Dancham – Thai-Danish Chamber of Commerce – held one of its most popular events of the year, the Christmas Lunch, at the Royal Danish Embassy on Friday 30 November 2014. This year, the lunch was special for a number of reasons.
One was the food which was exceptionally delicious. The Stable Lodge had been contracted to supply the catering and Khun Nim had flown back from London with the single purpose to ensure that all went well. Especially her Ris-a-la-Mande was praised by many as the most yummy ever this year. As soon as the Dancham Christmas Lunch was well executed she was going back again to London where she is helping her and Steffen Ingemann’s daughter Pailin settling in during her studies there.
The lunch was also special because of the musical entertainment by Soi Dog Blues Band. The band is not your ordinary quiet pling pling-a-ling kind of background quintet so their presence did not go unnoticed. The band also features two Danes, the not easily overlooked Jesper ‘Jeff” Thomsen and on lead guitar the not easily overheard Nicolai Kehlet. They band was joined by ambassador Mikael Hemniti Winther on a few numbers – ending with a Kim Larsen song that had all humming along in appreciation.
Finally, a third reason why this year’s lunch was special was the introduction of Carsten Carlstedt, the new Executive Director of the Chamber, who has been appointed to be Hanh Ngoc Nguyen’s successor. Carsten and Hahn had been overlapping for the past three weeks, but as of the 1st of December, Carsten will be on his own. It seems the members can look forward to a 2015, where Carsten will try to dispel the myth that Dancham “is not active anymore”.
Before arriving at this year’s Lunch, this writer had already written the headline of this story. It was going to be “Wet Dancham Christmas Lunch” as it was definitely going to rain and there was definitely going to be plenty of snaps so with a bit of luck one or two would get a few too many. But the clouds kept the rain and most members went lightly on the snaps and the Carlsberg. So there you have it: A fourth good reason, why this year’s lunch was special!
Enjoy the video and the photos.
