:10 Wow. Senator and governor of New York. He was one of the first people to sign the bill to abolish slavery in New York State. And Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan is named after him.

Ed 00:39:20 Wow. I mean, I don't know that park well, but of course I know the name. Everyone knows that name. That's incredible. That's great.

Greg 00:39:25 Yeah. And also, the thing that really struck out, stuck out to me was that Vincent said he is a tattooer by trade, and I'm not sure. Patron listeners, I'm not sure if you know this. I've got a couple of little teeny tattoos on my wrists and on the back of my neck that I got, like 19 years ago when no one had them on their wrist before everyone thought it was cool.

Ed 00:39:42 Wow. And no, I think because you did it, it caught on. I mean, people saw that you did it, and then it kind of.

Greg 00:39:47 That's definitely what happened. Definitely what happened there. Like, I got to be like that guy.

Greg 00:39:50 So and for the longest time I've wanted either to cover them up or to get some new tattoos or do something cool. But I think our man Vincent. When he comes to Thailand, he's a tattooer by trade.

Ed 00:39:59 Wow.

Greg 00:40:00 There we go. He could.

Ed 00:40:01 He could be your guy.

Greg 00:40:02 He could be my guy. I'm gonna. I'm gonna trust you. Vincent. I'm gonna let you tattoo me.

Ed 00:40:06 But, you know, it's a little bit dangerous to go to a Thai tattoo guy, even though they're highly skilled, like, you know. As you point out, your Thai is not very good. His English isn't very good. You never know what you might end up with a tattoo of, you know.

Greg 00:40:16 Right. But what I am scared about is that Vincent's teaching himself to learn Thai. Maybe he's going to, like, get a bit sassy and try, like. Yeah, let me write a Thai word for you or something. He's going to prey like chicken bone on my arm or something like that in Thai, so.

Ed 00:40:28 Well, that's what your Thai wife is for, dude.

Greg 00:40:30 That's right. She's got to be there watching Vincent all the time. Vincent. Thanks, man. Thanks for your support. And, Say hi to your wife and boys for us, and, we'll hopefully see you here soon for a beer and or a tattoo, depending on how.

Ed 00:40:41 That would be great. That would be great.

Greg 00:40:42 Let's do the tattoo before the beers.

Ed 00:40:44 Yeah, probably. That's probably a good idea. All right, a final thanks to our patrons who support the show. Patrons get a ton of cool perks and the warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that they're helping support the show. Find out more by clicking support on our website and connect with us online. Where Bangkok podcasts on social media, Bangkok podcasts on the web or simply Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages right on.

Greg 00:41:10 You can also listen to each episode on the YouTube, so you can chat with us on the lines, or even reach out to me directly on the Twitters or the Instagrams at BC.

Greg 00:41:17 Greg. So thanks for listening, everyone. Stay safe, cover your mouth and we'll see you back here next week. Yes we will. Cover your mouth. Sounds a bit weird. It's a bit a bit arbitrary and open ended. It should have made it more specifically. Cover your mouth with a mask anyway.