The Thammasat University Library has acquired a new book about one of the important export products of Thailand, significant for the manufacturing economy. A Natural History of Beer is shelved in the General Books section of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus.
The TU Library owns a number of books about the science and economics of beer. TU students in the Faculty of Chemistry should be interested in how beer is manufactured at the molecular level, but the subject is relevant to many other fields of academic study. Students of animal behavior, ecology, history, archaeology, sociology, law, genetics, physiology, and neurobiology should find material of interest in A Natural History of Beer.
It was written by Dr. Rob DeSalle is a curator at the American Museum of Natural History’s Sackler Institute for Comparative Biology and its program for microbial research, and Dr. Ian Tattersall curator emeritus of the American Museum of Natural History Division of Anthropology.
Dr. Tattersall has carried out both primatological and paleontological fieldwork in Madagascar, Vietnam, Surinam, Yemen, and Mauritius. According to his website, he has earned degrees
in archaeology and anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and in geology and vertebrate paleontology at Yale University, Ian has concentrated his research in three main areas: the analysis of the human fossil record and its integration with evolutionary theory, the origin of human cognition, and the study of the ecology and systematics of the lemurs of Madagascar.
An old beverage
Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and the third most popular drink for humans, after water and tea. Archaeological evidence of the fermentation of beer around 13,000 years ago has been discovered at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel.
Some of humanity’s earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlours. The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia, dated back to almost 4000 years ago. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code.
The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, a book in the TU Library collection which is shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, includes a chapter on the Code of Hammurabi. During the construction of the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt over 4500 years ago, each worker was given a daily ration of beer. A fermented drink using rice and fruit, that is now considered an ancestor of beer, was made in China over 9000 years ago.
Thailand and beer
Beer has been brewed in Thailand since 1933, when a brewing license was granted to 57-year-old Phraya Bhirom Bhakdi, born Boon Rawd Sreshthaputra. His company, Boon Rawd Brewery, manufactures Thailand’s celebrated Singha beer in different varieties. Another major competitor is Chang beer, made by Thai Beverages. Chang is noted globally for its sponsorship of Liverpool’s Everton football club, as its name and logo have appeared on the team uniform since 2004.
The Thai Asia Pacific Brewery (TAP group) brews Heineken , Tiger, Cheers, and Cheers X-Tra at its Nonthaburi plant. It is the importer to Thailand of Guinness and Kilkenny.
Academic research
As beer has economic, sociological, and historical importance for the Kingdom, it is natural that some scholarly research has been dedicated to the subject.
In June 2013, Arisara Rotchue submitted a thesis for a master of arts degree in Labor Economics and Human Resource Management to the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University entitled Beer Consumption in Thailand. According to the abstract,
In Thailand, the consumption of beer is very popular all over the country. Over the course of the paper I will find to give a brief introduction of beer market in Thailand, the reasons why beer industry is very popular, the Thailand market beer analysis, the gaming and strategic decisions that the producers use, the effected factors on the beer price and the consumer’s satisfaction. The paper aims to demonstrate the overall beer consumption in Thailand.
The introduction continues:
Beer is an important consumer product which had long history in Thailand. Brewing beer in Thailand began in 1934 (although the Singha label says “SINCE 1933”). Locally produced Thai beers face competition from major international brands, but have successfully found their own niche in the Thai market and abroad. Thai beer is typically lager. The oldest and most popular Thai beer in Thailand and abroad is Singha, brewed by Boonrawd Brewery. Singha also appears in Thailand in Light (3.5% ABV) and Draught versions. Recently, Singha has been challenged by Chang beer, made by Thai Beverages. Chang is noted globally for its sponsorship of Liverpool’s Everton football club, as its name and logo have appeared on the team uniform since 2004. Boonrawd Brewery also makes Leo, a non-premium beer. In addition, Thai Beverages sells Archa, a mass-market, non-premium lager. Other locally brewed Thai beers are Phuket Beer and Siam, in Pathum Thani province; the latter brewery exports Bangkok Beer abroad, but does not sell it in Thailand. Phuket Beer and Federbrau are the only Thai beers brewed according to the German purification laws or Reinheitsgebot; Phuket Beer has recently won a Gold Medal Award in the Category of Best Lager under the selection process of the Monde Selection organisation based in Brussels, Belgium. Klassik beer is another local beer brewed in Pathum Thani province. Although foreign beers are popular within the country, the Thai government seeks to shelter its domestic breweries through the imposition of import duties; in addition, all imported beers must bear an import sticker on their bottle caps. As a result, Thai brewers have struck partnership deals with western brewers, such as Carlsberg’s partnership Boon Rawd.
In May 2017, The Nation reported on Behind the Star Experience, an historical exhibition on display in Bangkok’s Siam Square about how Heineken beer is brewed, how the company originated and how the beer became popular internationally. Heineken is distributed in the Kingdom by the TAP Group.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)