Hanuman, those aren't bad prices ... a 1997 Lynch Bages for about US$55... Dom for US$80...are you going to let us in on how to buy black market fine wines?

The best wine bar in Bangkok is V9 at the top of the Sofitel Silom. The wine is provided by Wine Connection, which has several shops around town.

V9 is a piano bar with a beautiful view, a great selection, and at great prices (for Bangkok.) You should be able to find a bottle you like for under $25.

Kathie, I collect fine wines and I normally auction for them in the UK and would keep the wines in the cellars there. So from my own experiences these prices are even better than the USA and Europe but they are from the black market! I don't think it will be wise to tell people here how to contact such dubious black marketers but I just wanted to let my fellow wine lover know that they do exist in Bangkok.

Thank you Hanuman. I will file away that info for when I'm living in Thailand - I hope in about 5 years or so.

Not all wines are imported. There are some Thai wineries that are wining prestigious awards. However, they are also subject to the local 400% excise tax, so they are more expensive in Thailand than they are in France!

The cheap "black market" wines are bought in from Laos, where you can get good French wines for around $10 a bottle.

Michael, yes the cheap ones are smuggled in from Laos and Cambodia. Just a few weeks ago about 2,000 + bottles of Penfolds were confiscated from a fishing boat in the gulf of Thailand. I've often had very bad, not well kept stuff, that were smuggled in the way you've described. The good stuff, 707s, lynch bages, doms etc, are not brought in to the country like that. They come by air!