Where to get your Oktoberfest on in Bangkok
d’Wiesn dis is not, but it’ll be fun anyway.
The time has come to trade your elephant pants for laced-up leather and Bavarian dresses. Though we may live in the wet, bubbling pit of the tropics, this town is down for Oktoberfest. It’s very down.
Bangkok loves its festivities so much that they often carry on long after the events are supposed to end. We’ve all seen Christmas decorations still up in July. The other day, I saw someone still ringing in 2023.
In other words, this means that Oktoberfest won’t end on October 3, as it does in Bavaria. We’ll keep the party going all month long. Maybe even longer. By the end of it, we’ll be mainlining märzen and oozing pork fat from our pores.
Anyway, want to get a taste of old Bavaria in Bangkok? Here’s where you should look.
Alexander’s German Eatery
Alexander’s is taking a slightly different approach to Oktoberfest. Rather than hosting a party now, or even in October, they’re putting on a ticketed event in early November.
You can buy tickets for THB 500 for any day from November 2-5. The amount gets deducted from your bill, so it’s basically “free” after you buy food and drinks. Whether it’s slow-roasted pork, barbecued sausages, or schnitzel—plus hefeweizen, dunkel, and pilsner—there will likely be a lot of both. There’s also a live band every day.
Beer Republic
Beer Republic might be the most convenient pub in the city, located at the base of the Holiday Inn by BTS Chit Lom. If you’re stuck out in the rain, which is likely these days, why not belly up to Beer Republic, where you’ll find pork knuckle, Wiener schnitzel, and comically large pretzels (all THB 250++)?
All this complements German draft beer like Hofbrau, which is going for THB 165++ per glass until October 28.
Bei Otto
Bei Otto has been around forever. Like, 40-plus years. It’s moved a few times since 2020, but it has thankfully found a new home on Sukhumvit Soi 49.
Oktoberfest tends to be a big deal here. Lieberkaese, sausages, pretzels, loads of beer, live music. Expect it all. Much like Ratsstube (read on), however, I have no clue what Bei Otto is actually doing this year1, but just wing it. At the very least, you’re going to get excellent German food and cold towers of Erdinger beers.
Burbrit
This brewpub may be new2, and it may be run by Burmese and British folks3, but they’re still rolling out Bavarian-inspired deals in celebration of the season.
Until September 304, from 6-10pm, you can get pork knuckle, sausages, and other German treats to pair with beers that range from Padaung, Burbrit’s unfiltered weizen (fitting!), to Nagaland, their West Coast-inspired pale ale. Even better, you can get five glasses of Padaung or Rangoon, a German pilsner, for THB 988.
Ekamai Beer House
We have another all-monther here! Ekkamai’s most accessible pub is serving Maisel’s Weisse until October 31. Get a pint for THB 240++. Better yet, hike up your lederhosen or loosen your dirndl and go for the Maß, a full liter (THB 430++).
G’s German Restaurant
Okay, now we’re talking. G’s is currently serving Weihenstephaner’s festbier—the real deal—on tap. Even better, you can get a Maß of the good stuff for THB 500.
Drop by on their schnitzel Thursdays, and you might briefly forget that G’s is cradled by Silom bar life rather than the Bavarian Alps.
Hair of the Dog
It isn’t all stouts—sorry, stoots—at this Canadian-owned bar. Currently, they’re serving 640ml pours of the Brewing Project’s Wila Weizen, the Thai brand’s easy-drinking wheat beer. These even come in a special Wila-branded mug.
If you want something other than German-style beers, know that the bar just got some fresh cuts from the Veil, too.
Mikkeller
Danes do Oktoberfest at Mikkeller Bangkok this year. Until October 8, you can get 500ml pours of three Bavarian brews for THB 200, which is pretty legit value.
Those said brews are a crisp, clean pilsner from Hacklberg, a classic wheat beer from Camba, and a Simcoe-hopped hopfenweisse, also from Camba.
The hopfenweisse was a new style for me. When I tried it last week, I found it to be a little piney and a little fruity, but with the body and banana-like bite of your favorite German wheat beer. Money well-spent.
Ratsstube
I’ll be real with you: I have no clue how the Ratsstube is celebrating Oktoberfest—if it is at all. Something makes me think that the Goethe-Institut’s German restaurant is putting on the polka and pouring unfiltered bier this month.
Even if there aren’t any special events, you can still score a tall bottle of Weihenstephaner, Erdinger (urweisse and weizenbock), or Paulaner.
Taproom
All four branches of the bar—that would be Central Embassy, Sukhumvit Soi 24, the Commons Saladaeng, and the Salil Hotel Riverside—are serving Maß of Maisel’s Weisse like we’re in the motherland. You won’t leave thirsty.
Celebrating Oktoberfest somewhere else, some other way? Drop me an email, or leave a comment on Instagram, and let me know what you’re drinking and where.
And, yes, I asked.
It only opened a few weeks ago.
Hence the name.
That’s Saturday, folks.