Blue Glass Restaurant, on Sathorn Road in Bangkok, witnessed sales grow by as much as 100 per cent on some evenings.

The restaurant also found its beverages out of stock many times, and staff had to take motorcycles to buy alcohol from nearby shops, according to Suwit Rungtaweesuk, a partner in Blue Glass.

The restaurant had to stock large quantities of ice for chilling the drinks within a short time in addition to the regular chilling in refrigerators.

Some fans were very determined to enjoy the football: one customer managed to drink 24 bottles of beer.

The restaurant sells various alcoholic beverages, including popular whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker Black Label, Johnnie Walker Red Label and Hundred Pipers. Its beers include Heineken and Singha.

The World Cup also brought an increase in the number of consumers. Half of them were Thais and the rest foreigners. Suwit said the consumption of international customers had been the same as usual but Thais had drunk more than usual.

Customers came to the restaurant early and stayed in their seats to watch the matches with their friends until closing time at 2am. Although the number of customers was only about 100 per night, they ordered a considerable amount of alcoholic drinks. The restaurant was particularly busy for big matches, including the final between Italy and France. Visitors increased about 10-20 per cent in the second half of the tournament, which featured fewer matches each day, but beverage sales remained the same as in the first fortnight, when customers stayed longer and kept ordering drinks.

Meanwhile, Tawandaeng Ger-man Brewery Restaurant's two branches in the capital saw alcohol sales increase by 5 to 10 per cent as more customers enjoyed the footballing drama in Germany, said Supote Teerawatanachai, managing director of Tawandaeng Brew House Co Ltd.

Its total sales were Bt20 million from an average of 3,000 visitors per night. Like Blue Glass, the restaurant witnessed a lower turnover of customers as they stayed for longer periods and kept ordering beverages. The most popular drink was draft beer, followed by Chang beer and whisky.

During the competition, the restaurants also arranged activities daily by asking customers to guess the winner of each match and the winner of the World Cup.

The top prize was awarded after the final when one lucky customer won a Singapore holiday for two people. Other prizes included two domestic round-trip tickets sponsored by Air Asia, T-shirts and caps.

Supote could not give a figure for the cost of the promotions, as they were included in the company's yearly campaign.

However, the World Cup was not the peak period for Tawandaeng. That is at Christmas and New Year.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation