How Café Culture is Booming In Thailand

In today’s world, especially in an Asian country, the term ‘cafe hopping’ has been rapidly expanding. Individuals begin to search for a mesmerizing coffee shop that suits their style.

People have been hanging out with their friends via cafes. There was a saying in Thai which describes this cafe gathering in the past called Coffee Council.

Assembling just to catch up on their everyday lives has always been one of the major factors in the establishment of the coffee shop.

It is a well-known perception to Thai individuals throughout many generations that the taste of the ‘Cafe Boraan’ might not be a strong player in the coffee beans game around the world.

However, the ‘cafe Boraan’ contains a special taste that individuals love and still feel nostalgic every time they drink it.

Speaking from my perspective, that ‘taste’ would probably consist of memories and the ambiance that people longed for.

The past of the coffee shop in Thailand is often displayed as a place where it is full of stories and memory; thus, it is not the taste of the coffee beans that matters but the experiences of the coffee shop and the people themselves that were being valued.

This is not to say that Thai people have bad taste and don’t enjoy quality coffee, this is to mention the root and fundamental perspective that might be the reasoning behind the question of why a cafe in Thailand is how it is today.

There are, of course, multiple meticulous quality coffee shops in Thailand that win so many awards and the hearts of people. I, too, love coffee with all my existence; but, it is an undeniable truth that more than half of the cafes in Thailand are not concentrating on coffee but on the aesthetic and ambiance of the shop itself.

Third-Wave Cafe Culture

Thailand is purchasing a Third-wave ticket in coffeehouse culture.

We would find various cafes in Thailand where the only thing that captivates customers is their aesthetically pleasing shop or something about their decoration that attracts the customers.

Third-wave coffee house culture was not paying attention to the details of the coffee or in favor of their beverages. Instead, they aim for the modern feeling and the westerner-feeling of coffee shops that allow citizens to experience it and enable the shop to be more well-known due to social media platforms as a ‘Cybercafe’ where the users post almost every place they went.

From the bottom of my sincerity and honesty, I am not shaming any cafe in Thailand. Every cafe and owner of the coffee shop has its definition and passion to decide what they want to do and what they aspire their shop to be. Our world is not standing in one place, we are always on the move, always about innovation and who did it first. Aesthetics have been and always will be important for humans and the world.

Hence, there is absolutely nothing wrong with third-wave cafe culture.

People often seek something new all the time, an old coffee brewing shop wouldn’t last a second if they don’t improve the shop to be welcoming.

Third-Wave cafe culture is not only popular in Thailand but all over the world. It is not about bad or good coffee but the vibe you get, the experiences you encounter, and the excitement of the new occurrence that lingering in the air- and maybe a little bit of posting on your feed too.

Then, why is it booming?

People enjoyed the feeling of experiencing or encountering places that they do not normally possess in their home country.

They want something new in their life, not an ancient-looking store that was meant to be for a traveler.

Cafe culture in the present day has been concentrating on representing a modern style while using a foreign arrangement or a touch of it so the customers would be perceiving a new ordeal not far from their home.

This is only the tiniest bit of the reason, I believed that cafe culture is more about matching our aesthetic with places.

Our generation values the aesthetic of places, the mood, tone, ambiance, and the details of the area we visited. Something that fits our liking, our style, and maybe a physical place that represents our aesthetic can touch our soul more than a coffee bean.

Sure, eating good food is also a significant part of going out too, but not limited to drinking coffee.

Not everyone goes to the same cafe, it is more about matching your style with the places you go.

Whether it is an upbeat, vintage, minimal, cottage core, warm, or cozy cafe, it is about individuals’ preferences of style.

It enables a person to be able to physically represent their liking into something touchable, experienceable, and being able to capture it in a photograph, that is what people are looking for.