Austrian Ambassador Enno Deofenik promised the Vienna Ball held at the Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok to honor 150 years of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Austria would be a huge success, and it was.
The May 8 gala was filled with Austrian cuisine, dancing, singing and waltzes played by the Bangkok Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Russel McGregor from Vienna.
Ladies clad in long evening gowns and gentlemen in tuxedos indulged in champagne, wine from Austria, and snacks to start the evening.
Then the approximately 350 guests took their seats for dinner: white and green asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, wiener schnitzel made of veal cut paper-thin, with a potato salad, and classical garnish; and a genuine Vienna apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce and ice cream for dessert. A dessert buffet was also set up in the foyer.
The wines came from Austria and from Siam Winery.
Many Thai guests thronged to take a picture with Austrian Ambassador Enno Drofenik (middle) and his beautiful wife Juri (5th right).
Drofenik said in his welcome speech that he was very happy to have brought the Vienna Ball, a piece of Austria, to Bangkok. He expressed his gratitude that so many attended, since proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction were destined for the “Inspire Projekt”, the ATTC home for street children, and the Human Help Network in Pattaya.
After the relatively light dinner and the not-so-light wines, the crowd settled in to watch the shows.
Amongst the guests were several high-ranking Thai politicians, along with ambassadors from Germany, Switzerland and Chile, embassy staff and business leaders.
German ambassador Rolf Schulze with his colleague from Chile, Javier Becker.
Debutants from Austria and Thailand, all clad in white evening dresses and tailcoats, strode into the ballroom and comprised the honor guard for ballet dancers Raffaela Pegani and Alexandru Tcacenco from Vienna, and states-opera singer Daniel Serafin.
The dance troupe from the famous Elmayer dancing school in Vienna showed off a waltz formation so that the young ladies and gentlemen of high society in Bangkok could show off their waltzing skills.
Ambassador Enno Drofenik and his lovely wife Juri (both middle) with honored guests from Thailand.
Later on, the ballet dancer, Daniel Serafin, and the Elmayer dancing group, took the ground for their second shows.
Matthias Brandstetter, the dance instructor from Elmayer, called the audience to a “Quadrille” – a classical dance formation boasts having performed at the Wiener Kongress. And again the Thai guests seemed to enjoy this tremendously, and followed all of Brandstetter’s instructions with great diligence.
At the end of the event Daniel Serafin sang the waltz “Wiener Blut,” but still the guests were not ready to go home and enjoyed the wine and for a long while after.
Three excellencies in one picture (from left) Swiss Ambassador Christine Schraner-Burgener, Austrian Ambassador Enno Drofenik and German Ambassador Rolf Schulze.
HE the Austrian Ambassador to Thailand Enno Drofenik welcomes the guests.
The debutants watch the performance of the Austrian couples.
Juri Drofenik and Harald Link enjoy a talk.
The “Pattaya delegation” (from left) Hubert Meier, Elfi Seitz, Bo and Axel Brauer, Katharina, Bernadette and Malte – three volunteers from Human Help Network.
Iwao Sekiguchi, the father in law of the Austrian Ambassador is always surrounded by ladies.
Ambassador Enno Drofenik and his wife Juri with the three Human Help Network volunteers Malte, Bernadette and Katharina.
Daniel Serafin sings beautiful songs.
The ballet dancers Raffaela Pegani and Alexandru Tcacenco.
At the announcement “All Waltz” Ambassador Enno Drofenik and his wife Juri joined immediately.
Director Russel McGregor in full action.
