Everybody in Bangkok has been raving about PRIMO POSTO, the new Italian restaurant-café located in the Thai countryside, so this past weekend my friend and I decided to check out what all the buzz was about. Located near Khao Yai National Park about 160KM from Bangkok, by car, it’s a leisurely two-hour drive to Primo Posto. See map below

Believe it or not, all the hype is well deserved - the architecture and landscaping was absolutely breathtaking. Painted in many brilliant colors, the Italian style building houses a coffee shop, restaurant, ice cream parlor, gift shop and an upstairs art gallery. Chatting briefly with the owner, he said “the design is from my experience and strong inspiration from traveling through Tuscany and Florence in Italy.” In the backyard, wooden benches and tables were set up under the shade of the building not far from the green fields of the wine vineyard. Covered with brown trees and dry vegetation - showing signs of the approaching summer - the mountains loomed in the background forming the perfect backdrop for this new Italian country café. Primo Posto exudes such a wonderful ambiance that even though I have never been in ITALY before, It felt like I had been transported somewhere in the Italian countryside. It took me a minute or so to realize that I was still in Thailand.

For the time being, the coffee shop and restaurant is only open Friday-Sunday and public holidays. When I was there, I observed that there were many hipsters visiting Primo Posto. It seems most of them stayed just long enough to take a couple of pictures before moving on. Prices for coffee and coffee drinks are similar to Starbucks in Bangkok, and the restaurant fare is somewhat pricey for most Thai people but would be considered affordable to the oversea tourist crowd (farangs).

To discourage the casual Thai tourist who stops there only to take couple of pictures without buying anything, the owner has instituted a 55 baht entrance fee which can be exchanged for one scoop of ice cream or applied to any coffee drink or item on the menu.

For more pictures of Primo Posto, see my photo album.