{"id":90969,"date":"2026-10-07T14:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=90969"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:17:15","slug":"bangkoks-culinary-stars-fade-amid-rising-costs-tighter-budgets-and-fewer-tourists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=90969","title":{"rendered":"Bangkok\u2019s culinary stars fade amid rising costs, tighter budgets and fewer tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Earlier this year, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Bangkok\u2019s F&amp;B scene<\/span> pulled off a coup. At <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Asia\u2019s 50 Best Bars<\/span> awards in Macau, eight venues from Asia\u2019s \u201cCity of Angels\u201d crowded the list \u2013 rankings historically dominated by Hong Kong and Singapore \u2013 with four more in the 51-100 tier. The city\u2019s restaurant honours tell a similar story \u2013 S\u00fchring recently joined Sorn in holding three Michelin stars, and Bangkok claims nine spots on Asia\u2019s 50 <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Best Restaurants<\/span>, more than any other city.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The tourism figures are equally bullish: Bangkok again ranks as the world\u2019s most visited city, with food-led travel a stated priority for visitors. Clearly, Bangkok\u2019s food and beverage scene is commanding more attention than ever before.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">And yet, on the ground, the picture is less rosy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-d3pq8q e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Foreign tourists enjoying street food at a street food market in Bangkok. Photo: EAP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/10\/05\/2e97e22c-2c3f-4f30-a77c-0cd80bf24477_0c42f09f.jpg\" title=\"Foreign tourists enjoying street food at a street food market in Bangkok. Photo: EAP\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Foreign tourists enjoying street food at a street food market in Bangkok. Photo: EAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">On the producer side, the economics have turned brutal. According to the Thai Restaurant Association, restaurant sales in the second quarter of 2026 fell 30 to 50 per cent. Over the same period, costs climbed 15 to 20 per cent, driven by higher prices for ingredients, fuel, electricity, rent and labour.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Delivery apps promised an escape route, but they have become a trap of their own. Restaurants hand over a commission on every order and must fund aggressive promotions and marketing to stand out in a crowded field. And in Thailand, alcohol sales are effectively prohibited on delivery platforms, eliminating for most restaurants a major source of revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/100-top-tables\/article\/3369762\/bangkoks-culinary-stars-fade-amid-rising-costs-tighter-budgets-and-fewer-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this year, Bangkok\u2019s F&amp;B scene pulled off a coup. At Asia\u2019s 50 Best Bars awards in Macau, eight venues from Asia\u2019s \u201cCity of Angels\u201d&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[5465,15404,4113,5338,8828,4142,4424,21948,5593],"class_list":["post-90969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-bangkoks","tag-budgets","tag-costs","tag-culinary","tag-fade","tag-rising","tag-stars","tag-tighter","tag-tourists","wpcat-4840-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}