Sakaorat Harnkarnchanasuwat
Abstract
During the current period of time, there are many tea shops that have recently opened and some old tea shops have been developed to meet the global change. Moreover, there are Chinese restaurants at five-star hotel that have been opened and developed by adding various kinds of Chinese tea to their menu to catch up with the re-flourish of Chinese cultural from the end of twentieth century until the present time.
This article is an attempt to study the role of Chinese tea shops in promoting Chinese tea culture with an assumption that they have a function to provide a public space for people who love to consume Chinese tea. These shops gathered Chinese tea drinkers and Chinese tea porcelain lovers to share their knowledge of Chinese tea, Chinese tea porcelain collecting, and other topics.
The research reveals that some Chinese tea shops not only sell Chinese tea leaves and Chinese tea, but act as a public space for customers to come to learn Chinese tea culture and Chinese tea related things. Although Chinese tea originated from China, when it spread throughout the world, each country developed Chinese tea as their unique beverage. When we consider Bangkok nowadays, we find that we have different kinds of tea shops; for instance, English tea shops, such as Witthard of Chelsea; Japanese tea shops, such as Cha Ho, and Chinese tea shops, such as Ong’s Tea. These tea shops have tried to create their own brands and improve the uniqueness of English tea, Japanese tea, or Chinese tea. The Chinese tea shops, such as Ong Ew Kee, Ong’s Tea, Three Horses, and Ju Rui Tang, bear the function of promoting Chinese tea culture and public space for people who love to consume Chinese tea.
(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 6/2013, Page 163-180)
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