Couldn’t miss this throwback to the New Year celebrations just before we embark on the party season for 2015.
Although the numbers hardly matched the crowds at CentralWorld in Bangkok, Dusit Thani Hua Hin drew quite a large gathering on the vast beachside lawn for its annual countdown party, this year themed “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”.
Guests started gathering for cocktails in the hotel lobby, where judges picked out several candidates for the best theme outfit competition, which was divided into two categories, for grown-ups and children. Conspicuously, there were quite a few adorable Princess Elsa’s among the latter group, and judges were hard put to fit them into the theme, cute as they were.
The dinner buffet offered arguably the widest variety of any dinner buffet, ranging from Alaskan king crab, foie gras and sashimi, to suckling pig, grilled lobster, som tam, pasta and other hot dishes. Some guests shunned the delicious looking cakes and headed straight for the kalorji fried dough with sugar and sesame seeds, a traditional roadside dessert that is not easy to find in big cities now.
During dinner, guests were entertained by the Royal Symphony Orchestra — titled “Moon Cake Orchestra” for the evening — under the baton of Kittikhun Sodprasert. Picking up the microphone in turn were the Moonstruck Singers: Issariya Kuprasert, Kanyarat Kuisuwan, Sirinporn Vessarojkit, Denis Ng, Arthur Parnyachote, Sakol Suchartvudhi and Viruj Sarobola.
Rounding up this session were the Prince of Starlight, award-winning singer Sarun Kungbunpot, who was joined by Kornkan Sutthikoses in a beautiful rendering of the Thai song Chan Oeuy (Dear Moon) by ML Puangroy (Snidvongs) Apaiwongs.
Also returning to the stage were the popular Resonance a cappella singers, named Moonshadows Ensemble for the night.
Candidates for the best theme outfit were also called to the stage, as judges jotted down marks to find the winner. Cinching the prize in her sparkling silver gown was Marion Vanessa Morgan.
Other lucky winners for the evening included Mikael Hans Erik and Anna Guldevall, who won the door prize of air tickets from British Airways.
The highlight of the evening was a dance show by the Dusit Resident Acting Group (DRAG), comprising a few professional dancers with staff members who had somehow hung up their aprons or uniforms after a long day’s work to rehearse jazz and disco numbers.
Guests were then drawn to the dance floor to dance off the excess pasta to disco music by Howling at the Moon vampire disco band. Soon it was time to move to the lake where a khon performance took place on the surface of the mist-covered Lake of Enchantment. A mini-version of the Ramakien, Nagabas episode, saw the enchanted Naga god being overcome by Garuda.
As fireworks lit up the midnight sky and the band played His Majesty the King’s song Phorn Pee Mai (New Year blessings), guests kissed and hugged and shouts of “Happy New Year” filled the air. n
