This was one of the few locations at Suan Lum Night Bazaar, a complex of 2000 stalls across from Lumphini Park, that was open during the day. Doi Tung is a cool stand-alone building with a wooden patio and a moat. Inside, fashionable Thai twentysomethings chat while American jazz plays over the speakers.

According to Doi Tung’s website, “To address rural poverty and alleviate some of the hardship experienced by the inhabitants of the harsh mountainous terrain of the north, Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagrindara, the Princess Mother, one of the most beloved persons in Thai history, known to the Thai people as “Somdej Ya”, the people’s Royal Grandmother, inaugurated the Doi Tung Development Project under Royal Initiative in
1988. One of the Doi Tung initiatives involves replacing opium crops with coffee and macadamia nuts. Doi Tung Coffee sells the results.
Doi Tung has a Starbucks-liked menu featuring espresso and “slush” beverages, but they also have sections for Thai style coffee and Thai style tea, along with fresh juices: orange, guava and kiwi. They also have a well-stocked display case featuring Western-style pastries.
On my first visit, I tried three drinks: Thai iced coffee with milk…

…Thai iced tea with milk…

…and Thai iced tea (40 Baht, or $1 apiece). What I didn’t know was that Thai iced tea and coffee are already sweet.

Doi Tung also has an enormous selection of macadamia nut items. There were macadamia nuts flavored with honey, seaweed, barbecue chicken and wasabi. Meat flavored nuts? Seaweed flavored nuts?

There were also bags of macadamia nut cookies: plain, honey, chocolate and coffee. I went with coffee cookies and wasabi nuts. The cookies were 50 Baht and the bag of nuts, 45. The cookies were very good, nutty, a little bitter, thick and crunchy. The roasted nuts had a wasabi bite that I liked.

On my second trip, I drank a good cup of fresh squeezed kiwi juice (55 Baht).

There is at least one other branch of Doi Tung Coffee in Bangkok, but it’s in the notorious Patpong district, so unless you prefer drinking coffee with bargirls, pimps and “performers,” the Suan Lum location is your best bet.

Hours:
Monday-Friday: Noon – Midnight
Saturday: 11 AM – Midnight
Sunday: 11 AM – 11 PM

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This entry is filed under Coffeehouse, Thailand.