The Bar Awards, an Asian awarding body that aims to bring “people together to celebrate achievement and excellence within the bar community (and to get a little drunk),” according to their site, kicks off with an opening party that’s open to the public tomorrow night at Thong Lor’s Rabbit Hole.
After that, dozens of Asia’s best bartenders will be in Bangkok until Sunday’s awards ceremony to hear who is going to walk away with titles including The Rising Star (for young bartenders), Best Beer Bar, Best Wine Bar, Best Hotel Bar, Best Restaurant Bar, Best Hospitality Ambassador, Most Creative Cocktails, Bartender of the Year, and more.
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In the meantime, while they mingle and network at industry events, many are also taking guest shifts behind several of Bangkok’s most prestigious bars including Tropic City, Teens of Thailand, The Bamboo Bar at Mandarin Oriental, ABar, Sorrento Sathorn, Bunker Sathorn, The 88 Surawong, and more.
As part of the festivities, there is a charity cocktail party on Thursday at Silom’s Eat Me featuring Bangkok’s best tattooed bartenders with benefits going to SATI, an NGO that works to improve healthcare and education in rural Thailand. Saturday features a cocktail carnival at Changwon Express at Flow House and the ultimate bar tour on Saturday evening.
The guest shifts — during which you can try signature cocktails from Asia bar institutions such as Hong Kong’s Employees Only, KL’s JungleBird, and Singapore’s Manhattan Bar — are open to everyone and mean that you don’t have to fly to Yangon to try the famed tipples from The Strand Hotel’s Sarkie’s Bar.
To see a full list of The Bar Awards events and what you can drink where, visit their Facebook events page.
FIND IT:
The Bar Awards Opening Party
Rabbit Hole
Sukhumvit Soi 55
Tomorrow, 8pm
BTS Thong Lor
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