Where To Go: Merai Thailand 2025

From the 26th to the 30th of November, Merai Thailand is back — a 5 day and 5 night Thai draft beer and Lao Kao festival hosted at the EM WONDER & SPHERE HALL, located on the 5th and 6th floors of EMSPHERE. Pronounced “may-rai”, this event is free to enter, inviting all guests to get drunk off the spirits, the beer, and a creative and quintessentially Thai brand of fun.

“มา ‘เม้าเหล้า เม้าเบียร์ เม้ามันส์’ แบบสร้างสรรค์”

By Ayush Madan

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THE DRINKS

The event took place on two floors, with most of the drink vendors on the 5th floor and the main stage on the 6th floor. Thailand’s 1950 liquors act prohibits individuals from brewing and distributing their own beer, but after visiting this event, it is clear that this is slowly changing. As a Guinness lover, I naturally gravitated towards the Chiangmai Winter Night Cacao Stout, an ABV 5% oatmeal stout brewed with cocoa beans from the north. Right next to this cocoa concoction was the Belgian-style wheat beer called Kwai Witbier, a refreshing and light alternative to the rich stout. For fans of traditional Thai beverages, the microbrewery Devanom has you covered with their ABV 6% Craft Sato, a rice wine brewed with Snake Fang sticky rice in Nonthaburi. There was even a Thai basil (horapha) flavored beer that looked particularly interesting. On the 5th floor, there were even more offerings, from unique gins made in Khao Yai, to wines made locally in Thailand.

In a genius marketing move, the brand QMIN-C had a booth to the left of the main stage, with an interactive ring toss game. You could follow the brand on IG for a free bottle, or get five ring tosses to win 24 bottles delivered to your home! Pitched as a hangover cure, this lemon juice, curcumin and L-glutathione — a powerful antioxidant — drink was a perfect refreshment after an hour of dancing to Molam.

THE MUSIC

Sawai Kaewsombat, 86, on the khaen

Truthfully, my friends and I were not here just for the variety of Thai brews, but rather the excellent music selection the festival had curated. From funk  and R&B legends H3F to the psychedelic sounds of Rattanakosin Breakin Crew, the line-up brought together some of the hottest bands and artist in modern Thai music. Since Highland 420 however, there has been one band that has been on mind constantly: Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. 

Molam — a music genre from the Isan (northeastern) region of Thailand combines traditional instruments like the khaen (a bamboo mouth organ) and the phin (a lute). The Paradise band capitalizes on this signature sound, fusing the rock sounds of bass and drums, with the folk sounds of congas, gongs, a ching, and chimes. Altogether, this creates a melodic fusion unlike anything I have heard before — rocking tunes  you can mosh to with the soul of folk Thai music running through it all.

The setlist for the show

Chances are you may have seen the YouTube video of how a movement starts. I am proud to say that at the Paradise Bangkok show, my friend Pann was the leader, and I was the first follower. At first, most people were sitting or standing along the sides, but once we headed to the front and center, a third, a fourth, and a fifth followed. Soon we were surrounded by a crowd a hundred strong, everyone swaying, grooving, and moshing ecstatically to the sonic bliss that is contemporary Molam.

This was my third time seeing the band live, first at MahoRasop 2024, then at Highland 420 this year, and finally here at Merai. The band consists of ringleader Matt Tai, Kammao Perdtanon on phin (Thai lute), Sawai Kaewsombat on khaen, Piyanart Jotikasthira on bass, and Phusana Treeburut on drums. With 11 years having passed since they released their self-titled album under Zudrangma Records, the band has toured all over the world, from Fuji Rock to Glastonbury, gaining global notoriety and perfecting their unique sound. In late 2024, the band dropped their most recent record, Araya Lam, cementing their legacy as one of the great modern folk Thai bands.

After the show, my friends — Alisa, Maddy, Nico, Pann, Parm, and Guru — all felt like we were coming down off of something. The music was so powerful, so all encompassing, and so embraced by the crowd that we were just swept up in the maddening fun. For many of my friends if was their first time seeing Paradise live, and I could not be happier to share this moment with them. The experience made me grateful for my mobility, my group’s shared love for live music, and most of all, to be alive in Thailand in this paradisiacal time.

Me and my friends after the show

Where To Go: Merai Thailand 2025