The Scandinavian Crayfish Party in Bangkok was as impressive a feast as ever.
Beside the many kilos of crayfish, lots of other delicacies made it possible to eat and drink away any sentimental longing for Scandinavia this Saturday the 16th of September.
Scandinavian Society Siam’s Crayfish Party started once again in the heavy-carpeted and flowery lobby at Rembrandt Hotel, Bangkok. The sparkling wine and beer was plentiful and the waiters were diligently circling the lobby while arriving guests were catching up with old friends and mingling with new ones.
Most age groups, starting in the twenties, were represented and taking part in the festivities. But as the evening progressed, the night was dominated by the clearly more an experienced clientele.
A party for well-dressed Vikings
The sight of grey haired business people dressed up in crayfish style paper bibs and pointy hats lightened the already friendly mood and matched the joy and silliness of traditional Scandinavian drinking songs and the escalating consumption of aquavit quite well. The roughly one generation younger women helped greatly on the atmosphere.
The voice of Swedish conférencier, Lars Anderson, welcoming the guests quickly drowned in the presence of the Scandinavian delicacies. Even though the food could easily have been divided into a 3 meal course, with salmon, bread baskets, cheeses, salads, shrimps and crayfish were all served from the beginning as a one-table-buffet the guests could dive into.
To flush down the food, every table was equipped with an aquavit bottle in an ice bucket, when someone emptied a bottle there were 4 different varieties of Scandinavian aquavit to replace it.
Dance the night away
As tradition has it, the Crayfish Party features a lucky draw. The luckiest guests could go home with a voucher for a some place or another. But most lottery tickets were sold not on the chance of winning but on the understanding, that “no lottery, no profit”. This annual flagship party needs to turn out a heavy profit to keep the Scandinavian Society Siam afloat and ready for its grand 100 Year Anniversary now only three years away.
When the guests were ready, the successful all-girls band Unicorn, which has entertained the Scandinavians for three years in a row now, got the dance floor filled up with rocking and swinging Scandinavians.
