Christmas and New Year in Thailand
Back home there’s a tradition called The Twelve Pubs of
Christmas. As usual, for an Irish
custom, it involves drinking copious amounts of alcohol with a pack of rowdy
rebels. For anyone who hasn’t heard of
it, it’s a Christmas pub crawl where you visit twelve different pubs. I decided to introduce it to the
multinational farang residents of NS.
Decorated with Santa hats and Christmas bells we met at a bar, where the
clever ones lined their stomachs, and set off on a route I had devised that
would take us to eleven other bars around Sawan Park. On the arrival of the bill I learned that pub
crawls are a bit of a task in NS. Bars
serve beer to your table in large bottles and the waiting staff refill as they
see your drink depleting so you never know how much you’ve drunk compared to
your friends. There’s no such thing as
going to the bar for a pint or paying as you go, it’s all put on one bill. So, for ease of calculation, bills are split
evenly yet, with all large groups, there’s always a spot of confusion. So we learned that a Thai pub crawl is more
time, and brain cell, consuming than an Irish one. But we decided to crack on with a ‘one drink
per bar’ rule to speed things up.
The second bar was a little place decked out with wooden
benches that played country and western music…Thai style. It was a welcome change from the plastic pop
the Thai bars usually pump out. The
table alongside us were certainly enjoying themselves, their clapping and
stomping shaking every table in their periphery. We had our one drink and called for the
bill. The waitress brought down two more
drinks. Confusion ensued as the clock
ticked away our valuable drinking time.
By bar four we were behind schedule so we decided that
ordering shots would be the most effective way of completing our twelve pub
assignment. Not as easy as it sounds,
the concept of shots was lost on our perplexed waitresses so we decided to opt
for a bottle of vodka between the group.
This had taken so long to communicate in our broken Thai that I was
beginning to sober up. So we downed a
couple of vodkas and hurried along.
Bar five was a quaint little bar with a fantastic name,
‘Fine Thanks’, and a special offer on beer.
The staff were highly amused by our Christmas garb that they joined in
on wearing our festive props, my Santa hat eventually ended up with the
waitress who I’m convinced may be still wearing it, she was that excited. We decided it was about time for some
Christmas tunes and, as the staff were already sucked into our Christmas vibe,
we handed the waitress an iPod. It was a
surreal experience sitting in an open air Thai bar in the evening heat
listening to ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’.
We waved goodbye, still with an agenda to get through and
very little of the night, or our sobriety, ahead of us. Bar six was a bit hazy if I’m honest, vodka
shots were swirling through the BOGOF beers in my tummy and I was starting to
lose my eyesight.
Bar seven was the final stop of the evening, the infamous
Bon Bon, where we danced like lunatics and attempted to balance out the fluids
in our systems with a bit of water, but it was too late. Inebriation had set in and the next morning
was a bit of a struggle to say the least.
But, I was pleased with the final result. Despite the obstacles of Thai bar customs, a language
barrier and the absence of quick shots to speed things up (a blessing in
disguise) we still managed to check 7 out of 12 bars off our list. I think that’s an achievement, even in Ireland.
So, already in the Christmas spirit, with our tiny Christmas
tree grasping onto the tonnes of baubles and Christmas lights we’d strapped to
it, my flatmates and I begun our countdown to Christmas. We indulged in festive movies, music and the
obligatory box of Cadburys Heroes, but it still felt like a reconstruction of
Christmas. I was still looking out on
blazing sunshine, watching beautiful orange glowy sunsets and walking around in
the kind of temperatures Ireland gets for about a week in May, if they’re
lucky. It just didn’t feel 100%
Christmas. So I decided on an
alternative plan for the day of the baby Jesus’ birthday, I was going to go for
breakfast in the sun and a steak dinner, still centred around food but the
‘special occasion treat’ kind of food that you don’t get every day….and it was
lovely. It was so unlike Christmas, yet
still a luxury, that I didn’t miss home like I thought I would. Dinner was fillet steak and red wine at a
price tag that would make my eyes water at any other time of the year, but at
Christmas extravagance is mandatory. I
must tell you that the “extravagance” I speak of was still cheaper than a steak
dinner at home but, here it’s my monthly utility bill.
On St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day to you Brits) I packed my
rucksack and caught a minivan to Bangkok,
I was headed Ko Samet way! KS is a small
island south east of Bangkok, off the coast of Rayong. I had an
itinerary similar to that on Ko Tao – reading, suntan, the occasional cocktail
and, this time, to ring in 2014 on the mother funkin beach, YES! I spent as much time as possible in the
sunshine, to hell with sunstroke, I was getting a tan. I read, I listened to music, I swam, I drank
beer for pretty much the whole six days.
The biggest difference I found with this holiday than any other was the
food I opted for. Usually a rather
experimental eater, I like to eat the local food wherever I go. This time however I turned into one of those
infuriating travellers who insist on western food. Morto.
In my defense, I have spent four months enjoying the local cuisine in NS
and, although I do appreciate Thai food, one can get ‘Thai’d out’. Anyway, I live in one of the best cities in Thailand for
Thai food, I can have it any time I like, quite literally. If I wanted chicken fried rice for breakfast
it’s perfectly normal. So, on KS where I
could get my gnashers round a Mexican fajita, an English cauliflower cheese or
an Italian pasta I ordered non Thai food at every meal. The treat of pancakes for breakfast alone was
worth the 9 hour journey down south. Food
glorious food!
New Year’s Eve swooped round yet I was still in a vortex of
disbelief. NYE in the heat? On the sand?
Wearing a bikini?? I had to have
a lie down, so I did…right on the beach with a beer and a book. I stayed there til the sun sank down the
horizon and dissolved into the sea. That
evening I ordered myself an Amaretto Sour and took myself down to the sand to
wait for the year 2014 to approach, or 2557 according to the Thai calendar. With the floating Chinese lanterns over my
head, the pop and fizz of the bright rainbow of fireworks and the fire show
compliments of the bar my first moment of 2014 was filled with light, may it
last long into the year.
Sawat dee pimaï ka!
Images: Sinéad Millea
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