Thailand could learn a thing or two from Vietnamese coffee culture

While aesthetics and vibes drive the café scene here in Thailand, Vietnamese coffee culture is driven by connection.

There’s no shortage of cafés here in Thailand. Make a quick Google search and you’ll probably find a handful within a five-kilometre radius of you. Heck, you can even just take a walk. You’re bound to bump into one in a few blocks or so. Evidently, there are plenty of them around the city, but the coffee isn’t really the main attraction. 

A quick glance at the Facebook pages for these different cafés and you’ll find that they all seem to be putting importance on the same thing: aesthetics. Some of them are tranquil, perfect for some alone time with a book; others are more nature-inclined with their gardens or foliage; others have a theme. There’s nothing inherently wrong about this—after all, we love a good Instagrammable spot—but this seems to be the bane of every café’s existence especially here in Bangkok.

And that’s why I think Vietnamese coffee culture is so much better.

[Hero image: Son Vu Le/Unsplash]

What Thailand can learn from Vietnamese coffee culture

On my recent trip to Da Nang, someone cheekily said that Vietnam has a great “drinking culture”. It’s true, though it’s certainly not the “drinking” you’re probably thinking of. Vietnamese people love their coffee. They produce some of the best coffee beans in the world and they prefer their local beans over any fancy Italian roast. They also have their own way of doing coffee. The most common one is simply mixed with condensed milk, while slightly more intricate variations exist like the egg coffee and, my personal favourite, the coconut milk coffee.

As delicious and incredibly strong Vietnamese coffee is (seriously, only drink one in the morning if caffeine keeps you up), I realised that it wasn’t the coffee that people went for. No one was talking about the quality of the roast, the temperature of the cup, the boiling essence of the water, or whatever it is coffee aficionados talk about. Cafés, it seemed, were avenues for gatherings. 

Walk down the street and if you see small tables and chairs on the sidewalk, then you’ve discovered a café. But it’s not as if they’re rare in Vietnam. There are as many cafés there as there are 7-11s here. They’re on every corner, every curb, and just a block or two apart. And these cafés have absolutely nothing going for them in terms of aesthetic value. Their tables and chairs are small and their menus are largely the same. It’s the same Vietnamese coffee and the same condensed milk, yet all these cafés thrive even if they’re in close proximity.

The people don’t go there for the coffee, which they can easily get anywhere else or make themselves, nor do they go there so they can post something on their socials. People go there to, well, hang out. In Da Nang, it’s routine for people to start gathering in these cafés in the afternoon after a day at work. They just sit and converse over coffee and tea. Do note: that’s coffee and tea. Apparently, the custom is that you have tea along with your coffee.

Much like here in Thailand, the coffee isn’t the main attraction unless you’re a coffee aficionado. But while it’s the Instagram-worthiness of cafés that attracts customers here, it’s a custom and routine in Vietnam. Cafés are not for your feed. They’re not your selfies. It’s for people to sit, usually for hours, just talking. 

In a bustling city like Bangkok and with people who are obsessed with their online profiles, we could learn a thing or two from Vietnamese coffee culture. It’s been said that ironically, we are now most separated when we are so connected. While the internet has made it easy to communicate, real connections seem to be more difficult to make. 

But maybe being intentional, calling up a friend or two, and going to a café for a genuine chat and catch-up instead of spending an hour just taking photos could help. You know, like the Vietnamese do.