Real Bavarian Oktoberfest atmosphere —
arm hugging and left-right, up-down...
These were the main languages during Oktoberfest at the Amari Orchid Hotel on
Saturday night, October 26. As promised, the set-up was very similar to the
original Oktoberfest in Munich. Well, there was only one tent, but the tables,
benches, and decorations all looked nearly the same.
Waitresses in “Dirndl” (original Bavarian style outfits) were serving very tasty
Hofbräuhaus beer. The band from Bavaria Haus 2 was playing, singing - and
dancing to - original Bavarian folk music. Along with the place being packed,
its no wonder that everybody seemed to enjoy themselves very much.
Sonsak Yongjinda, Pattaya City Manager, taps a
barrel to officially open the Oktoberfest.
The General Manager of the Amari Orchid Resort, Mr. Pierre Andre Pelletier, held
a short welcome speech, and Mr. Marcel Jacquat, the Operations Analyst of the
hotel, lead the audience through the evening. Khun Sonsak Yongjinda, Pattaya
City Manager, had the honour of opening the first barrel of beer. Unaccustomed
to the feat, it took him almost 30 strokes, quite different than the Lord Mayor
of Munich would have done.
To keep people calm and also to keep them from getting drowsy too fast, a buffet
was served, packed with Bavarian specialities. A great selection of suckling
pig, pork knuckles, sauerkraut, bread dumplings, all kind of sausages, and much
more was offered and consumed.
TAT’s “Eddie” Lumberjack uses his Saturday night
strength for the Thai team in the log-sawing competition versus the French and
German team.
After dinner, the management got started with games. The first one was, of
course, a beer drinking contest. Four girls got baby bottles filled with beer
and the fasted one got a prize. Behind them, four men had to drink up 1 litre of
beer each, and to make it more fun, had to eat 1 glass full of popcorn
afterwards. The winner of this contest got a prize as well.
Another funny game was played involving 4 bearded men, who had to sit on stage,
while 4 girls readied to give them a shave. But, of course, the guys themselves
weren’t shaved. Instead, they had to hold balloons with faces painted on them
and shaving cream smeared across the balloon faces. The pair to finish this
procedure first without breaking the balloon received prizes.
GM Pierre Andre Pelletier (right) with his teammate
take part in one of the games.
Khun Sethapan “Eddy” Buddhani, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand
Pattaya, was amongst the first participants at the wood cutting contest. It was
nice to watch how all those nicely dressed men were eager to show their talent
in such a hard working job.
A nail hitting competition was held as well, and not only men joined in, women
and children also tried their best.
The Brewmaster of “Hofbräuhaus Bangkok”, a real Bavarian who wore his
“Lederhosen”, explained in a nice and funny way how beer has to be brewed. He
also showed the audience how he can drink it.
A lot of prizes were given away during the drawing of the lottery tickets, and
after all those “serious” parts were over, people started to dance. Even though
the party was scheduled to be finished by 11:00 PM, many visitors were still
seen enjoying their beer and the fun until past midnight.
Guests of honour, representatives
of Amari Orchid Resort and Hofbräuhaus, Bangkok Airport, Pattaya Mail and the
German band from Bavaria House II, Pattaya.
