Thai-Nordic Association hosted its Social Explorer 3 on Friday 22 August 2025.
It’s a Friday night on 22 August 2025 and Chang beer is flowing free. The buzzing from chitchat fills Jusmagthai bar at an American military base, located in the heart of Bangkok as participants arrive. In the bar, a statue of Captain America, with his shield emblematic of his Thai location, welcomes the patrons. Tonight’s event is the Social Explorer 3, hosted by the Thai-Nordic Association. Tonight is a night for laughter, catching up with old friends, and making new ones.
Food is set up on a table moved close to the walls, with chicken skewers, chicken wings, spring rolls, and nachos accompanied by every type of dip the heart could desire. A diverse platter reflects the attendees of tonight. It’s an open tap, and two ladies behind the bar are busy fighting the unquenchable thirst of the guests.
Every new arrival is immediately asked to sign up for the game of the night. Each person is given a piece of paper with depictions of Nordic imagery: Viking helmets, swords, and mythological monsters. Every piece of paper has a counterpart. The point of the game is to walk around, talk to new people, and find your match. There are prizes at stake. When a match is found, the lucky couples write their names on their paper and put it in a bowl to be drawn in a lottery later. After putting their names in the bowl, they also receive a colorful lei, flower necklace. As the event progresses and more and more matches are made and connections formed, the dark mahogany hall fills up with color — blue, orange, yellow, and purple — as more flower necklaces are given out.
The game is meant to help manifest the point of tonight’s event, community.
“We want to bring the Nordic community of Thailand and Bangkok together, that is the importance of this evening,” Filip Wallberg says excitedly as he checks out the bowl with paper slips and names. He is the treasurer and Vice Chairman of the Thai-Nordic Association, and alongside Chairman Alexander Wetterling, he is one of the head organizers of the event.
They have previously had success with Social Explorer 1 and 2, though the turnout was higher at those events. But it’s August and a lot of the seasonal community members have yet to return from the European summer.
Bottles of Beefeater and Jim Beam are brought into plain view in the bar, and the drinks are pouring. Laughter and small talk buzz around the long tables. Despite the organizers’ name and the Viking imagery, not everybody here has their roots in Scandinavia.
British, American, German, Malay, and Thai, the event is a true melting pot of origins, and for some that can be a controversial topic. However, for others the multinational crowd is welcomed with open arms.
Filip Wallberg views the broader turnout for tonight’s event as a positive.
“We are welcoming to everyone – Nordic people and friends.”
Coworkers, neighbors, spouses — as long as they have a ticket, everybody is welcome to mingle.
“We basically want to share the Nordic community with people from different countries,” Filip Wallberg says with a smile.
But there are certainly Nordic people to be found here. Crossed flags on clothing and the sound of languages with vowels unfamiliar to English are signs that Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes are blending into the crowd.
The mixed background of the guests serves as a way to optimize what a lot of people are here for: networking. Guests are jumping from table to table, group to group, as new acquaintances are made, names introduced, and business cards exchanged. In a giant metropolis like Bangkok, small communities must strengthen their bonds and stand together.
Halfway through the night, as the food is running out and the beer mugs are conquering table space, attention is suddenly called to a man with a microphone: Alexander Wetterling, the chairman of the Thai-Nordic Association. It is time for the matchmaking lottery. Excited eyes follow Filip Wallberg’s hand as it searches the bowl for the right slip of paper. Two names will be drawn from the bowl. The winning prize is a chance to get a shirt or blouse tailor-made, Thai style.
Names are drawn, and winners are announced with both cheering and booing from jealous friends. Pictures are taken with the winner, vice chairman, and chairman, all with smiles from ear to ear.
Alexander Wetterling takes the mic and thanks people for coming. He highlights the importance of a night like tonight and finishes his short speech by wishing everybody a good time.
“Have fun, get drunk, wear flowers,” he says, and everybody cheers.
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