Thailand: Home of...Red Bull?

If you were to guess where Red Bull was from, what would you say? If you're like me, with absolutely no clue at all, you'd say the US. If you had a bit more knowledge, you might guess Austria. Both answers would be wrong. Who would've guessed that Red Bull comes from Thailand?!?

As all good Americans do, I went through my energy drink phase in my early-mid 20s. I'm proud to say that I've come out on the other side, and much prefer a green tea, but that doesn't mean that I haven't tried every energy drink under the sun. Red Bulls and Monsters in the US, Vive Cien and Speed in Latin America, and whichever other strange, small brands I've come across.

When Nicholas texted me to talk about energy drink culture here in Thailand, I was confused. In our small town, Laem Ngap, I haven't seen ANY energy drinks! To be fair, I wasn't looking very closely, but still. Nicholas, on the other hand, started his Thailand trip off in Bangkok. He had all the info.

The story goes like this: a Thai man who worked on a farm saw that energy drinks were gaining popularity in the 70s, but that they were super expensive. He knew that there was a market just waiting to be tapped of working class people who would love some extra energy. He created a drink called Krating Daeng. Don't ask me how to pronounce that.

The drink did really well in Thailand, and eventually an Austrian company bought it and turned it into Red Bull, lowering the sugar and adding carbonation! Now both Red Bull AND Krating Daeng are available throughout Thailand!

There are some pretty big differences in the two drinks, though the basic flavor is the same. Worldwide, energy drinks usually have a lot of B vitamins in them. Krating Daeng doesn't have many vitamins at all, so the idea is to drink a "vitamin water" tonic, and then drink a Krating Daeng 20 minutes later. I tried, but the tonic tasted so terrible, I just couldn't get through it.

Another big difference is the size. Krating Daeng is 150 millileters with 50 miligrams of caffeine, while Red Bull is 250 milliliters with 80 miligrams of caffeine. That puts Krating Daeng at a slightly higher caffeine content in relation to its size.

Krating Daeng isn't carbonated at all, and for somebody like me who has always hated carbonation, this is a big plus! You can drink it really quickly, though it is so sweet that it feels like you're drinking a bottle of syrup!

The price is another big difference! Red Bull costs about 69 Thai baht, or a little over $2. Krating Daeng is only 10 baht, or $0.30! This is obviously a pretty big advantage if you're somebody who drinks energy drinks every day.

All in all, it was super fun to try the "original Red Bull," but it's not something I'll drink every day. Thailand has such a fun array of caffeinated teas to try - I'm sure I'll never get through them all in just a month!