Fun Cafes / Coffee Shops of SE Asia – vibe for every mood

Fun
By Gems Of Travel
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Go café hopping! It is a must do in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, parts of Cambodia, and Bali Island in Indonesia!

Cafés are a big part of the culture.  Actually, the word “café” implies coffee, but it is much more than coffee in SEA.  Cafés have good views & vibes, unique interiors, drinks (smoothies, teas, milk teas, and juices), and snacks!

SEA is a paradise for cafés – you can’t fully understand this until you experience it.  It’s where the coffee is supplementary to the experience – the drinks are only 1 of the reasons to go to to the café.

Cafés can be as humble and informal as a stand with few chairs on the side of the street.  They can also be fancy places with youthful customers posing and snapping artistic portraits.

In Vietnam, it seems as if there are 3 to 4 cafés on every street block… they are hard to pass up.  You will find yourself stopping in at one of them, and trust us – you will not be disappointed!

Bites, Nibbles, and Sips

You can go to a café just for the chill, relaxing vibe.  But, if you are looking for drinks and something to eat, then you came to the right place.  You may even find yourself getting refills and seconds – these cafes are hard to leave — they are so comfy!

Try all of the unique Vietnamese coffees!

Two menus at a café in Vietnam, one for locals (written in Vietnamese) and one for foreigners (written in English). The menus have different pricing, where the foreigner menu pays more. The foreigner menu costs thirty thousand Viet Dong for a "Black coffee", while it's Vietnamese-written counterpart "Ca phe den" (coffee black) costs eighteen thousand Viet Dong. That is a forty percent increase for being foreign. A can of Coca Cola is twenty thousand for foreigners versus seventeen thousand for locals.

Café choices – options for everyone

Pictures speak louder than words, so we’re keeping the reading light on this post.

Animals

Koi fish café

Pet animal café

A cat is laying down at an animal café in Thailand.
A medium-sized dog playing with a large furry racoon at an animal café in Thailand. The dog and the racoon are looking at each other. The dog is attempting to playfully bite the raccoon, and the racoon is playfully swatting his front paw at the dogs face. The photographer is outside the cafe looking through the large window at the animals.
A medium-sized dog with a large furry racoon at an animal café in Thailand. The dog is on the ground looking back with a smile at the photographer, and the racoon is on a bench looking at the dog. The photographer is outside the cafe looking through the large window at the animals.

Views

Rooftop views

A rooftop view of Bangkok city, Thailand at night with high rise buildings everywhere. Lights light-up the buildings and roads.
Seating at a rooftop café overlooking Mount Batur in Bali, Indonesia. There is only one seat in this image, which is large seat fitting up to two people. It is cushioned, and has an umbrella for shade. Attached to the seat, is a large table on the right-hand side with a café late and croissant. Mount Batur is on the left-hand side of the seat.
Seating at a rooftop café overlooking a traditional village in a mountainous area of northern Thailand. There is a long bar at the edge of the rooftop with seats that face the village, below. Umbrellas are near the seating for shade. Many customers are enjoying drinks such as coffee and milk teas.
A picture of a banana smoothie in a glass with mountains in the background at a café in southern Thailand. A palm oil plantation with a forrest of palm trees covers the land between the café and mountains.
A café overlooking a rice field in Bali, Indonesia. The café is completely open-air. One section of the roof is made with straw, and the other with corrugated metal.
Café seating and layout with mountains in the background at a café in southern Thailand. A palm oil plantation with a forrest of palm trees covers the land between the café and mountains.

Sunset rice field view

Five people standing around enjoying a sunste at a viewpoint spot at a camping area in Thailand. This area is surrounded by mountains and palm trees (a palm oil plantation) at Kuan Nom Saow Restaurant and Viewpoint in Krabi Thailand.
A large hut in Cambodia for eating in with a table and floor seating consisting of a mat and cushions. A rural view can be seen from within the hut. Air fans are mounted for a cool breeze, and bamboo curtains are rolled down to provide shade and block the sun.
A café next to a rice field in Vietnam. In the background is the rice field with a dock that customers can walk on to go into the swampy rice field. A black coffee on ice and a tea is on a table where the photographer is seated. The café is outside, thus open-air. A structure resemblying a canopy has been made for shade, and two red lanterns hang from it.

Fancy

A fancy café in Southeast Asia with outdoor seating. Two people are sitting on the floor of a deck with floor mats and a table that is low to the ground. The deck is built on a small grassy hill, about four feet high. Trees surround the café.
The coffee bar section inside of fancy café in Southeast Asia. An expresso machine is present, and a croissant on the counter.
A very shady section of a fancy café in Southeast Asia with outdoor seating.

Beautiful interior décor and art

Greenery

Filled with plants

From the outside looking at a café building with plants and a tree with flowers. This was a traditional Laos wooden stilt house with concrete-enclosed walls on the bottom. It has been converted to a café in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Simple

Along the streetside, sidewalk-style

A simple and humble outdoor café cart along the road in Vietnam. It resembles a fancier version of a lemonade stand in the USA. It is located on a sidewalk in front of a house in quiet neighborhood. Typically, people get coffee to-go from this style of cafes. It has pictures of the drinks it serves and a menue with prices at roughly fifty US cents.I t is small, and the shape is boxed (about three feet wide, two feet deep, and six feet tall) and made of steel.
A simple and humble outdoor café along the road in Cambodia. Typically, people get coffee to-go from this style of cafes. It's shape is boxed (about six feet wide, six feet long, and six feet tall) and made of steel. It has a counter/bar that goes around it's perimeter with four chairs. It is in front of a building and takes up the entire sidewalk, blocking it.

Outdoor

Café along a waterway (river or pond)

A café with outdoor seating around a small retention pond, filled with greenery - plants and trees. The pond is cleaned and has a ocean-green/blue color. There is a small two-story cabin to sit, too. This image shows the cabin up close. Customers are sitting around with drinks of coffee and/or tea, and taking pictures.
A café with outdoor seating around a small retention pond, filled with greenery - plants and trees. The pond is cleaned and has a ocean-green/blue color. There is a small two-story cabin to sit, too. Many customers are sitting around with drinks of coffee and/or tea.

Tree house café 

A tree house café built on a cliff. An elevated steel walkway is built on the cliff and attaches to trees. In one of the trees is a small treet house with a ladder to climb into it from the walkway. On the other tree is a deck with a table, seating, and umbrella for shade.
A Thai milk tea at a tree house café built on a cliff. There are several elevated steel walkways that built on the cliff. At the end of each walkway is a deck with a table and seating.

Camping-themed café 

A camping-themed café with tents within a rubber tree farm in Krabi, Thailand. The image shows the ordering counter that is shaped like a small camper (i.e. the kind that is towed behind a vehicle in the USA).
A camping-themed café with a small mini van used as the ordering counter and tools inside to brew coffee. It is parked along a river with seating.
A camping-themed café along a river with seating in Cambodia.

Indoor

Café with live music

Unique decorations & themes

Working – cafes for working on a laptop

A café with a laptop on a desk and seating. This represents a place to work from for remote workers in Southeast Asia.
A café with a laptop on a desk and seating. This represents a place to work from for remote workers in Southeast Asia.
A man working at café with a laptop on a desk and seating. This represents a place to work from for remote workers in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam local style

Relax in an open-air enclosure, people watching or reading on your phone. The Vietnamese local cafes have a special vibe that cannot be mimicked anywhere else.

A café with seating along a street in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam.
Inside of a café in Vietnam with a couch and table that looks outside.
A café with seating along a street in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam.
A café in Vietnam. The image shoes an iced black coffee in a glass, Vietnamese style, on the table. The coffee has some sugar inside that has been whisked within the coffee, and therefore has a coffee foam on the upper part of the glass

Fun for the kids

Some cafes have a playground and various activities for the kids. These are not super common, but there are many of these around.

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