Posted on 03/17/2012 11:06:01 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Before there was Red Bull, there was Krating Daeng, a sweet energy drink sold in Thailand and a few other countries. Its labels feature two red bulls charging one another.
Chaleo Yoovidhya, who with an Austrian entrepreneur transformed his non-carbonated concoction into the global brand Red Bull, died of natural causes Saturday, according to MCOT, Thailand's national news agency.
Chaleo was in his 80s.
The self-made business mogul was ranked 205th this year in the list of Forbes billionaires, with a net worth estimated at $5 billion. That placed him third in Thailand. Chaleo founded TC Pharmaceuticals.
Chaleo and Dietrich Mateschitz adapted the formula to western tastes in 1984. Krating Daeng translates to Red Bull in English.
They each owned 49% of the privately held company, with Chaleo's son holding the balance 2%. Mateschitz ran the company, according to MCOT.
The battling bovines, the slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings" and the berry-flavored drink blended to become a worldwide commercial bonanza. …
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9mwELXPGbA
Thailand!?
>>Thailand!?
There are a number of these types of energy drinks here and have been for a very long time. They are very popular with taxi drivers and others who have to work long hours.
Almost every time I drink one it provokes a smile and a gentle comment that they are addictive from Thai folks in proximity.
RIP.
RIP Chaleo Yoovidhya.
(”Wai”ing respectfully)
Wondered the connection with Red Bull since instantly recognizing cans of Krating Daeng on vacation in the Kingdom, because of the red bulls on the logo.
Almost every time I drink one it provokes a smile and a gentle comment that they are addictive from Thai folks in proximity.
Would the gentle comment be spoken in Thai?
...and any truth to the assumed addictiveness
or is it just one of those folksy rumors.
Oh yes, Thai. Usually I buy them in a Mom & Pop corner store - they assume I speak Thai and not that many Thais would be able to say that in English even if they wanted to.
I can’t see how those drinks could be addictive. What could possibly be in them that would be addictive? Anyway, I don’t drink them often. I don’t tolerate either the caffeine or sugar all that well, but sometimes, when something needs to get done - they can come in pretty handy.
Thanks, been since 1969 since I was in Thailand. Probably a better day for the Thai people, or visitors. Was stationed at NKP at the time. Beautiful country and very nice and intelligent people not unlike people everywhere.
“Oh yes, Thai. Usually I buy them in a Mom & Pop corner store - they assume I speak Thai and not that many Thais would be able to say that in English even if they wanted to”.
Thanks. I guess I was looking for a nice way to find out if you spoke Thai other than just asking.
I agree with you on the Caffeine and sugar issue. Most US energy drinks are packed with both, and who needs more of either on a daily basis. We read labels and finding products to eat or drink with low sugar content is a real challenge.
How did you manage to learn Thai?
“the berry-flavored drink blended to become a worldwide commercial bonanza.”
Red Bull is supposed to taste like berries? I only tried it once, but I thought it was gosh-awful. It tasted to me like a can of flat Mountain Dew that’s been sitting around since 1974. I spit out the mouthful I had and poured the rest down the sink.
I’m pretty obviously in the extreme minority, though, given the sales of the stuff. RIP to a very successful entrepreneur.
>>Thanks. I guess I was looking for a nice way to find out if you spoke Thai other than just asking.
>>How did you manage to learn Thai?
Hi Wita,
You could have just asked. :-). Mostly with a phrase book, listening, asking, making mistakes and getting corrected...
Thai is a very easy language unless you have a problem with the tones. Some people do and will never be understood no matter how much they try, as pitching a sound different changes the meaning, like you cannot let the tone rise to signify a question like we do in English. Some people can just not get the hang of it.
English is ridiculously complicated, especially the tenses. In Thai you can construct the past or future tense of a verb with one word for each. That’s it - no exceptions.
I envy you having been here so long ago. It must have been so much more innocent than it is now.
I did not know the acronym NKP so looked it up. I bet you have some stories to tell! ;-)
I envy you having been here so long ago. It must have been so much more innocent than it is now.
Innocent is exactly the word I should have used.
I applaud your learning the language. You got out there with the people. The best way of all IMHO. In a year on a military base you learn a few phrases and numbers one through ten, and that’s about it.
Not too many stories, spent a lot of time flying over Laos at night getting what in those days was called getting your ass shot off. One of the more interesting stories was graduation day at the Thai paratroop school. Somewhere in mid Thailand as I remember. They were pumped up for their last jump in school so there was a lot of foot stomping and banging going on. Sounded like the plane was in a hail storm. The Thai jumpmaster didn’t trust the navigator who gave them the go based on the wind, and he delayed long enough to have the last few guys into the trees at the end of the drop zone. We then landed and ate and ate and ate Thai food. All in all a successful day. No one got hurt.
The real stories were the boys in the strike aircraft and the Spectre gun ships out of Ubon who were flying a larger aircraft than we were and about 2 or 3 thousand feet lower than we were. They really did get their u know whats shot off. We generally had time to react to anti-aircraft fire.
The only loss we suffered during my tour was due to a mid-air collision with a strike aircraft. When you fly with lights out, collision becomes a greater risk.
I've often wondered: can someone who is tone-deaf ever learn to speak a language such as Thai and Mandarin that are so heavily dependent on tone changes?
Addictive like heroin or addictive like bacon?
I think the answer is yes, because I'm tone deaf in that I cannot tune a guitar, but have no problem at all with Thai tones.
If you can hear the difference in your own voice in the word 'cold' when you ask "Is it cold?" and state "Man, it is really cold!" that the difference between a rising tone and a low tone. If that's fairly obvious then the tones will not be a problem - at least not aurally, but some people can't seem to incorporate them into their speech.
Yeah, that's the thing. I mean I know it's not truly addictive, but they have that little smile and I don't if they think it's really the first or are just joking around.
Sorry to be so late in getting back to you.
Your answer is very helpful. I, too, would find it impossible to tune a guitar but I can discern the difference between a declarative statement and a question tone, so if the tonal requirements in Thai are of that level, then I can understand how the ordinary person would have no problem with the language.
Thank you.
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