For those in Thailand I am sure you have heard about the lack of English commentary during the World Cup for games broadcast in Thailand by Thai broadcasting companies - namely UBC. For those outside of Thailand you probably have not heard anything about this or why it is such a big deal but either way I think you will find the story interesting and an example of how not to market your product.
Chang beer is brewed and distributed by ThaiBev, a private company in Thailand who recently floated shares in Singapore because the Stock Exchange of Thailand would not allow them to list due to a few outspoken Monks. Anyway the owner fo ThaiBev is one of the richest guys in Thailand and since the stock offering - one if the richest in Asia. I think somewhere down the list a few spots is the Thai guy responsible for Red Bull - probably one of Thailand’s best known exports. So just remember - Mr. Chang Beer is filthy rich.
On the surface Thailand looks pretty free and open but under the hood Thailand is actually not very liberal with the government mostly controlling the media, the internet and broadcasting. Thai people are mad about football and the World Cup is quite an event for the foreigners and Thais alike so most of us were waiting with anticipation to watch the various countries vie for World bragging rights. So it came as a quite a shock a few weeks back that we learned that although there would be a broadcast of the games live - the games would only come with Thai commentary - no English at all. Chang Beer, Thaibev, had bought the rights to the games to broadcast them in Thailand but was only going to offer English Commentary to the bars and hotels that would pay for it. The bill for a bar to have the games in English was 250,000 baht and hotels would have to pay 450,000. By most small business standards in Thailand this would be seen as highway robbery. Now granted ThaiBev did have to pay to get the games in but what is the real difference in showing the game on TV for free but charging for the English commentary?
So the only people that would be bothered by this would be the hotels, bars and pubs that cater to expats living in Thailand who want to watch the games in English. So ThaiBev was willing to offer the video for free but bars had to pay for the English. There were a few rumors floating around that if a bar allowed Chang Beer to do in bar promotions and decorate the bar then that bar would be offered the audio at a discount. Even one rumor was swirling around that if a bar only served Beer Chang(no other beers) during the World Cup that a bar would get the audio for free. I would love to tell you I know these rumors to be true or not but I can’t - repeatedly calls to the Beer Chang representative for Bangkok mostly went unanswered and the few appoitments that we secured were never kept by any of the ThaiBev employees. However the one Beer Chang guy we did talk to tried to tell us that even broadcasting the Free video feed of the World Cup in a bar without paying Beer Chang something was illegal. So Thai of them.
So at this point a bar is forced to improvise by installing one of the South African dishes and paying some nomimal fees to get the World Cup games live(no pre-empting for special causes 
) in English. But wait - not only do we get the World Cup but tons of channels not normally available in Thailand. The cost of this service for 6 months is some 25% of the cost that Chang Beer was asking for English Commentary for the duration of the World Cup. So math is that it is cheaper for a bar to invest in a dish than pay Beer Chang - wow I bet a bunch of bars paid them what they were asking. Not. Let’s rewind a bit and remember that this was all suppose to be a big marketing coup for Beer Chang. Right. I will go on record as saying that I think this will actually hurt Beer Chang in the long run and for sure Beer Chang sales in Thailand will be down during the World Cup. All of my expat friends and tourists I know in Thailand who normally drink Beer Chang are refusing to drink it due to the World Cup fiasco and hardly anyone will start to take up drinking Beer Chang once they know the real story. Combine this with the recently released Beer Chang Light that is like like Klong water mixed with original Beer Chang - no one seems to be buying it. On top of all this Beer Lao is now in many bars across Thailand and in most cases is outselling Sigha and Beer Chang in its initial debut.
My guess is someone should get fired over the World Cup marketing fumble but won’t since this is Thailand. So yeah the ThaiBev guy is one of the richest in Thailand which means his company could have bought the rights to the World Cup, allowed everyone to see it in English or Thai and could have used this opportunity to highlight Beer Chang but instead they turned the event into a display of greed coupled with a total lack of guerilla marketing prowess. Huge miss and a great opportuniry for Beer Lao to further cement a strong base of customers in Thailand. I for one will never order a Beer Chang again and I hope others do the same. Besides, it is a nasty tasting beverage causign one of the worst beer hangovers known to beer drinkers.
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So, the guys behind Beer Chang have done it again… They don’t exactly have a good reputation after ripping off Carlsberg. Personally I quit drinking their “piss” after that mistake…
View all comments by LELLE
Then u can add this to your list or reasons not to drink it and hopefully others will follow.
View all comments by Smitty
Hi guys will be back for a drink with you guys soon.
For us lonely travellers who have to return every couple of months a few pics might be a good idea.
And hey a web cam aimed at the entrance of Nana especially working around 17.00 to 18.00 just to watch all the girls come to work.
In case you are wondering who is behind this post I am one of the nanapong guys and a mate of Matula!!!
keep up the good work see ya soon.
Barmy
View all comments by Barmy
We will be working on some new pics but very hard to get pics of the girls but we have some ideas for that.
Yes - the webcam is a great idea and we have thought about it many times but we are pretty sure most people won’t like it and will hassle us to take it down even though people on the web will love it.
thanks for the feedback though!
hope 2 c u soon
smitty
View all comments by smitty
You’re right! Beer Chang sucks! they try to be all premium, but they’re so low class!
View all comments by Ann
Sadly, given the above, I like Beer Chang. I guess this means I’m a hopeless raddled sexpat.
I often ask for Beer Lao but it’s not ubiquitous just yet. It’s certainly doesnae seem to be in many (or any) gogo bars.
View all comments by Combover
I’ve seen beer lao pop up in a few places over the last year or so, namely DC-10, Playskool and the bar next to rainbow III.
View all comments by kallah
i never realised what chang did with the world cup which is pretty shitty - i would stop drinking it, but i love the stuff which makes me a shallow prick i guess
@ BIG Mango Guys, you guys know what the deal is with UFC events being shown out in Thailand and wether you guys have access to the channel?
Im a major fan and will be sure to drop in and load up with beers if you guys can get it
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
my - UFC is not premium here or PPV. It is one about once a week but it is not live and it is generally months old. I know of no way to get it live or get it PPV not being months old. Maybe some other readers have ideas. The South African feeds don’t seem to carry it either.
View all comments by smitty
Thats a ‘kimora’ to the balls if ever i heard one
Been a huge fan of UFC/Pride for ages but was frustrated by the 3month old reruns i used to get on supersport3
Its a shame as there are some dream-fights coming up soon with likes of fedor, wanderlei and shogun coming in from japan
Bravo TV in UK get it live but doubt that can be picked up in Thailand
If you could find out wether there is someway of getting it through PPV i will hapilly stump up for it
I think the UFC thing is thai conspiracy - being so proud of there Muay Thai and not wanting to loose face as some of these UFC guys make even TongPo from Kickboxer look…….well a bit gay
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
The UFC is back on after a 3-4 month absence. Every Friday night we show it around 9pm I believe. HOWEVER, they are very old matches as smitty pointed out.
There are some options from http://video.ufc.com/default.aspx where you can get a monthly subscription or get the live feeds. If we do anything about it we will surely let folks know.
View all comments by pmmp
hey thanx for the link, will be sure to check it out
i met a guy who was a keen MMA grappler and he named somewhere that shows them but i forget where
if you could get hold of it i would be sure to batter my liver with san miguel and stuff my guts with nachos while watching 2, 205lbers kick lumps out of each other
View all comments by myspace.com/penfold_xxx
Beer Lao wipes the floor with Chang, it is a far superior beer and with the completion of a second brewery on the Thai/Lao border only months away I think we can all expect to see it cement its growing following in Thailand.
View all comments by James
James: Agreed on Beerlao being a far superior beer to Chang. My only fear is it gains too much popularity. Chang and others make big money in Thailand and have big influence. Right now the cost to bars for Beerlao is comparable to Heineken. I just hope they don’t get extorted more as they get more popular causing the price to go up. We shall see I guess. The Beerlao bunch are a pretty tough group so perhaps they can battle with the big boys. Being owned by the Lao Govt and Carlsberg certainly helps http://www.beer-lao.com/aboutlbc/ .
View all comments by pmmp
Hey guys,
what you dont know is that Beer Lao is partly owned by the Chang guy. So now what are you going to drink, hehh?
Nothing I guess, so learn Thai and you can enjoy football.
cheers!
View all comments by seppel