It all started thousands of years ago, not in one place, but seemingly everywhere. Every region in the world has an indigenous alcoholic brew that reflects this distant past, but these vestiges of another time are sometimes difficult to find. As our world shrinks, groups like the wily Scots, the wine drinking French and the beer swilling nations of the world muddy the waters by spreading their finely crafted beverages all over the planet. Those who want to broaden their horizons by sampling a bit of the local drop often must make a special effort to discover what the locals drank before Johnnie Walker and his friends arrived on the scene.

In Thailand, the basic local brew is sahtoh, a drink made from fermented rice that is similar to basic brews made in all east Asian countries. Making sahtoh is simplicity itself. Cooked rice is combined with a mold called pang sahtoh and placed in an urn called a hai. A few days later, the rice will have fermented and formed an alcoholic liquid. In the past, bamboo straws were put into the hai and the beverage was consumed family style – convivial drinking at its best. Today, the mixture is usually filtered through cheesecloth or screen before consumption.

You can sometimes find sahtoh in local markets or at rustic bars frequented by working folk. The government, in an unusual display of tolerance, recently issued more licenses for making booze and some of the new entrepreneurs are using them to make sahtoh. Although I’ve heard differing stories, it is apparently illegal to homebrew sahtoh, but a popular joke holds that the only two households in a village not making a batch are the local excise office and the Buddhist wat.

As soon as distilling became a technological reality, east Asia joined the international bandwagon and began distilling basic fermented brews. In Thailand, lao khao, a potent rice whisky made from distilled sahtoh was the result. Today, cheap lao khao is not only sold at virtually every small store in Thailand, it is also hawked at bars frequented by the local working man: places where buildings are fashioned from bamboo, roofs from palm fronds and barstools from trunks of palm trees.

Fortunately, for those of you wanting to sample lao khao, Mekhong, the most internationally recognized brand, is available everywhere – including fancy bars in five star hotels. It is usually drunk with coke or lots of soda.

At the risk of offending some aficionados, but in the interests of accuracy, it must be mentioned that unadulterated lao khao is not one of the world’s most refined drinks. Thais out on the town solve the problem by drinking it in minute amounts with lots of mixer, especially soda water.

Another, and more interesting technique, is to soak special ingredients tied in cheesecloth in the lao khao. After a few days the liquid is ladled into a shot glass and enjoyed as lao yadong. The process is not unlike the one employed in the West to change mediocre hard liquor into an expensive liqueur.

Lao yadong, however, is much more than a mere liqueur. The ingredients steeping in the rice whisky do more than add flavor and aroma. They are invariably advertised as possessing mystical powers capable of dealing with a wide range of issues and ailments.

A now defunct bar I formerly frequented at Rawai Beach, on Phuket Island, sold thirty different types of lao yadong, each tailored to deal with one of life’s thorny problems. There was a brew for male impotency (well in advance of Viagara); another for post menstrual cramps; one for backaches; and yet another for those with fertility problems. The variety and special powers were endless. Most bars serving lao yadong don’t have as wide a selection, but they do attempt to deal with some of the rough spots that confront all of us.

A very special form of lao yadong is lao khao with snake blood added, preferably that of a cobra. Popular throughout most of China and Southeast Asia, aficionados believe the blood turns the drink into an aphrodisiac. For those of you who feel your batteries need recharging and just can’t wait to quaff a little cobra blood, it can be found in Bangkok in Chinatown and at Klong Toey Market.
Perhaps it is not even wise to ask, but don’t expect the bar attendant to tell you what is in the lao yadong. This is often considered a trade secret and since bar owners aren’t protected by patents like the makers of Viagara, they must use secrecy to protect themselves.

Chinese pharmacies are often the source of the mysterious ingredients, but the learned proprietors are quick to point out that they don’t offer advice to the fabricators of lao yadong. It is technically illegal to add medicines to alcohol in Thailand and all Chinese pharmacists insist that what they sell are medicines. Obviously there is a controversial issue here: when is a natural ingredient a medicine and when is it an herb or flavoring? It could be argued, for example, that a twist of lemon added to a gin and tonic has medicinal properties. Strict interpretation of this law keeps lao yadong from being sold in some areas of Thailand, but it is found in many places, including the streets of Bangkok.

If you find lao yadong being sold, plunk down the requisite 10 baht, and point at one of the containers with stuff floating in it. You’ll be given a shot glass of lao yadong. Savour it and the chance to experience a dash of Thai culture and another era. This is the Thailand that existed before the arrival of tourists and fancy booze from abroad. You will have sampled the real stuff; something most visitors miss.

And who knows? If you point at the right container, maybe it will cure a problem that’s been bothering you. But one thing is certain, if you drink enough of it, you will soon forget all of your problems – for a while at least.

By Michael Moore