The expansion of Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa has heralded the arrival of the Brussels-based pub chain Belgian Beer Café. It’s the chain’s 53rd branch worldwide and the very first in Thailand. We had a beer with Thomas Leclercq, CEO of Third Place, the chain’s franchise consultant, who said, “We try to represent the good-old-days atmosphere of a bar in the Belgian countryside in the 1930s. But this is not a bar—we aim to be a restaurant, so the focus is on food and the beers that complement it.” Discerning drinkers can try more than 50 kinds of Belgian beer, from the ubiquitous Hoegaarden and Stella Artois to rarer finds like Kriek and De Kninck. The same building will also house a Thai restaurant on the second floor, an al fresco bar on the third and a space-age karaoke room on the fourth, all scheduled to open very soon.